reducing nitrite

[fishyfodder]

I have a 40 gal tank that's been set up for about 10days. I've moved my 4
orandas into it, from their 25 gal, using the same water, same gravel and
same filter.
However, whilst PH is fine (7.0) ammonia is nil, nitrite is .25. This is the
first time it's ever been higher than 0. If I don't feed for a couple of
days, will it drop naturally?

[Iain Miller]

"fishyfodder" <djhatukpcdotnet> wrote in message
...
> I have a 40 gal tank that's been set up for about 10days. I've moved my 4
> orandas into it, from their 25 gal, using the same water, same gravel and
> same filter.
> However, whilst PH is fine (7.0) ammonia is nil, nitrite is .25. This is
the
> first time it's ever been higher than 0. If I don't feed for a couple of
> days, will it drop naturally?
>

You are in mid cycle. If you don't know what the cycle is then Google for
it. Nitrite levels will eventually fall away provided you have a big enough
and functioning filter running. The issue in the meantime is managing the
levels to be safe enough for your fish. It may take a couple of weeks
before your bio-filter is properly re-established. DId you wash the
gravel/filter in tap water? If you did you probably killed the bio filter.

I.

[Cichlidiot]

In alt.aquaria fishyfodder <djhatukpcdotnet> wrote:
> I have a 40 gal tank that's been set up for about 10days. I've moved my 4
> orandas into it, from their 25 gal, using the same water, same gravel and
> same filter.
> However, whilst PH is fine (7.0) ammonia is nil, nitrite is .25. This is the
> first time it's ever been higher than 0. If I don't feed for a couple of
> days, will it drop naturally?

You're likely undergoing a mini-cycle, where likely either some of the
biological bacteria died off in the move or you stirred up pockets of
waste in the gravel that increased the bioload. Personally, I rinse the
gravel or start with new gravel to minimize the later. If you aren't using
an undergravel filter, the gravel has a minimal bacterial colony but can
be a large waste trap even with regular gravel vacuuming.

Not feeding will help somewhat, but the fish will still excrete waste even
with a few days of fasting. Feeding less to minimize the amount of food
that doesn't get eaten is another choice. The main danger with nitrites is
if it is absorbed, it can bind to hemoglobin and make hemoglobin unable to
transport oxygen. Thus the fish will appear to be gasping and generally in
respiratory distress even if the water has plenty of oxygen. It's like
suffocating from the inside. You can minimize the impact of the nitrites
on the fish by adding a little salt (sodium chloride) to the tank. The
chloride ions compete with the nitrite for uptake across the gills. It
doesn't take much salt to give the chlorides an "upper hand" so that the
nitrite uptake by the fish is minimized. There's an exact formula but an
approximate sufficient dosage would be a teaspoon to a tablespoon (total)
of rock salt (sodium chloride with no additives found at the grocery store
commonly for homemade icecream machines, same as "aquarium salt" from the
pet store, much cheaper).

[js1]

On 2004-12-09, fishyfodder <djhatukpcdotnet> wrote:
> I have a 40 gal tank that's been set up for about 10days. I've moved my 4
> orandas into it, from their 25 gal, using the same water, same gravel and
> same filter.
> However, whilst PH is fine (7.0) ammonia is nil, nitrite is .25. This is the
> first time it's ever been higher than 0. If I don't feed for a couple of
> days, will it drop naturally?
>

http://honors.montana.edu/~weif/firsttank/cycle.phtml


--
"I have to decide between two equally frightening options.
If I wanted to do that, I'd vote." --Duckman

[Michi Henning]

"js1" > wrote in message
...
> On 2004-12-09, fishyfodder <djhatukpcdotnet> wrote:
> > I have a 40 gal tank that's been set up for about 10days. I've moved my 4
> > orandas into it, from their 25 gal, using the same water, same gravel and
> > same filter.
> > However, whilst PH is fine (7.0) ammonia is nil, nitrite is .25. This is
the
> > first time it's ever been higher than 0. If I don't feed for a couple of
> > days, will it drop naturally?

Not feeding for a few days will help. What you are seeing is the
phase during cycling where the bacteria that convert ammonia to
nitrite have grown to the point where they are quite good at getting
rid of the ammonia and producing nitrite, but the bacteria that
convert nitrite to nitrate haven't fully established themselves yet
because, up to this point, there wasn't much nitrite for them to eat.
The result is that you have excess nitrite until the nitrite-eating
bacteria catch up.

If you just leave the tank alone, nitrite levels will eventually drop
by themselves and, in another few days, you will measure zero
ammonia and nitrite, and you'll see nitrate levels rising gradually.
(The nitrate is eventually removed by anaerobic bacteria too, but
that process is too slow in most tanks, unless the fish load is very
small. We get rid of the nitrate by doing water changes.) But, in
the mean time, nitrite levels might get high enough to endanger
your fish -- anything above 0.1ppm, long term, and above
0.2ppm, short term, is a concern.

So, until your nitrite-eating bacteria have established themselves,
lower the level of nitrite by doing water changes. An initial 25%
change will get rid of 1/4 of the nitrite. Follow up with daily
10% changes (or more, if you still get high nitrite readings)
until your tank settles in. Thereafter, both ammonia and nitrite
will permanently read at zero, unless you do something to kill
off the bacteria population in your filter (or totally overload the
filter, such as by overfeeding).

Cheers,

Michi.


--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com