Lately my nitrites have been high around 1.0 ppm which I know is horrible but I dont know why. Seems like a few weeks ago it spiked and I can't get it back down. Whats the deal? I've had the tank up and running for about 4 months now. Its not overstocked and I'm not overfeeding. I keep up on weekly water changes and have tried adding Amquel+ which is supposed to remove nitrites. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks for helping...im new to aquarium ownership
Nitrites...wtf mate
- Thread starter frankthetank
- Start date
It boils down to; too much waste for the filter to digest. Either from too many fish, too much food or not enough filtration. You just gotta figured out which one? Could you give us a breakdown of the tank size, filtration and stocking?
More info needed. Tank size, type size and number of fish, amount and frequency of water changes, type filters and method of cleaning.
Have you compared your test kit to another test kit? What are test levels before and after water changes? Have you tested ammonia and nitrates levels?
Have you compared your test kit to another test kit? What are test levels before and after water changes? Have you tested ammonia and nitrates levels?
Tank size is 38 gallons. Filter is an Aqueon 30...probably not the best and possibly under what I need but it came with the tank. Maybe its too small?
Fish I have a cory cat, pictus cat, clown loach, pleco, pike, angelfish, and a molly. All are pretty small. I know some will need a bigger tank in the future but I don't think I'm overstocker really now...or am I? Thanks
Fish I have a cory cat, pictus cat, clown loach, pleco, pike, angelfish, and a molly. All are pretty small. I know some will need a bigger tank in the future but I don't think I'm overstocker really now...or am I? Thanks
I do about a 25% water change once a week. I tested the ammonia and it was at 0. Nitrates were about 20ppm
frankthetank;1492830; said:
If you have nitrites you're either overstocked for your filtration system or you killed off your biological bacteria somehow.
What are your other parameters? Ammonia, nitrates, pH.
The filter media I change every 3-4 weeks or when it looks dirty, its a power filter. Ammonia is 0. Nitrates is about 20ppm and ph is 7.0. Maybe its possible I killed off the biological bacteria but I don't know how that would have happened.
frankthetank;1492873; said:
You change the filter media every month, that means you're probably removing a significant portion of your biological bacteria, even if you're leaving the biological media alone.
Since that's probably min. filtration for that tank the actual biological media may not be enough to house all the bacteria you need to convert nitrites to nitrates.
You ARE making sure to leave the biological media alone right? I can't see that you'd be removing it anyway since your tank wouldn't recycle that fast each time, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
I'd suggest not completely replacing cartridges monthly right now, wash them in tank water and put them back so you're not removing so much bacteria. There is no need to replace the cartridges unless they're falling apart anyway, they're easy to clean off. You better believe if I replaced cartridges monthly on my 11+ tanks I'd be spending a lot : p
Leave your current filtration but add more, like an extra power filter or a sponge filter.