# Nitrites thru the Roof! S.O.S



## Grandwitch (Jan 30, 2013)

I have a couple tanks like this. 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrates 0, Copper, PH 6.8, Phos 0, Nitrates...PLUM PURPLE! It was just my Guppy 20 gal tank and then my 25 gal Jewel fish. Then it showed up in my baby 10 gal. Pleco tank, lost over 200 1/2 inch babies! Now, Pleco babies got 20% water change daily; I tested their water every 2nd day.
All my tanks get 30%-40% water change weekly. I'm on top of poop and rotting plants. ( Rarely have plants cuz they die, even my Java Moss melts ) My first alert was the mass exodus of the MTS to the surface. Followed by Pleco's gulping air. Out comes the test kit! I've tried Seachem's Purigen, Tetra's Easy Balance with Nitraban, and Seachem's Stability. I've tested my Tap water for everything including Copper. It's all 0 and safe range. Tonight I'll take some tap water, let it sit overnight and retest it in the morning.
Am I keeping my tanks too clean so the bacteria can't multiply enough to eat this stuff? I have 17 tanks, I eventually want a Saltwater system, but NOT until I can find out whats happening! I can't bare to lose anymore of my finned Friends. I'll sell out before I kill them all! Please, any ideas? Should I load my tanks with Duckweed?
My Water sprite is starting to melt,and my Sagittarius is looking a bit off. Even my MTS look sad. Please Help.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

Did you get the tank brand new? what are you using for substrate? The good bacteria are mostly in the filter media and not in the water column. Do a fat water change ~80%.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Do a massive water change. 
Your water is not "too clean" if your nitrate is so high. 
Water spirite is very good at taking up nitrate, and it is very hardly. I had some that melted when my tempearture was too high but other than that they never die.
If you have high nitrate and high temperature your fish will have a hard time getting enough oxygen from the water. Do a massive water change, keep temperature moderate and put some airstone inside the tank is what I would recommend. You can also add some prime to detoxify your excess nitrate.
Stability will kick start your bio-filter and help you to grow a bacteria colony but if the tanks are small and bio mass is high you still need to keep your bio-waste low.
Hope this helps.


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## Grandwitch (Jan 30, 2013)

New Aquarium Gravel, Natural color is my Substrate, I have done the 80% water change. The Tank was used when I got it. I sterilized it, dried it; and let it sit with water for a month before removing the water and putting in the substrate. It then sat for a further 2 1/2 weeks for cycling. The only things in the tank were a couple pieces of Mopani Wood, a couple Katapa leaves and a few artificial plants. Later I made a moss wall and added it. I added the MTS first then 4 Pleco's and 4 Angels. I tried a few months ago to do plants but they melted. I have spent over $3,000 in the last year on this hobby, ( have receipts ) and I don't understand whats happening. I used to have Huge tanks on Vancouver Island and NEVER had these problems. I'm just sick over this.


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## AdobeOtoCat (Dec 10, 2011)

The scariest part are the used tanks. You never know what the previous owner used that could have been leeched into the silicone. If copper is at 0 with your plants melting, the only thing that comes to my mind is the unknown. cupramine. ich X, commercial products that may have otherwise been overdosed. I would seriously recommend getting a new tank. 

The nitrates would not be a problem. I have had nitrates that went off the charts of the reading scale and only managed to get algae. Nothing was melting and no deaths. (ppm well over 60). 

If you really want to find the cause. Rellocate all your fish to another holding tank. Try to isolate factors, e.g, control group and test groups. 
It is easier to get rid of freshwater velvet than marine. Plecos dislike copper and high temperatures. I would just do a saltwater dip, and use the pet relocation method(keep re locate your fish every other day to new freshwater) to get rid of any suspicious parasites. The heater and temperature method seldom worked when I did it, and only caused despair.


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## Nicole (Nov 21, 2011)

Did you mean nitrates or nitrites? Having 0 nitrates is kind of hard..especially since you don't have live plants either. If you can't figure out the culprit, I would just set up a tank with nothing but the fish, filter, and a heater and try to minimize losses. Then you'll have time to figure out what went wrong. Sorry I couldn't help but I hope you find out a solution.


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## Grandwitch (Jan 30, 2013)

Hi Fish Rookie. I know Watersprite will help drop "Nitrates" but..... My Nitrates are 0. NITRITES are whats high and will not drop. The tanks with the problem are 10,20,35 and 55 gal. Thank goodness my Danio fry tank is ok.


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## Grandwitch (Jan 30, 2013)

Already done. They are in Bare tanks with filters and heaters. Yes its true, 0 Nitrates. That why I'm at a loss as to whats happening. Even my LFS's can't figure it out!


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## Grandwitch (Jan 30, 2013)

I have no Parasites. I treated for Callamus Worms about 6-8 weeks ago. and I had my problem in a 5 gal before I did the treatments.


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

so you have 4 tanks having same problem? are they all set up at the same time? I wonder if it's going through mini-cycle.. is there any PH swing? how's your GH and KH?


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## Grandwitch (Jan 30, 2013)

PH is 6.6 - 6.8..Forgot what the GH/KH were, but they were really good. The tanks were all set up at different times over the last year. I haven't set up any new tanks in 5 mos. Closest was my 55 to get rid of the population explosion of MTS. Mystifying eh? I think I'm going to send a water sample to a lab and get them to give it a go over.
I'll call my Vet tomorrow.


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## jhj0112 (Jul 30, 2013)

hmm very mystifying..... only thing I know about NitrIte is that it shows after ammonia spike.. like cycling tank.. yeah I would test the water at LFSs or even labs..


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## Tazzy_toon (Jul 25, 2011)

Forgive me if i've missed something, but 2.5 weeks is not long enough to cycle a tank. How long has it been set up?? It does indeed sound to me like it's still cycling if it's under 6weeks old or as previous poster suggests, a mini cycle which can sometimes happen when we add anything new or even if a couple fish randomly die and cause a nitrite spike.


Edit: I see now that their over a year old. Seems kind of odd that it's cycling all of a sudden.


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## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

if Nitrites are high your tank must be cycling for some reason? you stated you changed substrate that would cause cycling!! do massive w/c NOW if nitrite are that high your fish will die! I would do 75% w/c and add stability and prime! keep doing w/c until things get better and it will get better!


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Grandwitch said:


> I have a couple tanks like this. 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrates 0, Copper, PH 6.8, Phos 0, Nitrates...PLUM PURPLE! It was just my Guppy 20 gal tank and then my 25 gal Jewel fish. Then it showed up in my baby 10 gal. Pleco tank, lost over 200 1/2 inch babies! Now, Pleco babies got 20% water change daily; I tested their water every 2nd day.
> All my tanks get 30%-40% water change weekly. I'm on top of poop and rotting plants. ( Rarely have plants cuz they die, even my Java Moss melts ) My first alert was the mass exodus of the MTS to the surface. Followed by Pleco's gulping air. Out comes the test kit! I've tried Seachem's Purigen, Tetra's Easy Balance with Nitraban, and Seachem's Stability. I've tested my Tap water for everything including Copper. It's all 0 and safe range. Tonight I'll take some tap water, let it sit overnight and retest it in the morning.
> Am I keeping my tanks too clean so the bacteria can't multiply enough to eat this stuff? I have 17 tanks, I eventually want a Saltwater system, but NOT until I can find out whats happening! I can't bare to lose anymore of my finned Friends. I'll sell out before I kill them all! Please, any ideas? Should I load my tanks with Duckweed?
> My Water sprite is starting to melt,and my Sagittarius is looking a bit off. Even my MTS look sad. Please Help.


So your nitrite is high, is that right, not nitrate?
If that is the case I woudl think your tank is still cycling or you just have too much bio load. You said you have a baby 10 gallon with over 200 pleco babies? Later on you also said you have a tank with pleco and angle fish, are they all in the same tank?
Nitrifying bacteria will "eat" ammonia and convert them to nitrite so if you have too much nitrite you have some nitrifying bacteria which converted your ammonia to nitrite. If your tank is really clean you will not have a high ammonia which gave you a high nitrite reading off the roof. Some tanks are never fully cycled and eventually the fish could not take the stress and just die. But even then your plants should not be melting because of that. 
Plant is a different matter than your tank's nitrogen cycle, it has to do with the balance of your system--the type of light, photo period, amount of Co2/O2, N, P, K, hardness, ph, temp,..etc. If even your java fern died then I would say something is very wrong with your system. It could be some chemical left over from one tank but if lots of your tanks are having this problem I think it may have something to do with their water quality and parameters.


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## smccleme (Aug 20, 2012)

I've got a seeded filter you can borrow if you would like to put it on one of your tanks. I would think it would remove the nitrites immediately. Send me a PM with your #.


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

What are the readings for your gh and kh? "Perfect" doesn't really help because its subjective. The melting plants especially the easy ones like java moss and java ferns which rely especially on calcium to grow, make me strongly suspect that your kh is way too low. That would also ezplain your trouble getting the cycle finished since kh is essential for the nitrifying bacteria to thrivem check the readibgs and adjust your kh accordingly, and in the meantime add non iodzed salt at two teaspoons per gallon to reduce the toxicity of the nitites until you get this problem fixed.


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