High nitrites in 10g

[Anastasia223]

What can I do other than a 25% water change?

[OnTheFly]

Originally Posted by Anastasia223

What can I do other than a 25% water change?

A 75%+ water change. 25% won't do anything significant as you are leaving 75% of the nitrite in the tank. I know it's a hassle as I am currently fighting them during a tank cycle. I'm not much for snake oil chemicals but I have been using Seachem Prime. It locks the ions out and makes them less harmful. Bacteriia can still consume the. My fish seem very happy though this.

[Anastasia223]

Originally Posted by OnTheFly

A 75%+ water change. 25% won't do anything significant as you are leaving 75% of the nitrite in the tank. I know it's a hassle as I am currently fighting them during a tank cycle. I'm not much for snake oil chemicals but I have been using Seachem Prime. It locks the ions out and makes them less harmful. Bacteriia can still consume the. My fish seem very happy though this.

taking 75% of the water out won't mess up my current bacteria buildup?

[OnTheFly]

Originally Posted by Anastasia223

taking 75% of the water out won't mess up my current bacteria buildup?

It depends who you ask. In my opinion no. The bacteria grows on hard surfaces such as your filter and media. You can do a 25% WC. Check your water two hours later and I bet you can hardly tell you did anything. The fact is smaller tanks are volatile and more difficult to cycle no matter what you do. It just takes some time. My fish are happy after a few weeks of this game so I am just going to do some WCs with Prime and not stress it too much.

[Mark_the_shark]

Originally Posted by Anastasia223

What can I do other than a 25% water change?

Do a water change and youll just have to wait it out unfortunately. I am in the same boat as you. How long have you been cycling your tank?

[flchamp89]

Whatever your parameters are 50 pwc cuts number in half. So on and so fourth. So your parameters can often tell you how much water you need to change to hit your target.

[Anastasia223]

Originally Posted by Mark_the_shark

Do a water change and youll just have to wait it out unfortunately. I am in the same boat as you. How long have you been cycling your tank?

3 weeks

[OnTheFly]

Originally Posted by Anastasia223

3 weeks

We both have to ride it out longer. My fish are healthy so I will probably just do 25-50% WCs most every day and wait it out. My fish are fine doing this so far.

[WJK0428]

Originally Posted by OnTheFly

We both have to ride it out longer. My fish are healthy so I will probably just do 25-50% WCs most every day and wait it out. My fish are fine doing this so far.

Have you tried Nitrazorb?

[OnTheFly]

Originally Posted by WJK0428

Have you tried Nitrazorb?

No, only Seachem Prime. I have four tanks cycling and have some confidence in Prime because the fish are happy. And I found I have less of a nitrite problem then I thought. The nitrite color scale is so difficult to discern for my eyes. I diluted my sample 4:1 with tap whether which is zero nitrates. Got the color down where I could read it properly. You have to multiply your result for dilution of course but I found my nitrites are at 1.0 or less. No nitrates are great for fish, but I wasn't nearly as high as I thought I was.