High nitrite: Please help.

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Onewayoflife

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 5, 2011
Messages
18
Location
Lichfield, England
Hi. I have got a new fish tank (first time, running 3 weeks now!:D) and the nitrite is WAY too high (last time i checked it was at 2ppm). i went to my LFS and was told to do a 30% PWC every 3-4 days. i have been doing so, and even started doing it daily to help this. i went back to the shop and they tried to sell me some rediculously over-priced stuff (i think it was nitra-zorb, for £11.99, about $20). Since this started, i have lost 2 fish (a male guppy, and a silver shark). is there a way to get rid of nitrite without buying some over-priced 'miracle cure'???

(Amonia- 0ppm. Nitrate- 17ppm (i have live plants))
60 litre tank (13.2 imperial gallons)

:thanks::fish2:
 
I would just start doing PWC's every other day. Do about 30-50% and try to keep the nitrites as low as possible. Like you realized, these miracle cures for high ammonia/nitrite/nitrates are just a waste of money. What is your current stocking in your tank?

Also, don't listen to everything the LFS tells you, 90% of the time they are wrong.
 
I would just start doing PWC's every other day. Do about 30-50% and try to keep the nitrites as low as possible. Like you realized, these miracle cures for high ammonia/nitrite/nitrates are just a waste of money. What is your current stocking in your tank?

Also, don't listen to everything the LFS tells you, 90% of the time they are wrong.


thanks for replying. in my tank, i have:

2 dwaf gouramis,
1 RTBS
2 corydoras ( 1 bronze, 1 spotted)

i did have:

1 guppy
1 silver shark

:thanks:
 
High Nitrates

Hello Oneway...

In addition to the frequent and large water changes. I would recommend getting some fast growing stem plants into your tank. Water Sprite, Water Wisteria and Pennywort are some good ones. Plants are nature's filters and stems get the bulk of their nutrients directly from the water.

B
 
Hello Oneway...

In addition to the frequent and large water changes. I would recommend getting some fast growing stem plants into your tank. Water Sprite, Water Wisteria and Pennywort are some good ones. Plants are nature's filters and stems get the bulk of their nutrients directly from the water.

B


Thanks! i already have 2 live plants, an amazon sword and one im not sure of. can i add the plants you mentioned to this or should i replace them?
:blink:
 
You can definately add them if you have sufficient lighting. I would say you need about 40 watts of light for a 20g with those plants.
 
I would really recommend larger, more frequent water changes. You can do as many water changes as you want(need) to get your levels below 0.25ppm. That means you can do back to back large PWC's.
Also you should really consider rehoming the RTBS (assuming we're talking about the red-tail black shark) because your tank is far too small to house it comfortably.
 
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High Nitrates

Thanks! i already have 2 live plants, an amazon sword and one im not sure of. can i add the plants you mentioned to this or should i replace them?
:blink:

Hello again...

Aaron is correct. These plants will need a minimum of 1 watt of light per gallon of tank water. However, you have a variety of Amazon Sword and most of them require a little brighter light. If the sword is doing well, then I believe the ones I mentioned should be fine. I have these same kinds of plants in my tanks and have a little less than the recommended watts per gallon.

No need to replace any plants, just add these to the ones you have.

B
 
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