Lowering Nitrite

[jschall]

I understand everyone's points and the "they wont get big if their dead". I do understand the cycling process and thought that with water, and multiple items from a cycled tank would do the trick. I was wrong. Sorry if I misunderstand the hosility here but I was just asking for help. I have cut the feedings back to 1 time per day. (1 medium hikari pellet split between the two fish) Should I also continue with daily water changes? Some have said yes some have said no. Final verdict?

Yes, do 50% water changes daily for the next week or so. You'll know when to stop and switch to weekly 50%s when you test your nitrite and it is 0.

Your beneficial bacteria will double in quantity about every 24-48 hours as long as there is food and oxygen present for them and the temperature of the tank is at tropical levels. So basically, once your bb is removing all available ammonia with 50% daily water changes, switching to less frequent water changes will be compensated for almost immediately. Then you can ramp up your feeding.

 

[jschall]

If they are breathing hard,you should have done something sooner.

This is a good point. I'll add an example:
Get some 10% ammonia from ace hardware or something (you should have this stuff for fishless cycling anyway). Just open the bottle.
Almost immediately, you'll feel it start to burn your eyes. Now, imagine having to be exposed to this stuff consistently to the point where it's making it hard for you to breathe. This is what you're doing to your fish. Exposure to ammonia can cause permanent damage to fish.

 

[cichlid2006]

I understand everyone's points and the "they wont get big if their dead". I do understand the cycling process and thought that with water, and multiple items from a cycled tank would do the trick. I was wrong. Sorry if I misunderstand the hosility here but I was just asking for help. I have cut the feedings back to 1 time per day. (1 medium hikari pellet split between the two fish) Should I also continue with daily water changes? Some have said yes some have said no. Final verdict?

from what ive read the hostility isnt directed at you, just the poor advice given to you by one of the members on this thread.

i would cut feedings back to a maximum of every 2 days but i would go with 3-4 days personally. austin and bderick are right. you dont need to feed daily to provide food for the bacteria.
fish naturally excrete ammonia through their gills and urine. this will be plenty to get your colony running. if you feed daily you risk creating so much ammonia and nitrites that your existing colony will struggle to consume it and this will damage your fish or worse.
it takes time for a colony to grow to a size where daily feedings are easily coped with. water changes will not slow down your BB growth but it will take away some of the excess nitrites which will innevitibly damage or kill your fish.

 

[ward1066]

from what ive read the hostility isnt directed at you, just the poor advice given to you by one of the members on this thread.

what ever man, I suppose you also believe that toxic levels of nitrates are 40ppm and your fish will die unless you do weekly water changes.

 

[cichlid2006]

what ever man, I suppose you also believe that toxic levels of nitrates are 40ppm and your fish will die unless you do weekly water changes.

not at all. i firmly believe that nitrates under 20ppm is ideal but ideal isnt always achievable and under 40ppm is doing ok but if you hit that then it is time to get the bucket out. most fish can survive when nitrates get into 3 figures but that doesnt mean its good for them.

as for a rigid w/c regime. weekly is great but ive went 2 weeks and even a month and my nitrates never hit more than 30ppm. i am lucky though, my tap water has <5ppm nitrate before i even do anything. from what i understand most people do not have that luxury.
however, i rarely go monthly and i do encourage weekly water changes but sometimes people cant manage that for various reasons.

so all in all your assumptions about me are very wrong.

 

[ward1066]

This is a good point. I'll add an example:
Get some 10% ammonia from ace hardware or something (you should have this stuff for fishless cycling anyway). Just open the bottle.
Almost immediately, you'll feel it start to burn your eyes. Now, imagine having to be exposed to this stuff consistently to the point where it's making it hard for you to breathe. This is what you're doing to your fish. Exposure to ammonia can cause permanent damage to fish.

I bet his ammonia readings are 0

 

[TheCanuck]

I bet his ammonia readings are 0

the readings should be 0amon 0nitrite 0nitrate.

Just because someone decided it was ideal to keep it below 40 doesn't mean thats at all the best. You should strive for 0. Weekly water changes are needed, to keep the fish healthy. I swear this is why oscars are dieing so early and other fish. People think cause nitrite isn't noticiably killing their fish they think no harm done. It slowly shaves off your fish's life.

I don't fully believe prime works to the amount it claims, i overdose the crap out of that stuff in fear i still haven't done what i needed.

I would much rather rely on natural bio filtration, and water changes. Then polishing for my pleasures.... before i let a chemical like prime, magically cure my problems.



Good luck with cycling your tank !

 

[ward1066]

the readings should be 0amon 0nitrite 0nitrate.

Just because someone decided it was ideal to keep it below 40 doesn't mean thats at all the best. You should strive for 0. Weekly water changes are needed, to keep the fish healthy. I swear this is why oscars are dieing so early and other fish. People think cause nitrite isn't noticiably killing their fish they think no harm done. It slowly shaves off your fish's life.

I don't fully believe prime works to the amount it claims, i overdose the crap out of that stuff in fear i still haven't done what i needed.

I would much rather rely on natural bio filtration, and water changes. Then polishing for my pleasures.... before i let a chemical like prime, magically cure my problems.



Good luck with cycling your tank !

0 nitrate? I am a huge believer in prime. Last year i had my BB crash on me ( I cleaned my tank too well) before adding several wild caught frontosa that cost me over $1K. my ammonia reading got over 8ppm+ I thought my fish were toast. I did small water changes every couple days and although I had high ammonia readings the prime completely neutralized the toxic affects and the fish acted like nothing was wrong. after a week or two I got nitrites and continued with the prime and although I got reading of .25ppm the prime made it completely safe. this stuff works, there is no way my fish could survive 8+ ppm ammonia for that long. I was a emotional wreck for two weeks lol.

 

[TheCanuck]

0 nitrate? I am a huge believer in prime. Last year i had my BB crash on me ( I cleaned my tank too well) before adding several wild caught frontosa that cost me over $1K. my ammonia reading got over 8ppm+ I thought my fish were toast. I did small water changes every couple days and although I had high ammonia readings the prime completely neutralized the toxic affects and the fish acted like nothing was wrong. after a week or two I got nitrites and continued with the prime and although I got reading of .25ppm the prime made it completely safe. this stuff works, there is no way my fish could survive 8+ ppm ammonia for that long. I was a emotional wreck for two weeks lol.

I am sure it helped, but i said i would never rely on prime more than natural bio filtration, and water changes.

Also yes i think everyone should strive for 0 nirates instead of striving to have some, its not impossible. To many people think nitrates do nothing to a fish. I do SW though, its much easier to attain better water params. I guess i just see to many people getting their water tested and they are like your nitrates are at blah blah blah. The couple jumps up and down shouting about their awesome water params. Makes me want to light a cigarette and sit in their bedroom all day.

Thats just me though....


sorry about the BB crash man, that blows. I was just pointing out i would never use prime over water changes and bio.

 

[Greg31]

With daily 35% water changes, 1 time a day feedings and addittion of smal driftwood+plant had gotten my nitrites at 0. Just thought I would update.