Is 0.25ppm Of Nitrites Ok? *sorted*

[stuhyde]

Dont my cycle, am still adding about 4-5ml of ammonia daily, but when I check the levels the next day, its always on 0 ammonia and 0.25ppm of nitrIte...

Will this be OK for fish??

Cheers

 

[TubbyLaLa]

Hi
I have just tried to cycle a tank using bactinettes the levels after a day with ammonia present were 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite but since adding fish following instructions on product I have had a level of 0-0.6 ammonia and 0- 0.1 nitrite both of which are toxic to fish. I have had to do daily water changes and add prime to prevent any harm to the fish. As far as I have read any level above 0 for nitrites or ammonia is bad.
Please don't be tempted to add fish too soon in your cycle it will stress the fish and all the water changing, worrying about your fish etc will stress you too! I would advise you wait until you have 0 ammonia and nitrite before you consider adding fish, from your readings it seems you do not have enough nitrifying bacteria in there at the moment give the colony some time to build up. I only know cos I made the mistake of impatience and am paying the price.
Good luck

 

[stuhyde]

ok buddy, will do

 

[Puffdaddy]

TubbyLaLa is correct in say that anything above 0ppm ammonia and nitrite is harmful for the fish. Just hang in there your almost done. Wait until the nitrites reach 0ppm before adding any fish.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

How long has your tank been cycling?
What nitrate levels do you have?

I would recommend being patient and waiting until the nitrites read 0.
Then...
Do a large water change (80-90%) to remove the excess nitrates from cycling.
Stock the tank within 24 hours of doing the large water change... you can stock fully after doing a 5 ppm Ammonia per day dosing (since this represents a very large bioload), but of course keep a close eye on your water parameters for the next few weeks since newly cycled tanks may take a little while to fully stabilize.

 

[stuhyde]

Did a 90% change yesterday, and now everything drops to 0 in 12hrs or less.

I have added 5 neon tetras to help with sorting the water out, what out of these fish can I put with them as I would like to get more fish in ASAP so the bacteria doesnt die off in the filter.

Albino Rainbow Shark
Silver Shark
Glass Catfish *
Clown Loach *
Red Fin Shark
Angel Fish
Pink Kissing Gourami *
Neon Tetra
Robin Gourami
Gold Nugget Pleco
Black Ghost Knife
Pentazona Barb
Extra Large Gold Rams *

* = preference

Can I add a small amount of ammonia with the tetras in there?

I know I could do with reading up, but need to get some more in there quite soon....

Also how many

 

[Lynda B]

If you have fish in there, I don't believe you need to add ammonia. Your fish will produce the ammonia necessary.

And um, your bacteria's not going to die off. There's no race as far as putting more fish in there. When did you put the neons in there?

 

[stuhyde]

about 30 mins ago...

I have been adding nearly 5ml daily and it drops to 0 (as well as nitrItes) in less than 12 hours.

The 5 neon tetras Ive put in wont be able to produce nearly that amount of Ammonia, thus the bacteria dying off.

 

[Lynda B]

Well, I did a cycle with fish, prior to knowing about fishless cycling. And, I ended up with a really healthy bacteria colony. Even if I was to remove all of my fish, I believe it'd take a while before my bacteria would die off from lack of food. Yours won't be getting the same exact measurement of ammonia that they have been, but, ammonia is toxic to fish. Why would you add ammonia when there are fish in the tank?

I need to say that I'm not an expert at this. Yes, I have healthy tanks, but having never added ammonia, I hope that someone with experience will come and confirm what my belief is.