nitrite very high

i have a 90gal tank

of late the nitrite has been very high,

even after a 40% water change and a 20% water change a week later

i havent lost any fish of late and have reduced the food, and missing
feeding on some days.

any pointers



thanks

SCAFFMAN wrote:
i have a 90gal tank

of late the nitrite has been very high,

How old is your tank?

I'd add some "seachem stability" which has all the seed bacteria that
you need to establish the nitrogen cycle.

What happened is the first water change removed 40% of the nitrates. Leaving
60% in the water. The second water change removed 20% of those nitrates, not
another 20% of the original level. So even though you have changed 60 % of
the water, you only got 52% of the nitrates.

If possible, changing aboout 70% and then another 70% will drop the levels
significantly. That should drop your nitrates by about 90% from the current
level

Are you using R/O water? The tapwater in my neighborhood has low levels of
nitrates in it. Over time, this built up in my tank.

Another thing I found way back when was a waste buildup in the hose leading
down to my filter under the tank.
"SCAFFMAN" wrote in message
. uk...
i have a 90gal tank

of late the nitrite has been very high,

even after a 40% water change and a 20% water change a week later

i havent lost any fish of late and have reduced the food, and missing
feeding on some days.

any pointers



thanks

August his original post stated nitrites not nitrates. This sounds like he's
going through a cycle if its nitrites, but you are correct about the Nitrate
and reducing them. More frequent water changes are needed to reduce the
Nitrates. For nitrates, you should be 15 ppm or less Nitrites should be
zero.


ugust West" wrote in message
...
What happened is the first water change removed 40% of the nitrates.
Leaving 60% in the water. The second water change removed 20% of those
nitrates, not another 20% of the original level. So even though you have
changed 60 % of the water, you only got 52% of the nitrates.

If possible, changing aboout 70% and then another 70% will drop the levels
significantly. That should drop your nitrates by about 90% from the
current level

Are you using R/O water? The tapwater in my neighborhood has low levels of
nitrates in it. Over time, this built up in my tank.

Another thing I found way back when was a waste buildup in the hose
leading down to my filter under the tank.
"SCAFFMAN" wrote in message
. uk...
i have a 90gal tank

of late the nitrite has been very high,

even after a 40% water change and a 20% water change a week later

i havent lost any fish of late and have reduced the food, and missing
feeding on some days.

any pointers



thanks

SCAFFMAN wrote:

any pointers

Is this a new setup? If so, the tank is still cycling. You can expect nitrites
to start to drop in another week, assuming you have a decent bacteriological filter.

If this is an established setup, your filter mechanism is defective or
inadequate. If you have mechanical filtration, such as a wet/dry or a fluidized
bed, make sure it's functioning correctly. With a fluidized bed, check in
particular that the little pump that churns the bed up is still working. If you
have the Eheim wet/dry, make sure that water comes out in cycles as it's
supposed to. If you have an undergravel, it's probably clogged. The best thing
to do with that is to replace it. If you are using live rock, make sure the
water circulation around the rock is adequate.

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.

thanks for the replys guys,

but it was the test kit that was fubar, and that was a brand new £50
complete test kit.

i took a water sample to my local supplier and he done 3 seperate tests from
3 seperate kits and all passed.

..

SCAFFMAN wrote:
but it was the test kit that was fubar, and that was a brand new £50
complete test kit.


Good catch.

SCAFFMAN wrote:

but it was the test kit that was fubar, and that was a brand new £50
complete test kit.

Glad to hear it. Hope you can get a refund.

George Patterson
If you torture the data long enough, eventually it will confess
to anything.

Ooops. My bad. You'd think if I have a computer I'd be able to read by
now.....
"Peter Pan" wrote in message
. ..
August his original post stated nitrites not nitrates. This sounds like
he's going through a cycle if its nitrites, but you are correct about the
Nitrate and reducing them. More frequent water changes are needed to
reduce the Nitrates. For nitrates, you should be 15 ppm or less Nitrites
should be zero.


ugust West" wrote in message
...
What happened is the first water change removed 40% of the nitrates.
Leaving 60% in the water. The second water change removed 20% of those
nitrates, not another 20% of the original level. So even though you have
changed 60 % of the water, you only got 52% of the nitrates.

If possible, changing aboout 70% and then another 70% will drop the
levels significantly. That should drop your nitrates by about 90% from
the current level

Are you using R/O water? The tapwater in my neighborhood has low levels
of nitrates in it. Over time, this built up in my tank.

Another thing I found way back when was a waste buildup in the hose
leading down to my filter under the tank.
"SCAFFMAN" wrote in message
. uk...
i have a 90gal tank

of late the nitrite has been very high,

even after a 40% water change and a 20% water change a week later

i havent lost any fish of late and have reduced the food, and missing
feeding on some days.

any pointers



thanks

LOL
"August West" wrote in message
...
Ooops. My bad. You'd think if I have a computer I'd be able to read by
now.....
"Peter Pan" wrote in message
. ..
August his original post stated nitrites not nitrates. This sounds like
he's going through a cycle if its nitrites, but you are correct about the
Nitrate and reducing them. More frequent water changes are needed to
reduce the Nitrates. For nitrates, you should be 15 ppm or less Nitrites
should be zero.


ugust West" wrote in message
...
What happened is the first water change removed 40% of the nitrates.
Leaving 60% in the water. The second water change removed 20% of those
nitrates, not another 20% of the original level. So even though you have
changed 60 % of the water, you only got 52% of the nitrates.

If possible, changing aboout 70% and then another 70% will drop the
levels significantly. That should drop your nitrates by about 90% from
the current level

Are you using R/O water? The tapwater in my neighborhood has low levels
of nitrates in it. Over time, this built up in my tank.

Another thing I found way back when was a waste buildup in the hose
leading down to my filter under the tank.
"SCAFFMAN" wrote in message
. uk...
i have a 90gal tank

of late the nitrite has been very high,

even after a 40% water change and a 20% water change a week later

i havent lost any fish of late and have reduced the food, and missing
feeding on some days.

any pointers



thanks