Nitrite levels
- Thread starter bernabei
- Start date
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by bernabei
:help: I'm having trouble regulating my nitrite level. I need some advice on how better to manage it. If anyone could give me some tricks or suggestions i would appreciate it.
If it is nitrIte you need to stop feeding. nitrItes will bump up after adding fish for the first time. Not feeding will allow them to return to 0.0 in a few days.
If it is nitrAtes then you need to add plant life to consume the nitrAtes. Actually plant life will also help nitrItes by consuming ammonia. Further nitrAtes can be relativly high and not affect fish.
HTH
bernabei
New Member
karajay
Active Member
Ammonia and nitrite levels should always be at zero in a cycled tank. If you are consistantly seeing a nitrite reading other than zero, then your tank has not completely cycled. Any detectable nitrite can be toxic.
If you do not test your own water, I would recommend that you start.
No, a UGF will NOT help.
If you do not test your own water, I would recommend that you start.
No, a UGF will NOT help.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by bernabei
bern: you betcha. actually nitrItes and nitrates will never go to 0.0 by water changes alone. 1) stop all feeding for a week. that should bring nitrItes down to 0.0.
2) and most important, establish a thriving plant growth. plant life even the ugly hair and slime algaes will consume ammonia, nitrAtes, phosphates and carbon dioxide. and in the process the reduce carbon dioxide will raise the daytime ph. Plus the plants will filter out heavy ions and all type of stuff.
if you don't like the hair slime algaes then add macro algeas or true marine plants. You may want to add a refugium in tank or external to protect or hide the plant life. But the bottom line you probably would not have lost your fish if you had more plant life in your system.
gregvabch
Active Member
it's a separate tank/sump/container that you house plants in, slowly cycling your display tank water through to naturally purify the water by using the plants to absorb the impurities. do a search using the search engine for the forums and you'll find all kinds of ideas and further info on them.
purity
Member
Originally posted by beaslbob
2) and most important, establish a thriving plant growth. plant life even the ugly hair and slime algaes will consume ammonia, nitrAtes, phosphates and carbon dioxide. and in the process the reduce carbon dioxide will raise the daytime ph. Plus the plants will filter out heavy ions and all type of stuff.
hey bob,
i've actually been on a little algae/aptasia extraction mission for the last couple months. i removed all the bubble algae on the LR and have been giving aptasias bi-weekly kalk injections. the tank's been lookin a lot better lately BUT...
lately i've also been getting higher nitrate levels too. now that you've mentioned what i quoted, i'm wonderin if my erradication mission could actually have brought up the nitrates :notsure:
whaddya think?
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by Purity
hey bob,
i've actually been on a little algae/aptasia extraction mission for the last couple months. i removed all the bubble algae on the LR and have been giving aptasias bi-weekly kalk injections. the tank's been lookin a lot better lately BUT...
lately i've also been getting higher nitrate levels too. now that you've mentioned what i quoted, i'm wonderin if my erradication mission could actually have brought up the nitrates :notsure:
whaddya think?
Absolutely. I have seen people on this board and experienced it myself. Start your tank get hair algae add cleaner crews or control that algae and the tank goes to pot. not just nitrates but phosphates and carbon dioxide as well.
The key is to keep the plant life going. If you clean up one form of plant life then replace with another. but keep the plant life thriving. I added macros and finally cultured macros in another container. Not only did the ugly algaes go away but the fish stopped dieing. and my tang not only survived but grew fat on the new live algae he could eat.
Bern A refugium is like a wildwife refuge. Only it protects plants and small animals that would otherwise be eaten by the fish. It can be in tank or an external container with a pump. I have an external and a new in tank which I made from an egg crate from Home depot. basically a 4'x2' eggcrate light diffuser ($10.00) placed vertically 4" from the back wall of the tank. The macros can grow between the tank wall and egg crate. And as they grow the poke out into the display area. Where my fish can still eat some but most are protected. And the egg crate covers the filters at the back of the tank.
What ever you do my main point is you take care of your plants and they will take care of the tank.
barry cuda
Member
Bern, another suggestion is to post a quick description of what equipment you DO have ... that way the experts here (and there are plenty of them
) will be able to make some more solid suggestions as to what might help. Do you have, for example, any of the following:
Protein skimmer?
Any live rock? How much?
Any kind of filter? What kind?
Also, how many fish/what kinds in the tank? How big is the tank?
Protein skimmer?
Any live rock? How much?
Any kind of filter? What kind?
Also, how many fish/what kinds in the tank? How big is the tank?
bernabei
New Member
I have Two Whisper filters( more than I need- According to LFD) about 15lbs of live rock, I have a 55gal. tank. And nothing left except 1 yellow tang, 6 snails 2 crabs and a starfish. We lost everything else! Checked levels today (got our own testing kit ) and everthing is OK now. All Levels seem to be in normal range. I am thinking of adding something inexpensive to see if it will make it before I lose $150.00 in fish again.:happyfish
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by bernabei
I have Two Whisper filters( more than I need- According to LFD) about 15lbs of live rock, I have a 55gal. tank. And nothing left except 1 yellow tang, 6 snails 2 crabs and a starfish. We lost everything else! Checked levels today (got our own testing kit ) and everthing is OK now. All Levels seem to be in normal range. I am thinking of adding something inexpensive to see if it will make it before I lose $150.00 in fish again.:happyfish
the beauty of recommend plant life is the system you have whatever it is benefits from plant life. Your system is fine. the tang will plants especially gracilaria. By getting the plants in there and thriving you can start adding fish again. Just go slow. This time with the plant life the fish will thrive.
fshhub
Active Member
bernabei
form the sounds of things, your levels never completely stabilized? the only way to be sure the cycle is complete is to monitor your parameters for 2 weeks after they come down, just because they came down, does not mean the tank is completely cyceld and ready. If there is any non live matter(ie. dead rock or sand or little gadgets people put in their tanks), then there is a good possiblity things will fluctuate for a while(even months), before they stabilize.(Beleive me, i went thru it once with a tank that i tried ot use dead rock in for decor and it was quite boggling for a while.) And if they are not stable, then it is not safe to add fish. and plant life may help, but it may also hinder things.
plant life is good, but should be used in a fuge, not the main tank.
But, if you have lots of plant life, it could be giving you false(not actually false, but inaccurate)readings. you want stability and 0 trites and ammonia too much plant life will brign it down ultimately but it also masks it thru the consumption. YOU WANT IT ZERO, even without plant life. That would be the goal you want to achieve. then the macros will be an added benefit and help with the trates and food source for you tank.
Plants are not a cure all and if used like this, would be the proverbial bandaid on the cracked damn. Fix the problem first, then build, instead of merely hiding it. Because hidden, it is still existant. This is not an out of sight out of mind scenario where out of sight would mean it is all good.
form the sounds of things, your levels never completely stabilized? the only way to be sure the cycle is complete is to monitor your parameters for 2 weeks after they come down, just because they came down, does not mean the tank is completely cyceld and ready. If there is any non live matter(ie. dead rock or sand or little gadgets people put in their tanks), then there is a good possiblity things will fluctuate for a while(even months), before they stabilize.(Beleive me, i went thru it once with a tank that i tried ot use dead rock in for decor and it was quite boggling for a while.) And if they are not stable, then it is not safe to add fish. and plant life may help, but it may also hinder things.
plant life is good, but should be used in a fuge, not the main tank.
But, if you have lots of plant life, it could be giving you false(not actually false, but inaccurate)readings. you want stability and 0 trites and ammonia too much plant life will brign it down ultimately but it also masks it thru the consumption. YOU WANT IT ZERO, even without plant life. That would be the goal you want to achieve. then the macros will be an added benefit and help with the trates and food source for you tank.
Plants are not a cure all and if used like this, would be the proverbial bandaid on the cracked damn. Fix the problem first, then build, instead of merely hiding it. Because hidden, it is still existant. This is not an out of sight out of mind scenario where out of sight would mean it is all good.
fshhub
Active Member
PS
more, much more LR would help
the 2 whispers, are not even clse to waht you would need ofr circulation, and they probably shouel ony be used for circulation, without any filters in them. When was the last time they were changed? changing them will give you rises in amm and trites too, but not changing them could create much more problems as well.
what do you have for substrate? and how much?
an undergravel filter would only add to your problems, JMEO
more, much more LR would help
the 2 whispers, are not even clse to waht you would need ofr circulation, and they probably shouel ony be used for circulation, without any filters in them. When was the last time they were changed? changing them will give you rises in amm and trites too, but not changing them could create much more problems as well.
what do you have for substrate? and how much?
an undergravel filter would only add to your problems, JMEO
bernabei
New Member
Oh my God! I have dead rock in my tank!!! My filters are for 30-60 gal EACH that is not enough for a 55 gal? My levels were at zero for my ammonia two days ago and everything else was in normal range. My LFD told me to treat for disease this week then try adding fish. He seems to think it was not the levels that killed the fish because they all died over a week span, every day I would have 2-3 dead fish! I hope this all gets straightened out. My LFD is a great guy and has been in the business forever- he took over his fathers business. I do wish he would have told me about the water change thing though, He knew I didn't know anything!:sleepy:
My levels were at zero for my ammonia two days ago and everything else was in normal range. My LFD told me to treat for disease this week then try adding fish. He seems to think it was not the levels that killed the fish because they all died over a week span, every day I would have 2-3 dead fish! I hope this all gets straightened out. My LFD is a great guy and has been in the business forever- he took over his fathers business. I do wish he would have told me about the water change thing though, He knew I didn't know anything!:sleepy: