Nitrite Overload??

BlueGoose

Does anyone know what would cause an otherwise healthy, cycled tank to suddenly spike to a lethal level of nitrites?

We cycled our new aquarium successfully, added our first fish, had a water check - all is well. Fast forward 2 weeks, and we go to add a couple more fish. I hadn't gotten the water checked when we actually bought the fish, but somewhere between the water check two weeks previous and right as we added the second fish (and snail), we discovered that our nitrite levels were through the roof. Unfortunately, it was the snail that discovered it, because he lasted all of 24 hours.

The 2 new fish (and our previous 2 fish) are fine. Ammonia is at zero, and all other levels are normal, but the nitrite levels measured well over toxic. Try 5ppm+ (Yeah, I know all the rest of the fish should be dead). Anyway, I've done a 25% water change and added stabilizer, as the experts at the store suggested, but it doesn't seem to be declining. There also didn't seem to be a lot of "matter" that needed to be cleaned up when I did the water change (as in, not much poo and extra food on the floor). I'm going to do another 25% change tonight, but is there anything else I should be worried about checking??

I desperately need help reducing the levels - I feel we're on borrowed time and I don't want to kill off all my fish. But even the specialists at our local aquarium store were clueless as to what might have caused the sudden spike in an otherwise healthy aquarium.


Thanks.

jwurm

Sounds to me like your cycle was somehow disrupted, maybe when you first added fish. How big is the tank and what fish do you currently have in it?

Adding salt to the tank can help make the nitrites less toxic. Try 1-2tbsp per 10g. Dissolve it into a cup of tank water and add it slowly back into the tank over the course of a couple hours. The good thing about this is that it leaves the nitrites wide open to the bacteria that converts it to nitrates, while slowing down its toxic effects on fish.

Jay

Hi Andrea,

Jay here...I am the senior moderator on this forum and must apologise for the unseemly hijacking of the thread and the bickering between members resulting from your simple question.

It is inexcusable, contrary to forum policy, decorum and will be delt with by me.

I can answer your question simply and completely if you would provide me with the following information..

How long has your tank been up and running
What additives chemicals do you use
What is your filtration system
What is the pH KH GH NO3 of you tap water
What is the pH KH GH NO3 level of your tank, Ammonia and the Nitrite also
What is your feeding schedule
Tank temperature
Substrate
What is your water change amount and frequency?

There will be several other senior moderators chiming in to help. Let's hear back and get you up and running

Regards,
Jay
Senior Super Moderator

bp37209

Jay,
My name is Binh. I currently have the same problem with my 55 gal tank. i have 4 plecostomus in there and 13 blood parrot. the tank was fine for about 2 weeks, and the nitrite and nitrate start going out of control. I went to petsmart to buy nitroban and other nitrite and nitrate remover, but they didn't the job to remove the nitrite. i tried changing the water but still don't help at all. One guy from petsmart said that i need some bacteria in there to help with controlling it, but it didn't sound right. I need some help badly.

Tommy Gun

Hey binh - welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear about your troubles though.

While it is not a big issue at all, I think that you might be able to gain more attention and hence, faster replies if you were to consider starting a brand new thread to discuss your specific situation; including replies from Jay. Let me know if you would like to seperate your post from this thread.

As far as your tank goes, it sounds like you probably have a few different problems. First and foremost, it does sound like you misunderstood the cycling process and as a result, your fish are being poisoned by their own wastes. To learn more about cycling, you can visit the forum's Articles section by clicking on the link in the upper left hand corner of any forum page, or to go directly to the cycling article that Jay so graciously provided us, click HERE.

Additionally, I am pretty sure that you will want to reduce the number of fish in your tank since A) The more fish in an aquarium, the more wastes and hence ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate are being produced and B) Depending on the type(s) of plecos you have, there is a huge chance that both your blood parrots and plecos will eventually out grow your tank...well, at least as far as having that many of them in a 55 gallon tank anyways.

In the mean time, your best bet is almost always going to be water changes since this will be the guaranteed way to reduce the amount of ammonia and nitrite (and nitrAte). While the products you mentioned might help, their effects are very temporary and they do not actually remove anything from your water. In short, they are not really the 'crutch' some people might suggest they are.

E46er

in one of the cycling comparsions BJP did he didnt see nitrite levels until 2 weeks after the first drop of ammonia was added (or in your case fish wastes) so you could very well just be starting the cycle and apart from large daily or every few days water changes i dont really know what else to say