Nitrite Levels...

[fmervin]

Hi all,

I have a 65 Ltr (approx 17gal) tank, aquastart 500. The tank has cycled only for around 11 days. I used soll bactinettes to start off the cycling process and after testing the water the lfs thought I was ready for fishes after 2 days. I got 2 mollies and one betta. I have been testing the water parameters everyday and the ammonia has always been 0. However, I have noticed the nitrite is increasing gradually. I have already done two 25% water changes on the 2nd and 6th day of adding the fish. I took a reading today and the nitrite seems to be around 2.5 - 3 which is quite high I think (ammonia still 0). So I plan to do a water change this evening again. My question is how much percentage of water should I change? Also why does the ammonia stay at 0 but the nitrite still increase?

Another question is about dechlorinating the water. The bottle states that I need to use around 2 capfuls for around 35 litres of water. So I use approx 3/4 of a capful for a bucket of water (which is around 10 litres). My question is, do I need to add the dechlorinator before or after adding the water? Should I let the bucket stand after adding the dechlorinator? If so , how much time? If I add more dechlorinator that stated on the bottle is it harmful to the fish?

Sorry if the questions sound a bit dumb, but I'm new to fishkeeping and want to ensure that I'm not doing anything wrong

 

[Robris]

I also want to know about the water conditioner questions, before or add water, too much to harmful? Because I normally put double or even triple what the directions say

 

[Tiger Barb]

Hi there

Your filter is growing bacteria which eat ammonia and produce nitrites. This is why you have no ammonia, and increasing nitrite. Eventually your filter will also grow the bacteria which eat nitrite and produce nitrate.... at that point your tank will be cycled. It obviously isn't cycled yet (no matter what your lfs says - after all, what are they trying to sell you???!).

You are now cycling, with fish. You therefore have to keep the levels of toxins (i.e. your nitrites) down or your fish will suffer. Hence you have to change the water to dilute the nitrite level. Unfortunately this will slow the cycle down, as there are less nitrites so your filter won't grow as many bacteria.

I'm no expert, but with your nitrite levels, I'd be tempted to change about 50% of the water, then keep nothing smaller water changes more frequently to keep the levels down.

Re dechlorinator -

My question is, do I need to add the dechlorinator before or after adding the water?

Errr - you add dechlorinator to the fresh water. Some people drip it into the water stream as they fill up the tank. I prefer to dechlorinate before the fresh water goes anywhere near my tank - fish don't like chlorine, and it will kill those bacteria which you're trying so hard to grow!

I don't know about overdosing on dechlorinator... why would you want to? It's expensive stuff, so I would just use the correct dose!!

Hope this helps!

 

[Christine1014]

Hi, you got some good advice there from Tiger Barb. I've heard from several people that the bactinettes things are great, but I've also heard a lot of stories like yours. So as Tiger Barb said, water changes. Lots of water changes... the good thing is that the changes won't slow down your cycle -- the good bacteria that you want to keep live in your filter (and to some extent your gravel and on your ornaments, too) but as long as you're not messing with your filter, you'll be fine. Some people are afraid of changing a lot of water at one time, but as long as your temp is roughly the same, change away... the discomfort your fish experience during a big water change is a lot less than the discomfort of ammonia burns or nitrite poisoning. The easiest way to figure out how much water to change is to do a 50% change. Wait 5 or 6 hours. Test the water (Do you have API's Freshwater Master Test Kit? Highly recommended. You don't want to have to rely on your LFS for testing). If there are nitrites or ammonia, do another change - a big change if the ammounts are high, and a smaller change if they're low... keep that up for as long as it takes to get 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites.

From what I understand it is pretty difficult to OD a fish on declorinator. But that being said, if they tell you to add a capful, there's no reason a capful shouldn't work. You can add the dechlorinator directly to the tank. Those of us with Pythons (a gravel vac that attaches right to your faucet - suction generated w/ your own water pressure, and then to refill your tank water goes straight from the faucet, through the hose into the tank) dechlorinate the whole tank first, then turn on the water...

Oh - last thing - be careful w/ your betta fish. If it's a male, he could get very aggressive toward any other fish. It's usually recommended that they be kept alone. Same applies w/ a female, except you can also keep them in groups of 5 or six (all bettas, all females).

Good luck!

 

[fmervin]

Thanks Tiger Barb, Christine

I think the mistake I made last time with the water changes is that I rinsed the filter sponges as well (in the water from the tank, not fresh water). I think I threw out quite a lot of bacteria. This makes sense because the day before the first water change the nitrite levels were 0.2 and that increased to 0.4 a day after the first water change. I think I'll put off cleaning the filter for at least a month. Do you think this is a good idea? Also, how do you go about cleaning the filter sponge? I took around half a mug of water from the aquarium and rinsed the sponge in that and threw the water away. I did this around 3 times for each sponge. Is this too much? I have the nutrafin test kit, but I'm quite bad in colour matching so I just take the reading between the nearest 2 colours. Luckily the ammonia has stayed clear so far. I think the reason bactinettes did not work so well for the nitrites is because I did not pop the bottle in the fridge after I got home from the LFS. It was left standing out for around 8 hours when it was particularly warm. So it could have resulted in quite a few nitrite-eating bacteria deaths I'll do a 50% water change today and keep you updated on the water readings

The only reason I'm a bit fussed about the dechlorinator is because the bucket I have is 10ltr, so a 3/4 capful seems awfully less to me. So I add a bit more sometimes. Generally I add around half a capful before and after filling the bucket which makes it 1 capful for 10ltres = 3 capfuls for 30 litres which is above the manufacturers recomended dosage (2 capfuls for 35 ltrs). But my reasoning has been the chlorine will do more harm than the excess dechlorinator.

You're right about the betta fish. I did notice signs of aggression and flaring at one of my female mollies. I think the female molly is a bit stressed since he does chase her around sometimes. I'd hate to give him away, he's so beautiful. And I can't afford to keep another fish bowl. Just out of curiosity, is it ok to keep a betta in a goldfish bowl with no filter and heater if I do a water change everyday?

Thanks for all the help

 

[Christine1014]

You've got the basic idea for filter cleaning. The key is to use tank water instead of tap, so you're good there. But you might have overdone it a bit. I usually just take out the sponges, give them a swish around the bucket, and pop them back in the filter. So that could have caused a mini-cycle. We'll keep our fingers crossed that that's all it is! But still keep testing the water; hopefully results are back to normal in a day or two.

You're fine with the dechlorinator.. it is tough to measure out like, 1/10 of a capful or something. If you don't mind running through it a little quicker than you would if you carefully measured out the proper number of ml with a dropper or something, it's fine.

As for the betta, there's lots of discussion about that! If you're committed to keeping the bowl clean, I'd say the bowl is probably better than risking carnage in your tank! You'll probably need a heater, though. I think betas like to be kept at about 80 degrees. But if you really are comitted to the water changes & want to avoid a filter you could invest is a 2 or 3 gallon tank, and then stick a heater in that. (And with a tank that size, too, you can make a filter yourself pretty easily. Check out the Do It Yourself section of the forum; I think the filter-making instructions are a pinned topic).

Hope that helps!