Nitrite-- I Need To Know More About It

[shelaghfishface]

had a very bad tme yesterday as my fish were suffering effects from stress of nitrites

lost 2 kissing gouramis
changed the water total of 1x 30% but levels didnt alter so i did a 60% change

i still have fish in the tank and the levels are still showing nitrite ( FISH ARE PALE)
wil the fish recover?

thankyou so so much WILDER who i was pm`ing and was helping me thru the whole emergency

i have added very large airstones,and not changed anywater today as yet

i have no idea where the nitrite came from,how it got in here or how to eliminate it apart from air stones

i havent been able to find a topic on it on here using a keyword serch. so i am still in the dark as it were

i felt like i had had a good read of the site just after taking up the hobby, but cant have done as i maybe wouldnt have got into such a state last night

so any usefull info is much appreciated, specially on wether the fish that are in there will survive,and how to prevent next time


AND AGAIN MANY MANY THANKYOU`S WILDER, FOR YOUR PAITENCE,AND KNOWLEDGE

AND A LINK TO SOMETHING TO READ WOULD BE FAB

 

[Spooky76]

Depends what your nitrite levels are, do you know them ?

is the tank cycling still ?

Nitrite is part of the cycle, its good in that your filter is coping with the more lethal ammonia and turning it into nitrite. Nitrite is less harmful to your fish, but still not good at all.

While its cycling dont clean your filter and feed your fish once a day a small amount.

Personally I would do 10% water change, test again....if its still there, do another and so on

Are you OK with doing water changes ? I presume wilders told you about that etc ?

 

[shelaghfishface]

hi spooky

the filter i have in the tank is one that i had in my other tank for approx 3 weeks ( from new), its never been dry etc or cleaned so i assumed it would be safe to use immediatley as all the tests on that tank were spot on
have done a 10% change and levels are down to 1=no2
10= no3

have now also lost my 2 madagascan rainbows, so whats left in there now are 7 wag platties,a nd 2 opulaine gouramis, but 1 is very pale

i can only assume from what you have said that the filter wasnt cycled at all, no other explaination.. or is there??

i have fed the fish nutrafin falkes,a little once today,and will do a test and water change in the morning... can you think of anything else

 

[WILDER]

All you can do till nitrites fall to 0 is water changes.
You have increased aeration so that should help.
We talked about salt but you had rainbows.
I think I would still add one tablespoon of salt to the tank for now.
Get a jug of tank water and mix the house hold salt in till is disolves, then add to the tank.

 

[shelaghfishface]

thanks wilder, just done that,so i will update sometime tommorow after a further water change,
many thanks shelagh x

 

[WILDER]

Good luck.

 

[Spooky76]

Are those nitrite levels down from your previous readings ? If they are, keep changing 10% until its 0.

Good luck - keep up the good work

 

[Cooper2085]

Hi sorry to hijack but could someone tell me while more circulation helps with nitrite? And also do you guys leave your airpumps on over night?

 

[shelaghfishface]

hi
my nitrite is now down to 1 and nitrate is 10
have done 2x 30% water changes today, and added the salt last night,
the gouramis now have colour back in them and are chasing each other around again..

air is apparently very good, to help with nitrite tho i forgot to ask why ( was in the middle of disaster)
one of the first things i was told to do was to get more air in, so i added 2 large airstones, to the 2 little ones that were in there.. i leave all my airpumps on all night,i had only removed the one from my troubled tank as i had set up a new one,and it didnt have any in at all ( big mistake!!)