Nitrite

[katykaye]

My nitrite levels have gone up today

readings are:

amonia 0
Nitrate 20
ph 7.8
nitrite .25

first reading at 8am, did a 33% water change - 2nd reading (same results) at 10:15 am

should i leave it longer before doing another reading and/or water change?

I added 6 new guppies yesterday afternoon.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

you've said both nitrAte and nitrIte in this post, can you be clear which one you're talking about as they are very different.

 

[katykaye]

you've said both nitrAte and nitrIte in this post, can you be clear which one you're talking about as they are very different.

Well my nitrAte is always hovering around the 20 mark

its my NitrIte that I am concerned about - its still at .25 after a water change earlier today

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Can you give us some more details of the tank, how big is it, what fish do you have, when was it set up, was it cycled before adding fish etc etc?

 

[katykaye]

Can you give us some more details of the tank, how big is it, what fish do you have, when was it set up, was it cycled before adding fish etc etc?

The size of tank and stocking is in my sig

The tank is a week old but I used it immediately by using the water and the filters from my original tank (which was 18 months old). The readings have all been good until today when my nitrIte levels have risen to 0.25 and are still at that level after a 33% water change.

I just wanted to know how long to leave between testings (I did one at 8am, did the water change then another test at 10:15am) should i test again today or wait until tomorrow?

The fish are from my original tank except for the 2 bronze catfish and the 6 guppies both of which I added yesterday.

Thanks

 

[clifeocean]

The tank is a week old but I used it immediately by using the water and the filters from my original tank (which was 18 months old). The readings have all been good until today when my nitrIte levels have risen to 0.25 and are still at that level after a 33% water change.

I just wanted to know how long to leave between testings (I did one at 8am, did the water change then another test at 10:15am) should i test again today or wait until tomorrow?


The tank is a relatively new one then huh? its no problem what is happening, and don't panic either...your tank is slowly adjusting to the amount of fish added to your tank...you bioloaded your tank pretty quickly and by adding more fish so fast it caused a fluctuation because there are more animals doing more things in your tank... the nitrite will go down after a week or two, and by exchanging 20-33% of the water every two days or so will help to bring those levels down. 0.25 is not dangerously high, but its something to keep an eye on. If it rises higher, i would recommend a 50% water change to help bring it down...is everything else in balance too?

 

[katykaye]

The tank is a week old but I used it immediately by using the water and the filters from my original tank (which was 18 months old). The readings have all been good until today when my nitrIte levels have risen to 0.25 and are still at that level after a 33% water change.

I just wanted to know how long to leave between testings (I did one at 8am, did the water change then another test at 10:15am) should i test again today or wait until tomorrow?


The tank is a relatively new one then huh? its no problem what is happening, and don't panic either...your tank is slowly adjusting to the amount of fish added to your tank...you bioloaded your tank pretty quickly and by adding more fish so fast it caused a fluctuation because there are more animals doing more things in your tank... the nitrite will go down after a week or two, and by exchanging 20-33% of the water every two days or so will help to bring those levels down. 0.25 is not dangerously high, but its something to keep an eye on. If it rises higher, i would recommend a 50% water change to help bring it down...is everything else in balance too?

Thanks

yep everything else is fine
Amonia 0
NitrAte 20
PH 7.8

 

[clifeocean]

I also neglected to mention that your tank probably hasn't built up the bacteria in the filters and the gravel that help with the nutrient cycling in your tank and that is causing the changes too...

 

[iankent]

is the water volume of the old tank and new tank the same?

as you've increased the bioload, with the same water volume you would expect increased readings until your bacteria can handle it (should only be a few days as the colony is capable of doubling roughly every day).

if the water volume is lower, even with an identical bioload you'd see higher readings on your tests.

edit: another thing, the ammonia/nitrite processing speeds and the volume of waste produced by your fish will vary quite a bit from day to day or week to week. also, even small differences in the levels of nitrite could change your perception of whether the test is showing 0 or .25 (bearing in mind the lighting, your colour perception, and the tiny amounts of nitrite we're talking about in the first place!)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah just a little blip of a mini cycle from moving the tanks around and adding some new fish, do 25% water changes every day until it drops down to 0. shouldn't take too long, couple of days or maybe a week or two.

 

[waterdrop]

exactly what I was going to say.. you can't switch things around in tanks without getting some disturbance blips.

In answer to your question about testings, personally I would feel more comfortable doing morning and night tests at least when I'd seen nitrite showing up. And it just makes sense to be doing your testing in order to be watching what happens as you do more water changes and go through this change. Eventually it should settle down to good readings with fewer changes and you'll feel comfortable easing off the frequent testing I would think.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[katykaye]

My old tank was 54L and my new one is 120L

I did expect some disturbance, but I think it was the amonia I was concerned about rather than the nitrIte.

Today
Amonia 0
NitrIte 0.25 (was 0.50 yesterday evening)
NitrAte 20
PH 7.8

The amonia and nitrAte haven't fluctuated - just the NitrIte. I know frequent water changes are the best way to go but does that mean I can more in one day (I did a 33% yesterday and a 50% today) or just do it daily?

On the plus side the tank is sparkling clear and the fish seem happy enough and its looking great - the fact that the nitrIte is going down seems a good sign but still worries me.

 

[waterdrop]

Katy, you can do another water change an hour after a previous one. In fact, this is recommended to beginners finding themself in a fish-in cycle situation, especially if the nitrite level measured is higher than yours. But the one hour wait is often quoted here on TFF, its supposed to be a safe period for the fish to adjust to any pH differences, among other things.

Other than that little wait, there's nothing wrong with water changes. As you are observing, the fish generally like it just fine. To be on the safe side it is generally recommended that you always condition the water with the correct amount or more of a dechlor product and that you rough temperature match via touch. The pros will debate whether those precautions are even necessary, but those are reasonable and sensible approaches for anyone and can't hurt.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Katy, you can do another water change an hour after a previous one. In fact, this is recommended to beginners finding themself in a fish-in cycle situation, especially if the nitrite level measured is higher than yours. But the one hour wait is often quoted here on TFF, its supposed to be a safe period for the fish to adjust to any pH differences, among other things.

Other than that little wait, there's nothing wrong with water changes. As you are observing, the fish generally like it just fine. To be on the safe side it is generally recommended that you always condition the water with the correct amount or more of a dechlor product and that you rough temperature match via touch. The pros will debate whether those precautions are even necessary, but those are reasonable and sensible approaches for anyone and can't hurt.

~~waterdrop~~

as far as i'm aware the 'wait 1 hr thing' is just to acclimitise temperatures. i seem to remember bignose (or someone like that) posting something explaining how long it takes fish to acclimitise to a new pH and it's consderably longer than 1 hr, considerably longer than even the longest of drip acclimitisation periods....... i'll try and dig out a link for you.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

There you go WD, not got time to read the whole thing through but I'm sure there's comments from bignose on acclimitising fish in there, interesting read anyway even if it's not what I think it is.


http/www.fishforums.net/content/forum/20...cclimitisation/