Nitrites issue

[dingus890]

I did a water change today as I do about a 10% to 15% every week.I tested the water and the Nitrites are at 0.5 ppm

.The Ammonia is 0 and the NitrAtes are 5ppm.
I have not changed the filter yet as I do that every month.I am going to do that tomorrow.
Should I slow down the seahorse feedings?Maybe the tank is ajusting to the new bio-load of the seahorse?
Any help welcomed.

 

[nwdyr]

I don't know anything about sea horse's , but that is not a bad number I have a reef tank , maybe that's diff.

 

[dingus890]

Checked it today and it went back to 0 after I changed the filter

 

[novahobbies]

Good news!

 

[dingus890]

Nitrites are back to 0.25ppm

(In the original post I put 0.5ppm but they were 0.25ppm)
I am getting concerned.Maybe the bio filter is still ajusting or maybe the horse and many feedings is too much for it to handle.
I will be doing a water change tomorrow.

 

[novahobbies]

Can you tell us some of the tank info? Is it the 30 gallon you have on your profile? How many seahorses, what ind of filtration......any powerheads? What about other animal life in the tank -- any other animals, vertebrate or otherwise? What substrate do you have? Is this a biocube style tank? Sorry for the thousand questions, I'm just trying to get a feel to see if there's anything we can change......

 

[dingus890]

2 inches of aragonite live sand.
About 10 to 15 pounds live rock.
Tetra filter rated for 20-40 gallon tanks.
1 Marine labs penguin 550 145 Gallons Per Hour Power Head.
Other tankmates are a black and white clownfish,Firefish,yellow clown goby,peppermint shrimp,3 tiny blue legged hermit crabs and 2 large Nassarius snails.
Some mushroom corals and kenya tree coral.
I do water changes everyweek.The tank finished cycling in June 2008 and has been running fine since the horse.I got the horse 3 weeks ago I think.
This is my 3rd saltwater tank.Never had problems like this with my other 2.
Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrites 0.25ppm, NitrAtes 5-10ppm.
Maybe I am over feeding with the cyclops.
I think the tank is like 20-25G.Not sure. It is a taller tank.

 

[novahobbies]

Originally Posted by dingus890
http:///forum/post/2796581
About 10 to 15 pounds live rock.
Tetra filter rated for 20-40 gallon tanks.
I think the tank is like 20-25G.Not sure. It is a taller tank.
Think this might be part of the problem. If you're talking about the small tetra hang-in filter that's rated for 20-40 gallons, that's not gonna be enough filtration, even for a 20-25 gallon tank. It would have been fine for the fish, but the seahorse overloaded the capacity of the filter. Do you have room on the tank for a bigger filter? My favorite HOB's are the Emperor 400's but that would defintely be overkill....the Penguin 200 biowheel would be good, and it's rated higher than the Tetra. Also, if you really like Tetra, I've seen the new Tetra EX70 and EX45 that might work.
Additionally, you may want to consider increasing your LR by another 10 lbs. I know it might be hard in a smaller tank, but given the bioload you mentioned, you'll need the natural filtering power of the LR.
A third thing you might consider trying is placing a polyfilter pad in your filter. This will chemically remove ammonia and phosphate, leading naturally to a reduction of nitrite and nitrate. While I don't have 'trite problems in my seahorse tank, I usually see a 'trate reading of 10 ppm or so due to the waste these animals produce. So I'm not worried about your 5 ppm just yet.
One last thiing: are you sure it's not your test?? Most test chemicals start going south after a year or so. If you have another tank, use the test kit on the second tank and compare readings...or just go out and buy a new set.
Really hope this helps, I know how frustrating it can be to be fighting with your chemistry.

 

[dingus890]

I may try another filter.
I am not sure if it is the test kits.But it is strange how it goes from 0 to 0.25 back to 0 than back to 0.25.So who knows.I got the test kits in March 2008.
I may try to add more live rock from my other coral tank.But it is pretty full with the 15 pounds.
I do think I have been overfeeding the tank with the cyclops and that is the problem.They are so small and it is hard to tell how much to feed a growing horse.
Also after I covered the filter with mesh it seems to not be able to filter as well.

It is frusterating but I am hoping the 11% water change will help tomorrow.
Thanks for your help Nova! Also you Star Trek models are awesome!
Not really a fan but they are really detailed!

 

[dingus890]

I just tested the Nitrites again and they are back at 0ppm.

I don't get it but maybe I need to get new test kits.
Maybe the bio load is trying to keep up with the seahorse.
I cleaned the sponge that covers my powerhead and that let a bunch of crap back into my tank...AGH...lol
I also turned my filter up as it is ajustable.

 

[gsellers]

probably your bacterial load cant keep up with ammonia introduction. Also check out this link...itll help you understand a little bit better
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~terry/Common/respiration.html

 

[novahobbies]

LOL OK, this is starting to sound like a cyclical thing...in which case you may indeed be overfeeding. Is the nitrite spiking an hour or two after feeding?
Also, what sp. seahorse do you have? Is it an animal that can eat larger food....perhaps something you can clean up again if food is left uneaten?
Thanks for the comments on the models, yeah, they're a guilty hobby of mine!

Originally Posted by dingus890
http:///forum/post/2796690
I may try another filter.
I am not sure if it is the test kits.But it is strange how it goes from 0 to 0.25 back to 0 than back to 0.25.So who knows.I got the test kits in March 2008.
I may try to add more live rock from my other coral tank.But it is pretty full with the 15 pounds.
I do think I have been overfeeding the tank with the cyclops and that is the problem.They are so small and it is hard to tell how much to feed a growing horse.
Also after I covered the filter with mesh it seems to not be able to filter as well.

It is frusterating but I am hoping the 11% water change will help tomorrow.
Thanks for your help Nova! Also you Star Trek models are awesome!
Not really a fan but they are really detailed!

 

[dingus890]

I have a female Kelloggi seahorse.She is eating small frozen freshwater cyclops.I would try bigger foods but she is still a pretty tiny girl.She is about 3 to 4 inches from head the uncurled tail.I have been putting less food volume in.Hopefully it will stop spiking.
WHen she is bigger I hope to graduate her to PE mysis.

 

[novahobbies]

Just checking in....are the 'trites still an issue? I was wondering if you should try mini-mysis.....you'd be amazed how big of a prey item seahorses can slurp down, and I don't think even a young kelloggi would have a problem with minimysis.
....Heck, I had a young H. erectus who was barely three inches long suck down full grown mysis if I didn't feed her mini stuff first. Just a thought....

 

[dingus890]

The Nitrites are at 0ppm now.But last night after the tank lights were off for 3 hours and it was about 10PM they were back at 0.25ppm.Than an hour later I tested again and it was at 0ppm. So I don't know...lol
I bought some mini stars and she get them next week to help with clean up.
I may try some mini mysis.I am just worried she may get upset changing foods.But I will try in the future tp introduce it into her diet and see how she likes them.
I did a 12% water change today.

 

[dingus890]

I think I figured out what was causing the Nitrites to spike.I have not seen my peppermint shrimp in about a 2 weeks.I think he may have died in the SH tank.I am hoping he is just hiding somewhere but I think him dieing was cause the strange Nitrite spikes I was having.