Very Small Amount Of Nitrite In Tank - How Much Is Too Much?

[wilchil64]

I moved my tanks around a couple of weeks ago to get the new bigger one in a better position. The tanks have been cycled from the beginning with mature filter media.

However, last night when we tested the water (my test kit is Nutrafin Essential mini master kit), it came back with slightly pink reading for the nitrites, which I thought was between 0.1 and 0.3 mg/L but my husband thought was 0.1 or below! (I find it difficult to compare a liquid colour to the solid colour on the page to decide which it is?!)

The tank was moved and refilled on 15th November, the mature filter media put back in and 40% of the original water put back in, along with the remaining 60% tap water of correct temp. treated with Nutrafin Aquaplus. The Leopard frog plec was put straight in, as he is so difficult to catch. The other fish were put in my 125 fluval roma tank.

On the 16th Nov. we tested the water, all tests were fine, so we moved the 3 rosy barbs over to the 180 litre tank.

On 21st November we then moved the angelfish into the 180 litre tank and bought a paradise fish to go in there too.

Before the move the tank contained 3 rosy barbs, 1 ancistrus, 6 cardinals, 7 guppys, 1 angelfish and 1 leopard frog plec and 2 amano shrimps without any water problems at all!

I thought the filter media would be fine with the small amount of fish in there now, so was very surprised that it's showing nitrites.

We do weekly 20% water changes on both tanks, vaccing the gravel at the same time.

Both tanks are planted, but not excessively (planted bogwood, a few bunches of amazon swords, a couple of vallis and one plant which grows from an onion like bulb).

Anyway we did a 20% water change and will test and do another tonight.

Do I need to worry about the fish?

Also I was planning on adding 4 black widow tetras on Friday that I have reserved at my LFS, I'm loathe to do so if the water isn't quite right. What do you think?

Thanks for help.

By the way, I ordered last night the API Liquid Nitrite Test Kit and the API Freshwater/Saltwater Liquid Ammonia test kit, in the hope that they are slightly easier to read than the Nutrafin one.

 

[minxfishy]

The slight rise is probably due to the fact that some of the bacteria died back a bit as you didnt immediately add the same amount of fish back into the tank, but slowly added stock again, so where it was used to a larger bio load it dropped back to cope with the amount of fish in there, then when you added more its playing catch up again, as its mature media it shouldnt take it long, but some extra water changes should help get it back to normal. Keep testing and you will probably see it go back to 0 pretty quickly.

I wouldnt add anyone more until the blip is sorted just to be on the safe side.

 

[wilchil64]

The slight rise is probably due to the fact that some of the bacteria died back a bit as you didnt immediately add the same amount of fish back into the tank, but slowly added stock again, so where it was used to a larger bio load it dropped back to cope with the amount of fish in there, then when you added more its playing catch up again, as its mature media it shouldnt take it long, but some extra water changes should help get it back to normal. Keep testing and you will probably see it go back to 0 pretty quickly.

I wouldnt add anyone more until the blip is sorted just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for that. Will the fish be ok in water with that level of nitrites?

 

[minxfishy]

Its pretty minimal, dont allow it to go any higher though, as I said, do some extra water changes, test regularly but you should be ok.

 

[petertr]

Daily water changes are the way to go if you have a mini cycle.

I've just gone through the same

 

[wilchil64]

Its pretty minimal, dont allow it to go any higher though, as I said, do some extra water changes, test regularly but you should be ok.

Thanks, I'll keep my eye on it and do daily water changes until the nitrites disappear. Should there be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites with slight nitrates?

 

[smegforbrains]

NitrATE should always be less than 40ppm

 

[minxfishy]

Yeah in a fully cycled tank, ammonia and nitrIte should be at 0, nitrAtes need to be kept as low as possible, its recommended to be around 40ppm, but thats not always possible as some people can have 20+ppm from their tap water, but the water changes keep the nitrAtes low in a fully stocked tank, so they are not really anything to be concerned about in a well maintained tank.

 

[wilchil64]

Yeah in a fully cycled tank, ammonia and nitrIte should be at 0, nitrAtes need to be kept as low as possible, its recommended to be around 40ppm, but thats not always possible as some people can have 20+ppm from their tap water, but the water changes keep the nitrAtes low in a fully stocked tank, so they are not really anything to be concerned about in a well maintained tank.

Well, just tested the water again and good news: no ammonia and only the very slightest tiny hint of pink to the nitrite test, under the 0.1 mg/L, definitely much less than yesterday. Very much fingers crossed that it is sorting itself.

 

[backtotropical]

NitrATE should always be less than 40ppm

Sorry, but this is just wrong. It is reasonable to say that nitrate should be kept as low as possible, which can generally be anything from 0 - 100ppm from tap water in the UK.

There are some fish which don't tolerate nitrate well such as Discus and Mollies, but these fish tend to be the exception rather than the rule, and most fish will tolerate tap water levels with no problems.

Some people may have tap water with 60ppm of nitrate, so to keep nitrate below 40ppm for them would be difficult and / or expensive, especially considering that it probably isn't necessary.

A good practice is to aim to keep the level of nitrate in the tank as close as possible to the level of nitrate from the tap. This is a good indication that tank maintenance is sufficient amongst other things, but to put a nominal value on the maximum level of nitrate is arbitrary at best, and somewhat misleading.


BTT

 

[rocknurworld2006]

NitrATE should always be less than 40ppm

Sorry, but this is just wrong. It is reasonable to say that nitrate should be kept as low as possible, which can generally be anything from 0 - 100ppm from tap water in the UK.

There are some fish which don't tolerate nitrate well such as Discus and Mollies, but these fish tend to be the exception rather than the rule, and most fish will tolerate tap water levels with no problems.

Some people may have tap water with 60ppm of nitrate, so to keep nitrate below 40ppm for them would be difficult and / or expensive, especially considering that it probably isn't necessary.

A good practice is to aim to keep the level of nitrate in the tank as close as possible to the level of nitrate from the tap. This is a good indication that tank maintenance is sufficient amongst other things, but to put a nominal value on the maximum level of nitrate is arbitrary at best, and somewhat misleading.


BTT

yes well answeres, i agree

ur always best to check ur tap water first then that is what u want to try and keep it close to

mine is 5 whihc im lucky but like saidsome is 60 and unpractical to keep it lower

 

[wilchil64]

I got my new API tests yesterday (they are so much easier to read than the Nutrafin test kit) and am happy to say that my tank is totally clear of ammonia and nitrites. I'll keep a close eye on it from now on, I haven't fed the fish for two days to be on the safe side, I'll feed them today and keep it to a minumum for a while.

 

[minxfishy]

Glad to hear its all back to normal

 

[wilchil64]

Glad to hear its all back to normal

I've now also got an API nitrate test and tested both tanks, both are coming back with no ammonia, no nitrites, but nitrates between 20 and 40 ppm. Is this too high?

We did a 20% water change on the 180 litre last night, because it was closer to 40 ppm, maybe just over, last night. Should I keep doing water changes until it's much lower or is 20 to 40 ppm acceptable?

We've got my MIL and partner all weekend and I didn't really want to spend all weekend slopping buckets of water around but of course will if necessary. I was intending on doing the water changes on Monday, when they're gone. We usually do 20% water change a week, which has been fine up til we moved the tanks around.

I'm still keeping their food to a small amount every second day until the water is right.

 

[wilchil64]

Glad to hear its all back to normal

I'm going to test my tap water to see how high the nitrate content is first - sorry, had read that above, but forgotten.
Thanks.