Very high nitrite levels will not subside

[Necronius]

I am having nitrite problems and cannot figure out why. I have a 40 gallon tank, and after having problems getting it to cycle correctly, I purchased a package of MarineLand Labs Bio-Spira. i have dosed the tank three times with the bio spira, and the water seemed to be fine for several weeks, but recently the nitrite levels have skyrocketed (over 10 according to my test strips). Since I found this problem, I have been feeding my fish only once a day, and only a small amount, so that there is none left in the water. I have been doing between 10% and 20% water changes every day since the middle of last week, but nothing seems to be helping. The only fish that seems to be ill is a small red tailed shark. My gouramis, tetras, angels, and my pleco all seem normal. Does anyone know anything I could try to fix this problem? It is driving me insain. Since I've installed this tank I've had nothing but problems, and I though I had finally had all the problems worked out, and then this happens. Everything I have read on the internet on the subject of nitrite levels said to change water every day and it will go down in a few days. its been over a week now and the problem seems to have gotten worse. The water is crystal clear, there is no odor, and the gravel appears spotless.

Any information on how to fix this is greatly appreciated.

 

[dralarms]

First you might want to get some liquid tests, people say the 'dip" strips are not accurate at all. second, hows your ammonia?, ph?, kh? and do you have a nitrAte test? your tank might just be cycling but it's hard to tell without more information. My nitrites got to 1.6 mg/l and stayed there for over a week, my fish were showing no signs of stress (except my female betta's), and now I am happy to say my nitrites are back to 0 and my nitrates are between 10 and 20. HTH

 

[Necronius]

Well, my tests show that my water is terrible. my ph and kh are fine, but the nitrates are between 40 and 60, and my ammonia, according to a test tube kit, is very high. I dont understand how this could be. this tank has been up and running now for months, about a month or so ago I gave it its first dose of Bio-Spira (Which i was told by people on this board and others would fix any ammonia problem in a few days) and since I bought the larger package of bio spira, I dosed it 2 more times there after at 2 week intervals, and I dont feed my fish any more than they can consume, yet my water always appears bad on any test I conduct on it. I took some water to a PetsMart store a few weeks back and had them test the water for me, and they told me it was just about perfect (except for the Ph, which i fixed shortly thereafter). None of my fish appear to be ill in any way, other than the red tailed shark, and he has been more active over the last few days.

 

[TankGirl]

What is wrong with your pH? It is never "bad" per se (unless it is below 6 and as high as 9), and the fish you have can do fine in a wider range of pH than you think. I would suspect that measures you have taken to alter your pH may be responsible for your difficulty. Once you are an experienced aquarist then you can start messing with your pH, but I would skip doing that for now.

Second, patience is required here, and that is so very difficult, as I know only too well. It may take weeks for your water levels to stabilize. BioSpira is best used in a completely new setup without measurable ammonia or nitrites, so it will be of limited use in your case, unless you completely tear down your setup. However, I don't think it is necessary to do that, but rather keep on like you have been. I think you are doing the right things with the water changes and you just need to resign yourself to doing this for a while. Don't fret over it and things will come around. If your fish seem happy then I think you are in good shape.

 

[Scottw68TN]

How long has it been cycling. It could take awhile. Overcleaning and chemical ammonia/nitrite removers can cause this kind of problem by halting thr process and making it start again. changing the water is correct.
How long since you first set it up
How long since the fish were added
Give us all parameters.
Using chemicals.
What filter do you have.

 

[Necronius]

I am using the Eclipse 3 hood. The tank was first installed around the 4th of august. My Ph is now at or very near 7. I added Bio-Spira late, but was told by MarineLand Labs that it would work just as well if not better added later, as there is more amonia in the tank for the bacteria to feed and grow on. In fact, they said if it is a new tank and you havent purchased fish yet you should stick alot of food in, and let it decompose to make ammonia allong with adding a harty fish. In fact they said that large aquariums (zoos and such) add large ammounts of ammonia to their aquariums before adding the biospira. Ammonia eating bacteria do not grow well without ammonia. Just before adding the bio spira, my tank sat for 3 or 4 days with no fish, as all but 2 of my fish died off due to a bacterial bloom (Which I posted on this site about back then, and couldnt figure out, but recently found out it was from bad frozen brine shrimp).

I have also heard that having live aquarium plants helps the water chemistry to a point as they absorb some of the chemicals that would normally be in the tank (I dont know how true this is, but I have read it in a few places) and I have quite a few aquarium plants.

I do on occasion use chemicals. I use ACE ammonia remover, but only when I see signs that the fish are being affected by high ammonia levels. The only other chemicals I have added were Bio-Coat, and a small ammount of MelaFix anti bacterial medication after the last bloom caused by the bad shrimp.


I hope this is everything you needed to know

Thanks for your help

 

[cindywindy]

Necronius,

Stop right there ! Don't add another thing to your tank. I think I can help you, but first you must do away with the additives.

What we know about the nitrogen cycle is that to convert ammonia to nitrIte takes a relatively short amount of time, but when we get to the point of conversion from nitrIte to nitrAte, everything slows down to a halt, and could even take up to 10-14 days to complete the process. The saving grace to this is, that once the process of conversion of nitrIte to nitrAte begins, it will fall drastically and will practically overnight disappear. There is nothing, repeat, nothing you can do to speed this up. It WILL happen, it is a failsafe biological process. It just needs to be given time and patience (sometimes LOTS of it, LOL) to complete itself.

What you should be doing at this point to make things tolerable and livable for your fish, are water changes.... LOTS of them. I would suggest 40-50% water changes every other day for the next week ... for emergency purposes, and then lay back to every 2-3 days. Don't sweat so much what the testing kit is telling you, just keep up with the water changes and let nature take its course. The water changes will help keep your fish comfortable during what is undoubtedly a very stressful time for them. They are swimming around in a box full of chemicals and the additives that you are putting in are adding stress to an already stressful situation for them. You don't want this to happen because it weakens their immune systems, leaving the door wide open for diseases to take a stronghold.

Water changes are NEVER a bad thing ... especially during the cycling process. It may even mean life or death for your fish.

Relax... it will happen.

 

[Scottw68TN]

concur
dont gravel vac every time imo just when nitrates are on the rise hopefully the same time nitrites are going down

 

[Necronius]

Will do. Thanks very much for all your help

 

[TankGirl]

I completely agree with Cindywindy - well said (er, posted)!

 

[Crow]

When I cycled my tank, ignorantly following the mega-petstore advice, it took about 8 weeks to cycle. The nitrite cycle was the most frustrating, as they went down, then back up before finally staying down for good. Then it all just disappeared over the course of a day or two. Been fine ever since.

I used the chemicals too. They didn't do anything it seemed. In the end, it's best to just do the water changes and wait it out. In this case, the laid back approach is far superior to the stressed out approach.

One thing more though. The anti-bacterial medicine will kill the good bacteria too. You need to filter it out with activated carbon if you haven't already.

Good Luck, and don't get discouraged.