Nitrite's won't go away...

[wabyrd]

I've had my 50 gal set up for over 2 months now and I can't seem to get my nitrItes down. I've been doing water changes to keep them managed. They have gotten as high as 5ppm. My ammonia is nonexistent as well as my nitrAtes. It seems like the ammonia->nitrIte bacteria are fine, but that there are no nitrite->nitrate bacteria. Any suggestions? I've tried Cycle and have noticed no change.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[chriznat20@msn.]

My best advice to you, and believe me - ive been there..... buy a "water softener pillow" and put it in your filter.
At first, when the kid at the LFS suggested it to lower my nitrites (i was having the SAME exact problem!) I was very skeptical. Anyways, after using it for exactly 48 hours, my nitrites were zero and have been ever since I am so glad I bought it, and its re-usable. Check with your local fish store and ignore the critics on this board, it works WONDERS!
It also takes care of a number of other problems, its a cure-all. It does no harm to any fish or water at all, just removes the bad stuff.
Good Luck and post back, let me know how it goes!!!
-Chris

 

[mendhigirl]

Wow!You've had 2 months of high nitrItes??I'd be going nuts.My nitrItes were at 5ppm for 5 weeks,and just when I was about to give up....they were down to 0.50ppm today!Yay! Patience is good,but the water softener pillow is probably better.Two months is a loong time.I would give it a try.Heck, I was going to get one too,until todays test.

 

[TankGirl]

Are you doing a fishless or fishy cycle? I had this problem fishless cycling one of my tanks, and it took a long time, but eventually I got there. I was very frustrated, as many report fishless cycling in a month, but it took me two. At six weeks I was ready to bag the whole thing! Possible sources of the problem vary depending upon whether this is a fishless or fishy cycle.

 

[wabyrd]

I have fish in the tank. I've also got a few plants in there. I'm trying the water pillow now and I'll let you know if it's working for me. I've been able to cycle my other tanks (with fish) very quickly, I was really puzzled as to why this one is taking so long.

 

[Guest]

Use BioSpira™. It is a refrigerated bacterial catalyst that works in 24-36 hours. My nitrite was off the charts at 15ppm for weeks. I added BioSpira™ and in a couple days they were zero. The Nitrosomonas and Nitrospira bacteria are in stasis when refrigerated and therefore need no O2 or ammonia or nitrite to feed on until you add it to your aquarium. Cycle™ is snake oil.

 

[TankGirl]

I fully agree. I have used BioSpira in many tanks of mine and of others I have set up, and I have never had it fail, if you load your tank fully at the time of using the BioSpira. A lot of stores do not carry it, though. As long as you understand the principle of cycling a tank, and the whole process, using BioSpira will solve this problem right away, like magic. It is really remarkable stuff. I don't think I will ever cycle a tank the traditional way again. It is relatively pricey, though, so you will pay for the convenience of getting all of your fish at once. The next morning you will have zero ammonia, zero nitrite and trace nitrate. I accidentally started a mini-cycle on one of my tanks once when I removed too much gravel in one shot, and I added a bit of BioSpira, which fixed me right up.

 

[wabyrd]

I've had the pillow in for 24 hours. No change in nitrites. Still no presence of nitrates. I think it's time to try the BioSpira.

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

In case you have a hard time finding BioSpira™ here is what you can do- go to this link:
http://www.marineland.com/products/prod_consumer.html

There is a field in which you enter your zip code to find a MarineLand dealer near you. This is how I found an LFS that carried BioSpira. It gave me a pretty large list of LFS's in my area. I called each LFS in the list and the third one I called had it in stock. They were only about 7 miles from my house. I hope this helps.


__________________

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

how loaded is this tank? they will grow, patience is a virtue....you can't keep them too low or they will take forever to grow, they have to have food available to meet demand.......but you have to balance the fishee needs....guess i am an old fashioned diehard, but if you are that impatient, get a mature filter insert from a friend with a healthy tank---cheap, effective, and if taken care of, permanent

 

[wabyrd]

It's stocked fairly well. I have even taken a filter cartridge from one of my other tanks and it still doesn't seem to be getting rid of the nitrites. My trusted LFS opens in about an hour, so I'm going to get some BioSpira to help move it along a bit.