Water Change for Nitrites

[Dawnn]

@Dawnn

Are posting this on another site using the use name Fishstickss"

If so, I told you there what I will tell you here. If you can afford to spend a bit of money I could help you. By that I mean spending $12.97 on Amazon with free delivery. This is to buy a bottle of actual live tank bacteria. Not only am I pretty experienced in cycling, iI also keep clowns. Here is my 150 gal. clown tank. You cannot see all 11 of them in the pic, sorry.

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@Byron
When this was posted elsewhere it indicated that both ammonia and nitrite were an issue. Here is the post from the other site:


This is 100% a cycling issue. And it illustrates why the fewer water changes one can possible do during a fishless or even a fish-in cycle are the best way to go, Of course this does not mean if the situation calls for a water change that oneshould not do it.

Nitrite needs no water change in a fishless cyle until the test kit read ov 16 ppm on an API type test kit as this will stall a cycle. Ammonia levels over about 6.4 ppm will stall a fishless cycle as well. So only when those numbers are hit should one do a mid-cycle water change for a fishless cycle.

Fish in are a different matter. When it comes to ammonia, over the short term, the absolute Total Ammonia (NH3 +NH4) number is not as important as knowing how much of that total is in the toxic NH3 form (ammonia) v.s the much less toxic NH4 form (ammonium). What this means is that one tank with 2 ppm of total ammonia can be safe for a bit while in another tank .5 ppm can be harmful.

The nitrite level is at the highest 5.0ppm on the API chart.
Yes, I posted on another site about the ammonia because that was the problem then, and for a long time. When i ask for that advice I had just began using Prime. I measured the levels after that post and the ammonia was gone but the nitrites went high. My log in would not work on that site again to get back and give up update, so here it is

 

[Naughts]

Please share what would you do Naughts. Are you saying that its taken two years to cycle my tank?

I would do water changes until the nitrites were gone.
Are you saying your tank has been showing ammonia or nitrites for two years?
If yes, there are two possible issues as to why - the source water or the maintenance routine. Please can you provide details of both.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@Dawnn
I will leave you to work with the person you just asked for advice and I will back away.

And there are more possible reasons you have ammonia that long. I will offer a clue,

I can take a brand new tank and set it up and stock it reasonanly full and never cycle it and never have to deal with ammonia etc. I will just change a lot of water regularly. I mean big amounts every day. I will clean the media a lot and vacuum like mad into the gravel. I will feed as little as is need to keep the fish healthy. All of these things will keep an uncycled tank safe for as long as one can keep up with the maintenance.

Also since fish have a habit of growing, as they do they will produce more ammonia.

Now I am not one to overdose stuff or to use it needlessly. SeaChem claims Prime detoxifies ammonia. But they will also tell you this in their FAQ section:

Q: I am using Prime® to control ammonia but my test kit says it is not doing anything, in fact it looks like it added ammonia! What is going on?

A: A Nessler based kit will not read ammonia properly if you are using Prime®... it will look "off scale", sort of a muddy brown (incidentally a Nessler kit will not work with any other products similar to Prime®). A salicylate based kit can be used, but with caution. Under the conditions of a salicylate kit the ammonia-Prime® complex will be broken down eventually giving a false reading of ammonia (same as with other products like Prime®), so the key with a salicylate kit is to take the reading right away. However, the best solution ;-) is to use our MultiTest™ Ammonia kit; it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (total ammonia is both free ammonia and non-toxic ionized forms of ammonia).

I hope you solve your problems.

 

[Slaphppy7]

@Dawnn , in the two years you have had this tank, how often have you changed the water?

How is the tank filtered? How often do you clean the filter(s)? What kind of substrate is in the tank? Is it planted?

Are the two CLs and the catfish the only fish that have been in the tank, the entire time you have had it?

Post some pics of the tank here...it may help

 

[Dawnn]

No the tank is not planted. I had a few java ferns but they didn't do too well and the fronds would shed and clog the filter fins. You can see that the filter is an in tank Marineland canister. Using zeolite mixed with charcoal and the sleeve. Chg monthly, sometimes rinsing the sleeve. Always use the aquarium water for light cleaning. Abt 50% or less water chg at least once a week now. Periods of daily or every other day 25% chgs when ammonia levels continued to rise. I've always used API Essentials and Ammo Lock but stopped the Ammo Lock a few months ago using Essentials only until the last few weeks of Prime. In the last 2 yrs lost one big Pleco who was 10 yrs old. Thanks!

 

[seangee]

Add fast growing plants. Floating plants like amazon frogbit and water sprite require minimal maintenance. For rooted plants ambulia and hygrophilia are easy and low maintenance. Live plants are insurance against filter failure, with enough plants you don't technically need a filter except for circulation.
Personally I would lose the carbon as it is not needed and needs to be replaced regularly to be effective.
Lose the zeolite. Once it is saturated it no longer does its job and needs to be replaced or recharged. Either option means you lose the BB already built up in it. I would gradually replace these with ordinary filter media and then never change that. Does not have to be expensive or high tech. FWIW the only media I have in my 4 tanks is sponge. One way or another you should not be struggling with ammonia or nitrites after 2 years or adding chemicals to deal with it.

P.S. How do you keep your substrate and ornaments so clean? They are impressively clean for a tank that has been running for 2 years, but in a mature tank I would expect there to be far more BB in the substrate than the filter. Substrate especially should be treated the same way as filter media. By all means gravel vac and rinse in tank water - but if you periodically remove it to clean you run the risk of putting the tank back into a new cycle.

 

[Naughts]

No the tank is not planted. I had a few java ferns but they didn't do too well and the fronds would shed and clog the filter fins. You can see that the filter is an in tank Marineland canister. Using zeolite mixed with charcoal and the sleeve. Chg monthly, sometimes rinsing the sleeve. Always use the aquarium water for light cleaning. Abt 50% or less water chg at least once a week now. Periods of daily or every other day 25% chgs when ammonia levels continued to rise. I've always used API Essentials and Ammo Lock but stopped the Ammo Lock a few months ago using Essentials only until the last few weeks of Prime. In the last 2 yrs lost one big Pleco who was 10 yrs old. Thanks!

Zeolite and charcoal are useful short-term in certain situations but should not be needed on a permanent basis. Instead, they should be removed and replaced with standard media, such as sponge.