Anyone else have problems with nitrite?

[Jujubee]

I've been getting great advice and great feedback from several people. But...

Nitrites have been high in my 10 gallon tank that houses 4 platys atm. Ammonia is at 0, nitrates around 40. (12 plants are in the tank and all huge and still growing, several reach the top of the tank and their leaves float on the surface)
I've been doing one to two water changes a day (3 gallons at a time) it's all I can do since I'm restricted to using a bucket. I heat the water up to a little warmer than in the tank before adding it in since I lose a few degrees during the clean. There is no nitrite or nitrates in the water (tap) There is ammonia but It doesn't affect my tank, I'm positive the bacteria that eats the ammonia is present. (I do use a dechlorinator)
For nitrites though I'm not sure if the cycle is stalled or if something else is causing this. Even with water changes the nitrites won't lower more than 3ppm. My fish don't show signs of stress but I know it can severally harm them and even kill them.
Does anyone else have this problem?
Or can someone give me an idea about how long it took for their nitrites to drop to 0 while doing a cycle? It's been about two weeks now for this spike, ammonia has just dropped to 0 within the last few days from a steady .25 for several weeks. ( my tank has been up and running for about a month, the tank sat for a week before I added my first little guys)
I have gotten advice to just keep doing what I'm doing as far as changes and just test the water daily but I'd like a stronger answer if one is available.
If it has been stalled is there a way to kick start it back up?

Readings are
No2 40
No3 3
Ph 7.5
Kh 80-120
Gh 180
Ammonia 0

My kh doesn't fluctuate too much but I can't recall off the top of my head the exact reading from this morning. Gh is always at 180 (we have hard water in va) and ph does go between 7.5-8
Never lower or higher.

Just throwing it out there maybe this can also help someone else as well with the same problem?
Thank you!

 

[Mebbid]

So the nitrAte is at 40 and the nitrite is at 3 correct?

How much are you feeding daily?

What I would do in your case is a series of back to back water changes. Your bucket may hold 3 gallons max but make two trips I wouldn't even try doing less than a 50% water change in your case. I would do 4 50% water changes while waiting 1 hour between them to allow the fish to calm down and the temperature to equalize. This should ideally drop your nitrites down to approx. .25 which is a safe level for your fish as well as pulling out most of your nitrates.

How much are you feeding your fish daily? Fish only need to be fed once a day with just a tiny amount of food. Their stomachs are about the size of their eye so they don't hold much. It also is a fairly good idea to fast your fish 1 day per week just to let their digestive systems clear out.


The nitrate part of the cycle takes quite a bit longer than the ammonia part because the bacteria grow faster but just give it time and it will work itself out.

 

[Rivercats]

The nitrite cycle takes the longest.... Mebbid made a typo... lol! Otherwise what he said is the best way to handle it. Also if you don't like lugging buckets you should look into a Water Changer. I use the Aqueon WC'r and haven't used buckets in years. I even use it on the 6g tank.

 

[Jujubee]

Do you just hook it up and add the water directly from your facet or do you treat it first?

I will continue watching the water and doing water changes. I hope the cycle is complete soon! Thank you for the help

 

[Mebbid]

Do you just hook it up and add the water directly from your facet or do you treat it first?

I will continue watching the water and doing water changes. I hope the cycle is complete soon! Thank you for the help

You add the water directly to your tank but you add an entire tank's dose of dechlorinator to the tank before adding any water so it neutralizes the chlorine as it goes in. I'm sure the cycle will be done soon, you're in the home stretch

 

[Rivercats]

The changers are nice as you hook them to the faucet, then turn the valve switch to draw water out of the tank, then turn it to add water back in. Before adding back in you adjust your water temp on the faucet to where it needs to be, then turn the switch. Then as Mebbid stated you add enough declor to treat the entire tank and fill it back up. I couldn't live without mine anymore.

 

[Jujubee]

Dang that's sounds a heck of a lot easier than the bucket system I've been using. What percentage do you take out when doing a change?
Would online be the best option for purchasing it? How long do they usually run as well? My tank is several feet from the closes faucet.

This is a little off topic but do you guys know anything about plants? I have several. most I'm not sure what they are since they came out of bulbs. They have grown wildly in my tank, to the top. They cover half of my tanks surface, can I trim and replant them? Or would that not work? And do you have any suggestions on low plants that grow on the bottom more so? I've heard java moss. mid way and to the top my tank is set just the bottom seems a little bare. I have low light as well.

 

[Jujubee]

I forgot as well to ask about liquid testers I can't find any for nitrites nitrates ph kh and gh any suggestions on that?

 

[Mebbid]

The water changers are sold in either 25ft or 45ft length. I do a weekly 50% change of my 55g because of the way I fertilize my plants. I actually drain my tanks with a standard siphon into buckets and refill with the water changer. Partly because I broke the siphon attachment to my changer and partly because I don't want to suck up any of my shrimp and send them down my drains. If I use buckets I can check the water before I dump it.


It's funny that you ask about plants because rivercats here is the AQ advice planted tank queen and while I'm no longer a novice with plants I'm still nowhere near as good with plants as river is.

From the sounds of it you have a tiger lotus but a pic will help out a lot. Most bulbs that are sold in stores that have big leafy growth like that are either aponogetons or a lotus.

Tiger lotuses have two different types of leaves that will grow out. One is a more round shaped leaf that will shoot straight towards the surface and should be cut before it reaches that high and there is an underwater leaf that is shaped more like an arrow head. If all the leaves you have are the surface type I am not quite sure how well the plant will rebound if you remove all of them at once so that is something for river to answer but if you keep up on the removal of the surface growing leaves they will eventually grow the underwater ones that don't dominate the surface of your tank quite as badly. Lotuses are heavy root feeders so it might be a good idea to look at some root tabs to give them to help them grow a bit better.

Assuming you have a low light level in your tank some of the best options for foreground plants would be java fern or bolbitis which will need to be tied to a piece of rock or driftwood. Anubias is another plant that would go good with your lighting level of which I think an anubias nana would work well for you. Some crypts will also work in your tank.


Lastly, for the liquid test kit I would take a look at the API master freshwater kit. It doesn't have GH or KH test kits in it but there are very few circumstances where they are actually a necessity in freshwater tanks.

 

[Jujubee]

Fantastic, thank you.

I do have a few java plants anubius and amazon sword. The tiger you talked about sounds exactly like one of the plants that has grown to the top of the tank with huge arrow shaped leaves that are mid tank. But really big compared to the more oval leaves up top. The other plant has small pointy leaves and has a bunch all at the top, they all grow to the top. I don't mind the growth covering the top but deff don't want a bunch covering the whole thing. It makes it a bit hard to clean sometimes.





These are the plants/aquarium. Not the best quality but hopefully it gives an idea.

 

[Jujubee]

I'll be looking online tonight for the test Kit and hose for my tank

 

[Jujubee]

I should add this as well! River knows from an earlier thread that I have 2 tanks that will be here in about two weeks from my home town that I left behind.
What is the best way/best media to add from my tank once it's established to the new tanks? I will have a 2 or 2.5 gal and a 5 gal. I was thinking I would use the 5 gallon for fry but I'm not positive just yet. One of my platys I believe is pregnant. I've never used media from another tank to help another since I'm new to the cycling process.

I do have a stocking question with this as well. My 10 gal has 4 platys atm. Could I add a balloon belly molly without over stocking? Perhaps shrimp or some type of bottom feeder? I'm not interesting in adding any other fish besides a molly or another platy. But deff need some advice if that's going to be too much for a 10 gallon. Nothing will be added until the tank is fully cycled I assure you!

 

[Rivercats]

Dang that's sounds a heck of a lot easier than the bucket system I've been using. What percentage do you take out when doing a change?
Would online be the best option for purchasing it? How long do they usually run as well? My tank is several feet from the closes faucet.

This is a little off topic but do you guys know anything about plants? I have several. most I'm not sure what they are since they came out of bulbs. They have grown wildly in my tank, to the top. They cover half of my tanks surface, can I trim and replant them? Or would that not work? And do you have any suggestions on low plants that grow on the bottom more so? I've heard java moss. mid way and to the top my tank is set just the bottom seems a little bare. I have low light as well.

I do a 50% WC weekly on all my tanks, even the 220g.

The Tiger Lotus you have... it's best to cut off any of the roundish leaves that go to the surface before they reach the surface. Reason being is you want full lush submerged growth and by letting surface leaves actually reach the surface it encourages the plant to throw out more of these type leaves which you don't want.

Other bulbs that are usually in those packages are various types of Aponogeton.

 

[Jujubee]

I do a 50% WC weekly on all my tanks, even the 220g. The Tiger Lotus you have... it's best to cut off any of the roundish leaves that go to the surface before they reach the surface. Reason being is you want full lush submerged growth and by letting surface leaves actually reach the surface it encourages the plant to throw out more of these type leaves which you don't want. Other bulbs that are usually in those packages are various types of Aponogeton.

How can I tell if a plant is dying? I know for a fact I have a few leafs to get rid of on 2 plants when I do their first wc this morning. But there anther plant one of its leaves looks a little more transparent, is this an indicator of that leaf dying? Do you think dying leaves could be causing the nitrite to be spiking as it is??

 

[Rivercats]

Without seeing a picture of the leaf in question it's hard to say but a few damaged leaves won't cause a nitrite spike. When I plant dies all leaves turn colors (usually brown) and stems will rot away. But lower stems can rot but if the plant still has good top growth the tops can be cut off and replanted. But only on stem plants, not swords, crypts, or bulb plants.

 

[Jujubee]

Without seeing a picture of the leaf in question it's hard to say but a few damaged leaves won't cause a nitrite spike. When I plant dies all leaves turn colors (usually brown) and stems will rot away. But lower stems can rot but if the plant still has good top growth the tops can be cut off and replanted. But only on stem plants, not swords, crypts, or bulb plants.

Hmm well then a better question, if I left the leaf in there and it does wither will that affect my water? Or would the other plants use it as more food? This is my first planted aquarium so I'm new to them. I don't have any fert I made sure all were low level light and could root into the gravel.

 

[Rivercats]

One leaf won't effect the water quality. Decaying leaves produce ammonia which plants can use BUT you wouldn't want to have tons of dying plants at one time. Something else to consider is that some plants like Swords actual need damaged leaves trimmed off as they just waste energy on trying to repair leaves that could and should be put towards growing new healthy leaves. So depending on the type of plant would determine if I left the leaf or not.

 

[Jujubee]

Maybe you can help me identify them?
I know some are types of Java And anubius but can't recall the exact ones.





I have no clue what plant is in the very front of the last two pictures, it's skinny and very tall it comes out of the water and hits the top of my tank, I haven't done trimming yet bc I'm not sure how to on that type of plant. I should probably keep a booklet with the plants, filters, tests ect that I purchase for the tanks :/ I didn't think about the fact it can come around to help me.

 

[Jujubee]

One leaf won't effect the water quality. Decaying leaves produce ammonia which plants can use BUT you wouldn't want to have tons of dying plants at one time. Something else to consider is that some plants like Swords actual need damaged leaves trimmed off as they just waste energy on trying to repair leaves that could and should be put towards growing new healthy leaves. So depending on the type of plant would determine if I left the leaf or not.

Here are some pictures from the liquid tests!

 

[Mebbid]

When did you do your last water change?