Me again - Nitrite 1.6

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rookie

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 21, 2003
Messages
8
Location
Missouri
Hi. My angel fish is still doing O.K. I named he/she munchy because he/she is always looking for food. Anyway, my nitrites are still just at tolerable levels. Any suggestions? I bought one of those water softener pillows because my water hardness is pretty high on the GH and KH tests. Should that help things any as far as nitrites go? I have found lots of articles on this but they are all a little different. I think I may do another partial water change. Could the partial water changes be affecting my cycle? :?:
 
The water softener pillow won't affect the nitrite levels in the tank any. The partial water changes will slow the cycle somewhat, but may be necessary to keep the angel alive. The cycle can take from a month to 6 weeks...sometimes longer depending on the bio load in the tank and how often you do water changes. How old is the tank?
Logan J
 
re: me again

The tank is two weeks or so into the cycle. It is 10 gal. How low should I try to keep the nitrites. Will the fish be o.k. as long as I keep it below 1.6? I did a 20% water change last night and that lowered it a little. I'm wondering if I should do a 50%. I hate to slow things down too much, but it is a nice looking angel fish. Thanks.
 
Not to be the guy who slaps the kids hand. but this is the second entry I have seen today from someone who is trying to cycle a tank with angels. Angels are a fish that is fairly sensative to water conditions and will probably not survive the stress of cycling. In my opinion the best fish to cycle a tank with are zebra danios. They are cheap and they are hardy. You know even those of us who have been doing this for years, Don't put a fish in a tank until we are sure we have the right conditions for them to live a long happy life. Research, Research Research. Make sure you know what your doing, before you do it. Your dealing with a life form, not a room decoration.
 
Toooooo late!!! I actually found that out after I ignorantly bought the fish the day after I set it up. I'm actually amazed this one is still doing well. Poor munchy. If it wasn't for the constant testing and water changes .... But anyway yea if munchy kicks it I will go get one of those hardy fish. I still want to keep angel fish though so I don't want to get something that will not do well with them. So, I'm going to wait and see. My tank is looking pretty good. I'm doing kind of a gothic look, sunken ship theme. I'll send a picture when I get time.
 
I know this topic is a couple of weeks old, but I just wanted to say that you are incorrect about the water softener pillow!!!
My Nitrites were 5.0ppm+ for weeks. I added the pillow and in 48 hours it was completely gone. Has been for 2 months now. I am extremely grateful that the kid at the LFS recommended it to me, I never would have thought and it saved my fish.
And I was skeptical at first too because it doesnt say anything about removing nitrites.
 
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