Help!! Nitrite Problem

ren9999

ren9999

Member
i have a 10 gallon QT tank!. I had to add a ich blue tang into it in a hurry without able to fully cycle the QT tank.
I did seed it with filter pads from my main tank.
after 1 week now, the nitrite has climbed up to 1 and still steadily climbing up.
what can I do now to lower that?
I did daily water chagne but doesnt seem to be helping at all.
 
farmboy

farmboy

Active Member
How big is your display? I use water from my display to refresh the QT, then top it off with new water. THat way, I get some good bacteria in the QT and don't worry as much about a spike. HTH
WHOAAAA! :scared: A tang in a 10 gallon??? How big is it?
 
ren9999

ren9999

Member
its a 2 inch blue tang.
I DO NOT have any other choice but to put him in the 10g QT.
my display is a 90 g.
how can you use yoru display to refresh your QT when your QT is in hypo?
any other suggestions to lower my nitrite?
 
blue oasis

blue oasis

Member
We presently have all our fish (for another week) in a 20 gal long because they also came down with the disease ick.
We do daily water changes in the QT, we take 10 gal out and replace the water with 5 gal of water from our main tank where the Nitrate, Nitrite & Ammonia is at 0. We then add 5 gal of RO to keep the SG down. Then add fresh salt water back into the main tank.
So far both tanks have been running well and both tanks readings are on the mark. The fish look much better, we also keep the QT at 80 degrees and the SG at 1.010 - 1.012.
N & G
 
ren9999

ren9999

Member
OK I will try everyone's advice. It seems to be something I havn't done to use main tank's water.
Maybe I should also use a filter pad from the main tank's sump.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Nitrite is harmless so you're fine as long as the Ammonia stays at zero.
It wouldn't hurt anything to do daily 50% water changes using water from the main tank.
 
ren9999

ren9999

Member
I am confused, Nitrite is harmless??? i thought nitrite is just as poisionous as ammonia? but definitely will do a 50% water change using water from main tank tonight.
 
af330i

af330i

Member
I had a simliar problem with my QT tank a few months back, I took sand from the main tank and put it in the qt, did a water change and the qt didn't need to recycle.
My understanding is the bacteria needed to maintain the cycle is in the substrate (along with your other systems such as a wet/dry though you obviously aren't going to remove these systems from the main tank) and that cycled water will not be able to avoid a re-cycling if it doesn't have the live sand from the main tank (or substrate).
 
corally

corally

Active Member
Originally Posted by ren9999
I am confused, Nitrite is harmless??? i thought nitrite is just as poisionous as ammonia? but definitely will do a 50% water change using water from main tank tonight.

I'm confused too. I thought nitrites were even worse than ammonia and nitrates. Can somebody set :thinking: me straight?
 
farmboy

farmboy

Active Member
That was my understanding as well. Nitrates are bad at HIGH levels. Nitrites are bad at low levels. Amonia is real bad at low levels.
Bang, did you have a typo there? Should that have been nitrate instead of nitrite?
 
blue oasis

blue oasis

Member
This is what I have been told when it come to Ammonia, Nitrate & Nitrite.
Ammonia you do not want to go past .25, zero is ideal but most tanks are between 0-.25.
Nitrate - you always want to stay at 0
Nitrite - you always want to stay at 0
I am not an expert, but this is what I live by with my tank
N & G
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
1 - Nitrite is harmless until you get to very high levels. If you somehow got it to the impossible level of 50ppm or higher then your animals will start to become stressed by it. I doubt you could get it above 10ppm without adding it directly to the water. The myth of toxic Nitrite is a carryover from freshwater. Nitrite is deadly in freshwater but not saltwater. In fact, if you need an emergency fix for Nitrite poisoning in a freshwater tank all you have to do is add a small amount of salt.
2 - Very few bacteria are in tank water. They live on surfaces and occationalyy blow off to settle elsewhere. I suggested tank water because it will be stable, not because of any bacteria in the water. Stability is important for sick fish and if you're changing large quantities of water (ie 50%) you don't want to be adding a new batch of saltwater because salinity, PH, etc will be different day to day.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by ren9999
if Nitrite is harmless then why do we bother to check and make sure nitrite is 0???
I don't.
Having a Nitrite level above zero is an indication of a problem in the tank though. It means something has made the biological filtration unstable.
 
farmboy

farmboy

Active Member
THat is good to know about nitrite in a SW tank. I must admit, I am a freshie convert.

My seachem test requires the nitrite test as a base for the nitrate. SO if I test for trates, I have already tested for trites.
 
azocean709

azocean709

Member
Originally Posted by Farmboy
THat is good to know about nitrite in a SW tank. I must admit, I am a freshie convert.

My seachem test requires the nitrite test as a base for the nitrate. SO if I test for trates, I have already tested for trites.
i use that same test.
Bangguy....I learn something new every day . i was talkin to my boss who has a 75 gallon FW and i told him it looked like it needed a water change...water was nasty. he dont pull dead fish out or anything. <he has bass and catfish in it> I told him i would test his water and i bet it is horrible...so i did. His nitrites were high...ammonia high, trates i couldn't even read cause my little test don't go that high....lol and he is wondering why his fish are dying... Ill set his AZZ straight...LMAO im gonna try that little bit of salt on his tank after we do a water change.
 
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