What's the best way to bring Nitrites down.

[Cafe Jeff]

The nitrites on my 55 gallon are near the top of the scale. Ammonia is neglible and there are some nitrates. The aquarium has been set up about 5 and half weeks and is stocked with 8 very small Labs, a decent size Syndontis and a pleco. The fish only went in last week. I have been doing daily 10 % water changes with seemingly no effect. The fish are stressed.
Is there a magic bullet that will do the trick for me or should I keep up the regime. Jeff

 

[TankGirl]

I would simply increase the water changes to 20-30% for a day or two and see what that does. Lower your water level to create splashing so the fish can get more O2 out of the water, and some aquarium salt (~1 tbsp/10gal) will help them quite a bit as well until the spike is resolved. Do you have any other tanks that you could get some media from? Borrow a friend's biowheel and just toss it in the tank, maybe? That would fix you right up.

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Damn, I love this board: instant responses.
I will keep up with the water changes, not something I am totally happy about doing as I know they are using chloramine in the water and I don't trust the dechlorinator. I like to leave the water to sit for 48 hours before changing it. Might buy a jug or two of office water as a standby.
I have added a little salt but will add some more.
It is the first Emperor biowheel filter I have ever owned and I don't think I know anyone with another one. I have become rather keen on it. As I have been out of the fish keeping biz for sometime, it's our only tank (at the moment.)
Hadn't thought about leaving the water level a little low. Excellent idea! Jeff

 

[TankGirl]

Another trick might be to go get a couple of cheap sponge filters, run on an air pump. These colonize pretty quickly and make excellent biofilters. The more biomedia you can provide now the better.

Once the tank is established you can use them to basically instantly cycle a quarrantine tank, and keep one or both running on the 55 when you are not medicating or quarrantining fish.

 

[BrianNY]

I second the sponge filter. Sponges are porous and thus have alot of surface area for bacteria to colonize. Creating water flow through the sponge filter with air will speed up the time frame.

 

[Cafe Jeff]

The sponge filter is an excellent idea.
It would also provide back up in case of a power outage if I put it on a UPS or even jury rigged something with one of the battery powered airpumps. With all this talk of Florida hurricanes, it is definitely something to keep in mind. As is, I have supplemental filter back up in the form of an AC150.
Unfortunately, I just got back from the pet store and didn't even think of a sponge filter--I can always go back. New fish, I heard, are coming in tomorrow.
At the store, however, I bought some AmQuel Chlorine, Chloramine, Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite reducer. I was out. Do these things work? I have tried some of the less fancy water conditioners with built in slime and have never noticed anything positive or negative. If nothing else, I can use it to treat the already aged tap water...
I also bought some Fish De-Stresser from Seachem. I wanted the two products to be in sperate bottles as I didn't want to do any doubling up and I wanted the option of adding Fish De-Stresser without also adding any other chemicals. I also bought another Seachem Purigen pad. The last one has turned yellow -- which I think must be a good sign. I will replace the old one with the new one and soak the old one in bleach as per the instructions. Following your suggestions Tank Girl, I added a little sea salt and reduced the water level by about four inches to help with oxygenation. I changed the activated carbon on one side of the Emperor and added Zoolite to the other side. I also put about 60 litres aside for changing tonight. As I said, I was out of water conditioner and don't really trust the stuff anyway. Jeff

 

[Menagerie]

Just so you know, salt is a remedy for nitrite poisoning. Since the tank is still fairly new--5 1/2 weeks is not that old. A tank is considered established at 6 months. Adding the AmQuel Chlorine, Chloramine, Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite reducer will not help the cycle and that is what you need right now, just let the cycle happen. Sponge filters will definitely help--I use AquaClear sponges with an X cut through them and have an airstone on the inside of that--works great for small tanks and will for in your situation. I wish you were closer--I could give you a ton of bacteria--it's time to clean the canister filters!
Why don't you trust your dechlor?

 

[ted630]

My tank is 6 weeks old and I'm having the same problem, the nitrites are extremely high in my tank. I have a Magnum 350 canister filter filled with zeolite to try to keep the ammonia down. After changing 25% of the water, I added "Easy Balance" by Tetra to the tank, but the nitrate and nitrite are still high. What else can I do? Someone suggested salt, but what kind of salt do I use and how fast will it work? Should I continue to use Zeolite or try something else in the filter? I removed the activated carbon 3 weeks ago when I added "CopperSafe" by Mardel to the tank to fight ich and velvet that were attacking my fish. My tank temperature is at 86. PLEASE HELP!!! I'm worried that I'm going to lose all of my fish.

 

[glasstapper]

can you add more aeration? how much/often do you feed? and remember, can't beat time to cycle a tank, ps aquarium salt I believe is the correct salt, take a stro;; thru the articles section ,,GGGOOOODDDD readin!

 

[supafreak]

i had the hardest time cycling my tank. We had just moved, and my fish were at my lfs, and i had to wait like 3 weeks. Cycle (the chemical) is useless as far as i'm concerned. It adds the benifical bacteria, but they just die cause there is nothing for them to feed on. I finally got some floss out of someones tank, and a few fish, and the tank finished the cycle in aabout 3 days. I'll never use Cycle again

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Couldn't agree more.
I have never had any luck with cycle.
Aquariums need time, Alas, you don'y always have the tine. Jeff

 

[BASSNMAN]

You should be able to find aquarium salt at your pet store or Wal Mart. Salt is a good treatment for ich, especially at around 85f. I am curious why your tank temp is so high. I have tried a bunch of different additives to speed up the bacteria cycle, but have noticed only a lighter wallet. When you but declor, make sure it works on chloramines and metals. I have had good luck with Tap Water conditioner by aquarium pharmacuticals.