Minor Nitrites

[Bill Stock]

I was testing the KH of the plant tank tonight and it seemed a little high,
so I decided to double check it with the all in one strips. The KH came out
Blue, which is not one of the colours on the chart. :) But I did notice a
slight hue to the Nitrite test. So I decided to double check it with the
dedicated Nitrite test kit. Damned, if I don't have Nitrites of .25+.

These normally test zero in all my tanks, except when I nuked the Biofilter
in the GF tank. I gather .25 PPM is of no real concern, but where did they
come from? Is my filter too small or is there some other cause? Ammonia
tested zero and Nitrates are around 10 PPM.

[NetMax]

"Bill Stock" > wrote in message
.. .
>I was testing the KH of the plant tank tonight and it seemed a little
>high, so I decided to double check it with the all in one strips. The KH
>came out Blue, which is not one of the colours on the chart. :) But I
>did notice a slight hue to the Nitrite test. So I decided to double
>check it with the dedicated Nitrite test kit. Damned, if I don't have
>Nitrites of .25+.
>
> These normally test zero in all my tanks, except when I nuked the
> Biofilter in the GF tank. I gather .25 PPM is of no real concern, but
> where did they come from? Is my filter too small or is there some other
> cause? Ammonia tested zero and Nitrates are around 10 PPM.


Interesting puzzle Bill. A pH problem affects nitrosomonas (at 6.5pH)
before nitrobacter (at 6.0pH), so the only ways that I can think of, that
you could get NO2 without NH3/4 is either 1) you had both from some
filter problem (and the nitrosomonas/nitrospiras have recovered faster,
which they normally would), or 2) you had a low O2 problem (which is
supposed to more strongly affect nitrobacter) or 3) you have zero
phosphates (nitrobacter cannot oxidize nitrite to nitrate without
phosphates). Your existing 10ppm of NO3 might actually be mostly
residual and dropping if your NO2 is not being processed completely.
Interesting puzzle which I think a measurement 'snapshot' will not easily
solve.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Bill Stock]

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
> "Bill Stock" > wrote in message
> .. .
>>I was testing the KH of the plant tank tonight and it seemed a little
>>high, so I decided to double check it with the all in one strips. The KH
>>came out Blue, which is not one of the colours on the chart. :) But I did
>>notice a slight hue to the Nitrite test. So I decided to double check it
>>with the dedicated Nitrite test kit. Damned, if I don't have Nitrites of
>>.25+.
>>
>> These normally test zero in all my tanks, except when I nuked the
>> Biofilter in the GF tank. I gather .25 PPM is of no real concern, but
>> where did they come from? Is my filter too small or is there some other
>> cause? Ammonia tested zero and Nitrates are around 10 PPM.
>
>
> Interesting puzzle Bill. A pH problem affects nitrosomonas (at 6.5pH)
> before nitrobacter (at 6.0pH), so the only ways that I can think of, that
> you could get NO2 without NH3/4 is either 1) you had both from some filter
> problem (and the nitrosomonas/nitrospiras have recovered faster, which
> they normally would), or 2) you had a low O2 problem (which is supposed to
> more strongly affect nitrobacter) or 3) you have zero phosphates
> (nitrobacter cannot oxidize nitrite to nitrate without phosphates). Your
> existing 10ppm of NO3 might actually be mostly residual and dropping if
> your NO2 is not being processed completely. Interesting puzzle which I
> think a measurement 'snapshot' will not easily solve.
> --
> www.NetMax.tk

Hmmm....

The Phosphate info is interesting, I'll test tomorrow.

I'm also injecting CO2, but only to a PH of 7.1, so I don't think that's
the issue.