How long can fish handle hight Nitrite levels?

[jamal-188]

Even thought I filled my Q tank a little more than 1/2 with water from my main tank and used a bunch of the bio balls the nitrite is still spiking. It's been around .8-1.0 mg/l for the last day or two and I'm starting to get worried. My LFS said fish can handle high levels if they increase gradually for a while and I shouldn't worry until the fish start acting really stressed out. They also said it should finish the nitrite cycle in about a week from setting up the tank because of the water/bio balls from my main tank. Does any/all of this sound right?

 

[Bang Guy]

Your fish should have lost some color by now. Next with be labored breathing followed by death. Do you have another tank you can keep them in until this tank cycles?

 

[jamal-188]

It doesn't seem like the fish lost any color yet? The nitrite hasn't come down at all yet, I'm getting really worried now even thought the fish are still acting normal, swimming/eating like usual. The only option is to put them back in my main tank that is clearing from ICK.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Do water changes on the QT tank, it may make the cycle longer but it is better than dead fish.

 

[Bang Guy]

If your fish are still acting and looking normal with a Nitrite level of 1.0ppm then perhaps your test kit is bad. If it hasn't dropped much by now then it would definately be worth getting another kit just for the second opinion.

I concur on the water change. Also, perhaps you could verify your test kit by testing newly mixed saltwater.

 

[jamal-188]

I'm pretty sure the test kit works fine, my main tank tests 0 and my 10g Q tank measure around .3 I'm not sure why my other tank has not dropped yet? The fish are still acting totally normal and eating/swimming? I guess I should do 20% water change or so tomorrow.