nitrite HELP

[tropicalfishlady]

My water bill went up 60 buck this month because of all the water changes I am going to have to cut back I can't afford it 120 gallons a day is ridiculous

Oh god !!! How many.gallons is your tank ?
The most needed is 50% like.half the tanks.water.
Over here in UK we like pay one rate for whatever we use,plus i only have a small tank

 

[Stacie3972]

It's a 50 gallon but dumping it twice gets the nitrites down to almost 0.the extra 20 is to run the water changer. I don't mind putting in the work just can't afford it. So you think I shouldn't be doing 2 75 % pwc a day?

 

[Stacie3972]

The town is live in in Texas is we pay one rate for 3000 gallons any we use over we pay extra and using 120 a day on just 1 aquarium not to mention what my husband and I use for dishes laundry and baths yeah it went way up!

 

[tropicalfishlady]

It's a 50 gallon but dumping it twice gets the nitrites down to almost 0.the extra 20 is to run the water changer. I don't mind putting in the work just can't afford it. So you think I shouldn't be doing 2 75 % pwc a day?

Well.maybe its up to you,most i do.is half 50% but my tank.is smaller so maybe u do need to.do.75%, its just when u sed.120 gallon a day lol

 

[tropicalfishlady]

The town is live in in Texas is we pay one rate for 3000 gallons any we use over we pay extra and using 120 a day on just 1 aquarium not to mention what my husband and I use for dishes laundry and baths yeah it went way up!

Ahhh right well it would do i know you need to get nitrites down but they will come down only when tht nxt stage bacteria for nitrite build up,its part of cycling and with u having fish in you will need to do wc's to help them.because it is toxic to them,i wish you good luck with it and all i can say really is you will get there and i.just hope your fish will be ok after it all

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Ahhh right well it would do i know you need to get nitrites down but they will come down only when tht nxt stage bacteria for nitrite build up,its part of cycling and with u having fish in you will need to do wc's to help them.because it is toxic to them,i wish you good luck with it and all i can say really is you will get there and i.just hope your fish will be ok after it all

Plus a big hello Texas from UK x

 

[Stacie3972]

Hello from way far away! Lol ill try it just doing half a day that would help a lot. Thanks for all your help!

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Hello from way far away! Lol ill try it just doing half a day that would help a lot. Thanks for all your help!

No problem,a 50% is a decent wc,ive just read a lot that its 25% or 50% per week once cycled,if you are not cycled like yours at present you may have to do a 50% ev day or ev other day,you do that for your fish to help get them.through nitrite stage as i say good luck,Nitrites can.come down quite quick mine were like 5.0,then 0.50,then 0.25 then ammonia settles as nitrites come down until.they.end up both zero,sorry i can'y remember the time inbetween.the drops but just 2 give ya an idea,you are heading in right direction i think

 

[Stacie3972]

I'll try 50 pwc for a while and see how It works out. Glad to know I'm not the only one that goes through this

 

[librarygirl]

What filter do you have on this tank?
What kind of gourami?
What kind of pleco?

I think two things are happening here:

You are probably underfiltered for the amount of fish you have and the bacteria don't have enough places to grow on and mostly you're way overstocked even for a cycled tank. The Severum and Chocolate Cichlid can grow very large (10+) inches and are going to outgrow the tank; in the meantime they're putting out a lot of waste. If the pleco is a common, it can grow up to 18" and they are very messy fish in general.

The only things you might be able to move to the 30 would be the gouramis if they are dwarfs but it woudn't make much difference in the toxin levels with the other large messy fish you have and then you'd be doing water changes on two tanks.

First let us know your filtration; adding more might (MIGHT) help but in the long run you're going to have to either upgrade to a massive tank or start rehoming some fish. Sorry.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

I'll try 50 pwc for a while and see how It works out. Glad to know I'm not the only one that goes through this

Ok keep.progress posted
I once read somewhere that we call ourselves fishkeepers but really we should be called water keepers
True that i think,also read if we lool after the water,the fish will be happy and look after themselves .....well we feed them too !!!

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Ok keep.progress posted
I once read somewhere that we call ourselves fishkeepers but really we should be called water keepers
True that i think,also read if we lool after the water,the fish will be happy and look after themselves .....well we feed them too !!!

Librarygirl will have a point as ive not researched your type of fish,sorry ive been going on about you on the right track for cycling cos it seemed to me like you were,ive no experience with large fish as ive only a 10 gallon.
Just saying i knew how it felt because ive gone through cycling and the patience you need but if you.have large fish well.... Good luck though

 

[Stacie3972]

What filter do you have on this tank?
What kind of gourami?
What kind of pleco?

I think two things are happening here:

You are probably underfiltered for the amount of fish you have and the bacteria don't have enough places to grow on and mostly you're way overstocked even for a cycled tank. The Severum and Chocolate Cichlid can grow very large (10+) inches and are going to outgrow the tank; in the meantime they're putting out a lot of waste. If the pleco is a common, it can grow up to 18" and they are very messy fish in general.

The only things you might be able to move to the 30 would be the gouramis if they are dwarfs but it woudn't make much difference in the toxin levels with the other large messy fish you have and then you'd be doing water changes on two tanks.

First let us know your filtration; adding more might (MIGHT) help but in the long run you're going to have to either upgrade to a massive tank or start rehoming some fish. Sorry.

I have a Marineland emperor 280 filter it has a slot for a basket that holds carbon but I do t have it in there somewhere I need to put it in there? The gromies are 2 blue and 2 honey or gold and 1 pearl. And the pleco is just the regular one I guess. he's black the kind that are common.

 

[phishfriend]

I have the same filter. I have the basket filled with ceramic rings. You should do the same. Carbon haves to be changed often. The ceramic rings will home a lot more BB for your system and help process a lot more ammonia and nitrites. They also never need to be changed. Just pack each row of the empty cartridge with as much ceramic that you can. It will really help!

 

[Stacie3972]

Ok what are those and where so I get them?

 

[phishfriend]

Ok what are those and where so I get them?

They come in a verity of shapes and sizes. They are a form of bio medium designed to hold as much beneficial bacteria as possible is something as small as a pc of gravel. You lfs will have them. You just need a small container about 4 oz I'd say to fill that cartridge.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...yoCQDA&usg=AFQjCNEeUQz86g4QRviIehfPd5mCRjD_jw

 

[Stacie3972]

Ok so they go in the little basket that the carbon is supposed to go it? And you run that along with the size e cartridge? Would pet smart have this ceramic stuff?

 

[phishfriend]

Ok so they go in the little basket that the carbon is supposed to go it? And you run that along with the size e cartridge? Would pet smart have this ceramic stuff?

Yup they would and I run both all the time. Make the gray basket the second slot. So the water from the impeller filters thru the blue cartridge first then hits the rings then back into the tank. The rings will seed in about a week. This should help stabilize your system. I don't know the exact numbers but they add a bunch of BB storage. Read up on them.

 

[Stacie3972]

Ok will do it right now! Thanks sooooo much I was really really dreading getting rid of my fish I'm sure I still might have to but I'm gonna try this first.

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Ok will do it right now! Thanks sooooo much I was really really dreading getting rid of my fish I'm sure I still might have to but I'm gonna try this first.

I have a cartridge of its own for bio-media phisfriend is right,its great surface area for bb,would help a lot !!!