High Nitrite

[kkcrd11]

So test my tank every week and it's usually fine . However today nitrite is off the scale ? What could be causing this I've done a water change and it's still high ammonia was up a little more than it should be and nitrates are about 10 ish

I tested tap water because it seemed to go higher after a water change me this came back quite high as well but I thought the Qua safe would deal with that . Should I be leaving it a while and testing again after my filter has had chance to work on it or not ? I'm confused

 

[techen]

Is the tank cycled? Or are you cycling the tank?
 
Why does your tap water have Nitrite in it? 

 

[kkcrd11]

This tank has been running for months maybe ten . So yes it was all cycled . I have no idea why the tap water is reading like this I'm assuming by your reaction it shouldn't ?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here is why nitrite out of the tap is unusual. Nitrite is an intermediate step in the nitrogen cycle. In the public and private parts of the water supply system nitrifying bacteria are present and often a problem. However, it is virtually impossible to eliminate them. Water systems which use chloramines may deliver low levels of ammonia out of the tap due to the ultimate break down of chloramine into chlorine and ammonia. The ammonia in such systems is what keeps the bacteria thriving. Chloramine only puts them to sleep and when it breaks down the bacteria have a nice lunch waiting.
 
So the result is folks might see a small amount of ammonia in some systems but the thing they will more often see is nitrate (the end product of out cycle). This is because there are both ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria in the delivery systems. It would take a highly unusual set of circumstances to have nitrite in ones tap. In all the research into this subject I have read over the years, I have never ever seen nitrite discussed as an issue.
 
In the USA the EPA has set the following limits on nitrite in drinking water

 
The MCLG for nitrite is 1 mg/L or 1 ppm. EPA has set this level of protection based on the best available science to prevent potential health problems. EPA has set an enforceable regulation for nitrite, called a maximum contaminant level (MCL), at 1 mg/L or 1 ppm..........
 
EPA reviewed nitrite as part of the Six Year Review and determined that the 1 mg/L or 1 ppm MCLG and 1 mg/L or 1 ppm MCL for nitrite are still protective of human health.

from http/water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/basicinformation/nitrite.cfm
 
It is important to note this standard does not indicate they are measuring NO2-N. I ppm of that would test at 3.28 ppm on and API type test kit. In a cycled tank I believe the bacteria would pretty quickly handle 1 ppm of excess nitrite if one had it. Nor should 1 ppm of nitrite in ones tap build up to more than 1 ppm in a tank even doing lots of small consecutive water changes.
 
Something does not quite make sense here. Test kit expired? Testing error? I don't know. But also I do not know what level "quite high" reported by the OP might be?
 
It would also help to know in what country this is all happening.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Have you changed anything in the tank recently, meaning in the past month?

I am a bit concerned when you say ammonia is up a little from where it should be.... In a tank 10 months old, it should be zero.

 

[kkcrd11]

The testing kit is about five months old . I'm in the uk and I've never seen anything other than 0 nitrite in my tank since I added fish . I don't change filters media only rinse it . And occasionally maybe once every two to three months I'll add new media to one part of my stingray filter leaving one old one in place and my second filter will remain unchanged that time so there's always sufficient bacteria I. Yeh tank . I have added new platties last week 4 but one died I now have three platties 7 harlequins. And about twenty fry I'm going to post tap water results for ammonia . Nitrite and nitrate in a minute and see what you think ? Then I will post tank results up

 

[kkcrd11]

Tap water
Ammonia 0
Nitrite o. 50 which is less than I found before but I ran the tap longer this time before taking a sample if this has any effect I don't know ?
Tanks stats
Ammonia somewhere between 0 and 0.25
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate : between ten and twenty


I'm thinking a 50 percent water change to bring ammonia down to 0 . But then what ?

I added the platties last week which had fry and a couple of plants that were recommended by the fish shop manager to keep the platties healthy . They are base weight plants and the platties keep eating them .. I'm thinking I did the wrong thing putting these in ?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If you also have ammonia (which i did not pay attention to) then I would look for a dead fish some where in the tank. Excess ammonia produces excess nitrite. I was paying too much attention to your stating there is nitrite in the tap. My mistake.
 
Fry make ammonia too. Basically your tank contained 7 small rasboras and you added 4 platys which if decent size are an increase in the bioload of about 50-75%+. If the one that died was in the tank for any time, it would have created more ammonia than if it were alive. Then add the fry in and the bioload increased more. I think this is likely the root of your problems.
 
You havea few options here if I am correct in this assessment. 1. Remove some fish. 2. Add some bacteria. Work with an ammonia calculator to hold down the NH3 part of the ammonia when needed via water changes and use salt to counteract nitrite. 4. Lots of water change over time until the tank is again safe.

 

[kkcrd11]

Thanks you is will give that a try and hope it works out . Removing some fish isn't an option really I think with two filters running this should be ok the fry are still very small only 5 days old or so

 

[Rak9378]

I don't change filters media only rinse it

 
You seem to have a good grasp of the basics so I hate to ask this but I just want to confirm that you're not using tap water to rinse your filter media?  Also, are you using a liquid test or strips?

 

[kkcrd11]

Yeah tank water that I have just removed . Liquid API test kit