Nitrites Still Not Going Fast Enought.....

[Behold]

My amonia is going fast but its taking 16-18 hours to clear the nitrite. this has not moved at all in the last week or so.

PH 7.8 is. I know the nitrite bacteria takes time but this is stupid.........

Ideas?

 

[Matty P]

patience

 

[mark.w.jones]

Keep going. My 10 Gal US took 7 days for ammonia to go in 24hours and then a further 14 days for the nitrite to be going in 24 hours. If you want to speed things up. Get hold of some ceramic media + sponge from a mature tank.

 

[Dark Wolf]

keep going, it sounds like you're really close to the end

 

[Behold]

Its sounded like this for ages...... Argh this is a stressfull hobby.....

I want my fishies........

 

[xxBarneyxx]

How long has it been going for? The nitrite can take longer to drop then the Ammonia but keep with it

 

[Behold]

How long has it been going for? The nitrite can take longer to drop then the Ammonia but keep with it

just over 4 weeks.

Amonia took 10 days to drop and by day 12 it was well under 12 hours.

and by 16 days nitrite was falling very slow over the lasts 7 days or so its just not progresed.....

 

[rdd1952]

How high are you raising the ammonia level to and is the nitrite getting all the way to zero before you add ammonia again?

 

[Behold]

How high are you raising the ammonia level to and is the nitrite getting all the way to zero before you add ammonia again?

5ppm...

I have left it to go to 0 once in a while then re-added to test how long it takes from clear.

 

[rdd1952]

If it is processing 5 ppm of ammonia and nitite to 0 in about 16 to 18 hours, you should be fine to add fish. It doesn't sound like it has changed much in the last several weeks so I doubt it's going to get much faster. The fish aren't going to produce that much ammonia at once anyway. One other question. What temperature do you have the water at?

 

[Behold]

If it is processing 5 ppm of ammonia and nitite to 0 in about 16 to 18 hours, you should be fine to add fish. It doesn't sound like it has changed much in the last several weeks so I doubt it's going to get much faster. The fish aren't going to produce that much ammonia at once anyway. One other question. What temperature do you have the water at?

Water is at 30Degrees and im getting alot of mini bubbles from the ripples on the water so im airating alot.

So If i was to get fish should i do a full stock? (Except my Pleco) and then just monitor the water?

 

[mark.w.jones]

Just to be on the safe side. I would say to fully stock your tank over a 3 day period if you can, I did half my stock on a Friday and the rest on a Sunday to fit around work. Although there is no reason not to fully stock straight away if you are feeling brave. Don't leave it too long though as those bacteria die off fast without an ammonia / nitrite supply. Don't be surprise or disappointed if you suffer a few deaths. Although your tank is cycled it is not yet a mature and stable environment and more sensitive fish such as neons and guppies might suffer as a result. You really want to leave things a few months or more before adding more sensitive species and things like shrimp.

Good Luck



ps. Don't forget the 90% water change with dechlorinated water and a good gravel vac / clean of glass before you get your fish. Also remember to turn your heater down. You'll be surprised how many people forget these basic things in the excitement of getting new fish!

 

[**sarahp**]

My amonia is going fast but its taking 16-18 hours to clear the nitrite.

Mine's still doing that too Ammonia disappears in 12 hours but nitrIte takes 18 ish And same as you it has been like this for 10 days - I have timed it everyday and there is no change.

My potential stock option included 12 danios so I think I will get them this weekend - but I'm not going to add anything else until I'm sure its ok

Its odd that mine and yours are doing this - no-one else seems to have had this problem. Wonder if its anything to do with our water quality? Are you UK?

ETA - just read your profile - your only about 60 miles from me - wonder if that is a coincidence???

 

[Jabba]

30 is about 4 degrees too much for fish, no you shouldn't stock all at once officially but with what you have been doing this will depend on what you refer to as a 'full stock', you need to keep a load on the filter etc to feed the bacteria you have worked so hard to grow but not so much you get dangerous levels of Ammonia. That saisd the impact of the Ammonia depends on the pH of the water too. Not all ammonia is mega toxic, only the unionised NH3 ammonia is highly toxic, the ionised type NH4+ is still dangerous but you can stand higher levels of it before it is a problem, the lower your pH below 7 the more likely you are to have more NH4 than NH3, temperature also has a bearing on the toxicity of ammonia. The nitrite must drop to zero, it takes 15 hours for a nitrobactor colony to double in size so it always lags a little, but it isn't as toxic as Ammonia but it must eventually reach zero.

It's all very daunting at first and an empty tank is pretty uninteresting, bide your time by aquascaping rocks / plants and whatever before you get the fish (it is stressful on the fish once they are in if you start playing), unfortunately as keen as you are, you learned enough to do a fishless cycle and that is commendable, enthusiasm tempered by patience I am afraid is the difference between live fish and dead ones.

So - how many fish is a full stock versus tank size is the key to the answer.

 

[mark.w.jones]

Mine's still doing that too Ammonia disappears in 12 hours but nitrIte takes 18 ish And same as you it has been like this for 10 days - I have timed it everyday and there is no change.

My potential stock option included 12 danios so I think I will get them this weekend - but I'm not going to add anything else until I'm sure its ok

Its odd that mine and yours are doing this - no-one else seems to have had this problem. Wonder if its anything to do with our water quality? Are you UK?

ETA - just read your profile - your only about 60 miles from me - wonder if that is a coincidence???

18 hours is fine. I would stock if I were you.