Nitrite problem?

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Fire Eel
MFK Member
Oct 11, 2008
1,895
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Malaysia
One day after wc, I tested the water for my 2 tanks & were surprised to see the results..

For my 10g growout tank with simple filtration & 3 juvi fish in it:
pH - 8
ammonia - 0ppm
nitrite - 0mg/l

For my 65g tank with two top filter & 1 juvi fish in it:
pH - 8
ammonia - 0ppm
nitrite - 1.5mg/l

I don't understand why the nitrite level is so high in the 65g tank considering there's only one fish in it.. & it's an established tank..
Please advise.. thx
 
H]-[H;3141549; said:
One day after wc, I tested the water for my 2 tanks & were surprised to see the results..

For my 10g growout tank with simple filtration & 3 juvi fish in it:
pH - 8
ammonia - 0ppm
nitrite - 0mg/l

For my 65g tank with two top filter & 1 juvi fish in it:
pH - 8
ammonia - 0ppm
nitrite - 1.5mg/l

I don't understand why the nitrite level is so high in the 65g tank considering there's only one fish in it.. & it's an established tank..
Please advise.. thx
Click to expand...
probly fed alittle too much at one time. with one fish in there it probly dosnt need to eat much. but in smaller tank they probly get to all the food. so thats my guess. but i would have to see the tank and fish to inquier more. but if the nitrites go away then dont worry just a freak spike. and did you rinse the spong in the 65g in tap water? just wondering.
 
thefishofdoom;3141676; said:
probly fed alittle too much at one time. with one fish in there it probly dosnt need to eat much. but in smaller tank they probly get to all the food. so thats my guess. but i would have to see the tank and fish to inquier more. but if the nitrites go away then dont worry just a freak spike. and did you rinse the spong in the 65g in tap water? just wondering.
Click to expand...
I didn't feed it after water change.. & yes I rinsed the filter padding with tap water but only the first layer..(I used to rinse with tank water but as time went by I got lazy & used tap water instead)..
 
probly got a small spike bye killing off some of the nitrite bactiria with the clorine in the tap.
 
BPags52;3142428; said:
Probably killed beneficial bacteria by rinsing with tap water, thus resulting in spike.

Just my thoughts...
Click to expand...
he said it first haha.
 
I tested the water again today & here's the readings:

For my 10g growout tank with simple filtration & 3 juvi fish in it:
pH - 8
ammonia - 0.5~1.0ppm
nitrite - 0mg/l

For my 65g tank with two top filter & 1 juvi fish in it:
pH - 8
ammonia - 0ppm
nitrite - 5mg/l

The nitrite in the big tank has shoot up in just 2 days.. this must be a sick joke..
& I don't even know what's wrong...
 
I've 2 top filters(or whatever you call it)..
Maybe the good bacteria aren't growing well?
The bigger filter has 4 compartments:
-First are 2 pieces of filter paddings & some ceramic rings at the bottom
-Second are 1 piece of filter padding & carbon
-Third is all carbon
-Fourth are all ceramic rings

Is this setup ok? Is there a specific order of which material to put first..
Please advise.. thx
 
It's not that the good bacteria isn't growing well, its that you accidentally killed the good bacteria when you rinsed the filter pads in tap water (assuming you have chlorine/chloramine in your tap water).

So it'll take a bit for the beneficial bacteria to get back to normal (not sure how long really, maybe a day or two? a week?)

As far as the order of your media, water should filter through the mechanicle media first (filter paddings), then chemical (carbon), then biological (the ceramic rings are probably biological...but some ceramic rings are made for mechanicle filtration (like Eheim's Efimech).
 
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