problems???!

fernival brainard

when it rains it pours (i think) i will start with my tank numbers first...
Temp is about 77 degf
ph 7.4 with the high range test. 7.6 with the normal test.
ammonia 0
NITRITE 2.0 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it is an api master test kit and the numbers are for the 55 gal.

it is stocked with 2 scats, 3 balas that really want more space(5 to 8 inches long each), 3 small clown loaches, 1 ceverum (he's huge), and 2-3 long faced loaches, one big plec, 1 small brittle head plec, alot of guppies (you can try to count them if you feel froggy) and I think that is all I have in there.....


so here's the deal, about 3 months ago ALL of my tanks ( a 42, 55, two 10 gals, and a 5 gal) had a monster algea bloom...some were green some were red....anyhoot, after battling forever to get rid of it and having no success I started looking for the cause and did a total black out on all the tanks...it was my new sweet smelling air freshener that was loaded with stuff that algea loves...I finally got the problem under control ( meaning I stopped any new growth ) this last weekend I did a major water change in the 55 (at least 40%) to get rid of the orangy color in the water and added an organic resin media to my ehiem...last night I showed a major nitrite spike....I added some api salt and I haven't tested today but is there anything else (besides water changes) that I can do? I love my fish in that tank and if anything happened to them it would be heart break for me... all of the other water parameters are good. the nitrite was the only real scary number. the fish are not showing any signs of stress or distress but I certainly don't want the problem to get any worse.

Sure would love some input as this is a problem I have never had before.....
oh, I almost forgot....the eheim has only been in operation for 3 weeks but I have no ammonia buildup so I am inclined to believe that there are at least some bacteria living in there....but my tank was way nasty and underfiltered before I put it on....I was using 2 HOB filters and moving 600gal. per hour (if you trust the filter box) and they would not touch my tank funk....the eheim 2217 seems to be filtering great though. just worried abut the nitrites!

Thanks bunches guys!
fern

BJP

With fish in the tank you don't have the option of increasing tank temperature much to speed up bacteria growth.

You could stop feeding entirely for a few days until the nitrite drops.

If you keep feeding no reasonible amount of water change is going to keep the nitrite down prior to the bacteria reproducing.

Salt's already in helping and tablesalt would have worked just as well.

The only thing left is maybe adding an airstone to increase oxygenation some. Maxing out the oxygen level leaves more for the developing bacteria and more for the fish struggling to breath.

I'd still stop feeding entirely for now though.

fernival brainard

I have a large air pump that runs constantly...and I fudged the ammonia (got another tank numbers mixed up ) I do have a slight ammonia it is .25...I bought one of the nitra-zorb pillows and added it to my filter 2 days ago and as of last night they had dropped to about 1.25 or so...I will stop the chuck wagon from rolling (the ceverum is going to shred all my plants when he gets hungry but thats okay) and hope that the lack of food will, at the very least, speedup the effectivness of the nitra-zorb pillow. Thanks bunches BJP...I honestly never even thought of taking the food away!
fern

Tommy Gun

Hey Fernival! Sorry to hear about your problems.

Just to be sure, I wanted to add to BJP's comments by pointing out that very little of the O2 which is being fed into your tank via the air pump and air stone is actually dissolving into the water directly. That said, the more important action that this provided is the surface water aggitation that the bubbles create; hence a lot of the benifits of these items can be reduced by poor placement of the airstone. The good news though is that you can also place them in the most strategic spot in your tank so that you are getting the most 'bang for your buck' out of the bubbles which might help you in this dire situation.

Have you taken any steps to ensure that your test kit is reading accurately? Not that I have any reason to do so, I still wonder if some of that resin you speak of might be to blame for such a rapid increase in nitrites or is somehow influencing your test results. Like I said, I dont know why that might happen, but it might be worth looking into.

Out of curiosity...and I apologize if you already mentioned this but...are your fish showing any signs of nitrite poisoning? For example, any of them breathing hard, gasping for air at the surface, being lethargic, etc...?

I agree that a reduction in feeding would slow the rate in which nitrites are created possibly...less organic matter and/or fish wastes would mean less ammonia being produced, which makes a lot of sense in my mind (which isnt saying much). This tank is probably overstocked as well so that might be one issue to look at as well. Obviously, if feeding less would help, then having less fish would also help.

The last thing that came to my mind would be to take steps to further promote benificial bacteria growth in other areas aside from your filter. Maybe a small powerhead or water pump which creates more water flow towards your substrate would help since this would create a situation in which the water is bringing a more constant source of ammonia and nitrites for the bacteria or potential bacteria to 'feed upon' or oxidize into nitrates. I have learned quite a bit from Jay on this subject when I first started out and nowadays I really have little to no fear when I am changing filter media or even when I am adding a new filter completely.