# how to quickly fix high nitrite problem?



## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

i wokeup to fish gasping, again. my co2 is off at night. i did a regularly schedule 50% water change yesterday, put 4x the amount of prime in (55g tank). this morning fish are gasping, a shrimp and SAE are dead. i put in air bubbler but there shouldnt be a lack of o2. i tested ammonia is 0, nitrites is very high off the chart, nitrate is 10-20. what should i do? water change? put prime in? using the same test kit i tested tap nitrite and it shows to be 0. please help someone!


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## dschmeh (Feb 5, 2006)

do a water change thats about all you can do besides wait


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

If you have some cheap stem plants, you can float a big bunch and they should eat up the nitrites pretty quickly. You really do need the tank very full of plants when you first start it up to avoid an ammonia/nitrite spike.


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

thanks i did a 25% water change. the tank is full of plants, its been up and running for 3 or 4 months now. i dont know why this happened. could it be my filter is clogged? i have a filstar xp3, i put it on full blast for right now but i havent checked it in about 5 weeks im sure its filthy. the water is gushing out fast enough though, out of the spray bar.


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## deleted_user_4 (Mar 8, 2006)

Off the charts is pretty bad. I'm assuming this means 40+ ppm?

Your tank may just be experiencing an adjustment cycle (or maybe it never finished cycling in the first place; 50% water changes are pretty traumatic IMO).

An ammonia spike caused by new fauna or rotting plants will cause a corresponding nitrite spike for 2 reasons: 

1. The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite have more raw ammonia to consume. 

2. Ammonia is toxic to the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate, so "newly minted" nitrite from the first types of bacteria will sit around in the water column for a longer time period. 

If the ammonia spike was drastic enough, you may have decimated the bacteria colonies in your filstar.

dschmeh is right. There's really nothing you can do except for water changes and wait. 

However, with a drastic situation like yours, a sudden huge water change may shock the fish as much as a sudden temperature change. I would recommend doing smaller water changes multiple times during the day. Maybe do 5 gallons in the morning, and 5 gallons at noon, and 5 gallons at night. About 10% at a time. Do this for a few days. It's a lot of work, depending on your equipment, but it's the best way to gradually dilute a bad situation, rather than suddenly diluting a bad situation.

You could also try throwing some Bio-Spira in there, I hear good things about it, but I've never used it personally. 

Also, keep in mind that plants use O2 at night. If you have a lot of plants, they create a large requirement for O2 when the lights are off.


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## wapfish (Oct 14, 2005)

Sorry I don't have time to document this fully for you, but there are two specific things that can be done:

1) overdose 3-5x with Seachem Prime (a procedure recommended by Seachem; lasts only 24 hour, then you have to redose)

2) add aquarium salt, it's protective against nitrite (check the web for amount and confirmation of this)

I've done both (together, actually) and yes, in a planted tank.

Best of luck.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Unless you are doing fishless cycling with fish..........eg adding NH3 to the tank, the NO2 should not be high, if the NO3's are 20-40ppm, that's fine and does not harm to fish.

But the NO2?

It has to come in as NH4/NH3.

So something happened there.

A 80% water change should clear things up.
The other issue, did you test correctly?

Go back and check first.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

sigh, it happened again this morning. before going to sleep last night ~1:30am, i checked on them, and the nitrites. fish were doing fine, nitrites werent 0, but were around .25. i went to bed, wokeup at 6:30, all fish gasping, black ghost knife and SAE dead. i tested nitrites, off the chart, 5.0+. i have two different test kits, one from red sea and one from aq. pharm. tested ammonia, nitrites of both tap and tank. both test kits agree with each other. ammonia in the tap and tank is 0, nitrite in the tap is also 0. so i went ahead and did about a 30% water change and put in lots of prime. the nitrite is back down to .25. i also put rena zorb charcoal into the filter yesterday, i guess this didn't help. also cleaned out the filter yesterday, rena filstar xp3, and yes i left the ceramic rings alone, ie didnt lose their bacterial colony. it has been up and running for 6-7 weeks now. 

i dont know why this keeps happening... should i just keep doing water changes until nitrites are 0? i have a feeling the prime is breaking down the nitrites, but only temporarily. and then later, the prime breaks up and nitrites are all released at once. anyone heard of this ever happening?


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## deleted_user_4 (Mar 8, 2006)

I don't think your tank is done cycling yet. It sounds like your tank has sufficient bacterial colonies to convert Ammonia to Nitrites, but you don't have sufficient bacterial colonies to consume the nitrites and produce nitrates. 

The types of bacteria that consume Nitrites grow much slower than the types that consume Ammonia. 

Is there a way you can remove all the fish overnight (or perhaps a few days) and continue testing your tank for ammonia and nitrites (without water changes)? Maybe you can transfer your survivors to a bathtub or something? 

Your 50% water changes may be prolonging the whole cycling process. You can effectively prevent your tank from completely cycling if you keep doing water changes to maintain very low nitrite levels. 

Once the tank is done cycling, your Ammonia & Nitrites should _always_ read 0 unless you add something to the tank... like a significant number of fish.


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## BlueRam (Sep 21, 2004)

Sounds like a dead thing lurking somewhere. Try moving fish (as mentioned prior) or running lights 24/7 as the problem seems worse at the end of the dark period.

Also try using a store jug for the water change. Ie set a good volume out the night before with a heater and air pump so that you can do a large swap of warm, degassed water.


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## wapfish (Oct 14, 2005)

BlueRam said:


> Sounds like a dead thing lurking somewhere.


Yea. That sounds about right. Got any snails?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

It could also be excessive food. Almost any organic stuff left to decay will generate some ammonia, which will become nitrites. It probably gets worse at night because the plants may not consume as much of it when it is dark.


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

addicted2sp33d said:


> I don't think your tank is done cycling yet. It sounds like your tank has sufficient bacterial colonies to convert Ammonia to Nitrites, but you don't have sufficient bacterial colonies to consume the nitrites and produce nitrates.
> 
> The types of bacteria that consume Nitrites grow much slower than the types that consume Ammonia.
> 
> ...


i think you may be right with the whole cycling thing. the tank was setup in mid january with a HOB filter. an xp3 was purchased in mid february. the HOB was removed in early march. its now april and im having this problem. is what you said concurrent with my setup? i really dont know how long it takes for the nitrite -> nitrate bacteria to colonize. i thought 6 weeks is all you need for the filter to be "cycled". 

is it ok for me to leave the co2 on during this whole process? this may be a dumb question but if i leave it off then PH will rise and rise and rise and that may shock the fish as well. i pointed the xp3spray bar up for agitation/o2 for tonight. also, should i completely stop doing water changes to fight the nitrite spike? and let things just be? or add some prime in? 

from the other message boards, someone mentioned that PRIME will temporarily fix nitrite spike, but if they dont get converted to nitrate, then eventually prime breaks down, and the nitrites will all spike at once. 

another thing mentioned was that:
"One thing that I wonder is if the tank is so heavily stocked with plants that the plants are producing too much CO2 at night on their own? This could kill off beneficial bacteria along with the fish if they are not getting O2. "

anyhow, how should i proceed? i will leave the lights on 24/7, should i quit with the water changes? if nitrite spikes, should i put in prime? should i leave the air bubbler constantly going? note that this will increase my ph. 

here is a stock list:
3x clown loach
3x pakistani loach
2x bristlenose pleco
6x cardinal tetra
6x rummynose tetra
3x tiger barb
4x siamese algae eater

the largest fish in there is one of the bristlenoses at 5". all the loaches are about 2.5" with the exception of one 4" pakistani loach. the tank is 55g, i'll post a pic so you guys can see the plants.


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## BlueRam (Sep 21, 2004)

There is a saying that (almost) nothing good in planted tanks happens suddenly.

So big water changes, over dose of prime and everything else you are throwing in might be counter productive.

Considering the needs of the fish, SAE are from well oxygenated streams so they are often the first to stress. A small air pump may be called for their health.

It would also be good to get the nitrogen problem under control. I would suggest trashcan holding bins with conditioned water (overdosing "treatment" products make me nervous.) I know that aerating will remove Cl2. Perhaps tossing in a few plants to the holding tank will remove other nasties.

If you can remove suspicion about adding nitrate in during WC it is safe to say something in the tank is not right...


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## triple red (May 27, 2005)

how many fish do you have?
do you feed live food,freeze dried,or flake?
are your plants healthy?
anyway....do large water changes....its the simplest way to get rid of nitrite...use water that has been sitting overnight in a holding tank (a clean trash can would suffice) ....and make sure its the same temp and ph as the tank......


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

i posted my stock list a few msgs up. plants are very healthy. to do a water change, or not to, that is the question. my nitrites are not being converted into nitrates seem to be the problem. perhaps my filter is not cycled? the nitrites get really bad at night time.


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## triple red (May 27, 2005)

i would do the water changes until the nitrites are at a lower level......gravel vac to make sure there is no decaying food.....if the fish continue to gasp use an airpump......


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## fusQer (Jan 23, 2006)

im beginning to think too much o2 is being depleted overnight and thus not allowing the the good bacteria to convert nitrite to nitrate. how long should it take for nitrites -> nitrates in a healthy cycled tank? i mean say it starts at .5


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## Alexplosive (Mar 24, 2006)

I would try doing a good 50 to 60% water change. Use Amquel+ and Novaqua+ to treat the water and pour in some Bio-Spira live bacteria.


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## wapfish (Oct 14, 2005)

It's definitely a cylcing thing. If you can't find an obvious source like a dead whatever, then just anticipate that a bit of time will be necessary to set up the nitrite consumers. Once again, please look into using aquarium salt to protect against nitrite. Here's a link:

http://algone.com/salt_in_fresh.htm
Use of salt in freshwater aquariums

Salt will allow you to decrease (though not eliminate!) water changes, which, as others have stated, would be expected to delay establishment of the necessary bacterial population. Aside from the specific recomendation for 30x excess given in the above link, I've also read somewhere that as low as 10x higher chloride than nitrite is protective, and that nitrite is something reefers never have to worry about because of the salt water (comments anyone?).

I have used salt in my planted tank, with cories, and not suffered any ill effects on fish or plants. It was a modest amount of salt, however, not at the high end, and unfortunately I wasn't keeping good records back then so I don't have the specifics. I also didn't have any delicate plants, so that's a qualification.

Lastly, it won't hurt a bit to but a bubbler in there to assist in establishing the bacterial population. That's an very good idea.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I'd stick with the water changes.
I'd do them every 3-4 days, 50%.
Till things settle down. 

I think the NO2 is junk. 
Unless something died, rotted etc, or your filter was turned off etc, the NO2 is not going to jump almost 5ppm in 12 hours or less. 

Feed the fish, but lightly.
Add some floating plants.
Add more plants(which will use up the NH4 before it's converted to NO2/NO3.)

There is no cycling issue here nor in most any fully planted tank.
Well growing plants suck the NH4 out, NO2 has to start as NH4 first, plants use up the NH4 and keep at very low levels when the plants are provided with good conditions.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## BayazGouramiz (May 13, 2015)

So I'm having the same issue.

My tank is starting to grow algae, so I thought I'd go get some algae eaters to help with staghorn, and some other kind of algae. Its very faint but I have just seen it popping up here and there. This all seemed to happen after I increased the photo period to 8hrs. I'm always messing with the co2. I have it cranked sometimes trying to kill snails that somehow came with my plants. My drop checker is usually yellow to green, leaning towards yellow. 

So I've been squishing snails because their hard to fish out, and its easier to just squish them when their trying to get away from the co2... 

So to my question  Can smashing snails make my nitrite go to 5ppm ?
I have no ammonia and I'm not interested in testing nitrates atm(nitrate are 40ppm)... I hate testing! I do check my kh/gh and ph from time to time. Ph is often less than 6.4/ unreadable (6.0)

My tank is 1.5months old and is becoming moderately full with plants, some are reaching the surface and now i need to learn to replant the ones I've topped.

So I just got back from the LFS, and it seems that I can't get fish, as I suspected because of the high nitrites. That being said it sounds like my cycle could be over in a weak or so, as my aqua soil should be releasing enough ammonia to further the cycle until its complete and I can get fish to do this. Also just kind of looks like I'm going to have to deal with the very small amounts of algae I'm seeing until my tank fills out more, and the plants can take over. Which is also what I suspected after all my reading from all the posts by you fine folk. Crazy how much I already know just from videos and this forum. For now I can just spot check algae/manually with Hydrogen Peroxide and continue my 50% water changes. I'm also scratching adding more light as it seems like I cant get away with adding the LED's atm. I'm going from an 8 hour photo period to a 7... Kind of sucks cuz going from 6 to 8 has increased the health of my erio's and my downio that is just hanging on after a weak long vacation. Stupid Belem is prolly not going to make it, but it could be the whole reason for this mess because of its weird die back thing its done. I guess its melted, not sure why, but its a pain in the butt to look at, and I'm about ready to trash it. Although it has stabilized with increased light and mass amounts of co2. Anyways thanks for all of your previous posts as this info is very useful to me. 

I will not be squishing snails anymore either  which sucks cuz its way easier to just run my hand along driftwood and kill the mass amounts of babies... This might all be for the better so I can research more ways of killing them before I get fish. Might try the dog medicine stuff to kill them before I get fish.


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## wmnash (Dec 14, 2015)

I'm an old fart and have been keeping planted tanks since the 1950s, so bear that in mind as you continue to read. 

I keep a 20 gallon aquarium planted thickly with Elodea (anacharis). I have a bubbler in the tank, but no filter. The aquarium sits in a southern window where it receives light as long as there is daylight. I keep this tank for two purposes: 1. I like elodea and harvest bunches to replace those that have grown too straggly or show damage from fish nibbling stands of the stuff in my planted tanks; 2. On those rare occasions nitrates and nitrites begin to show up in my display tanks (below .25 ppm) I harvest large large clumps of the elodea. I bunch 15 or so medium stems with an elastic band and dump two bunches for every five gallons in aquariums. I then increase the lighting. In two days the ammonia and/or nitrites are back to 0. This is something we had to do in the dark ages before we had access to stuff that fixed ammonia and nitrites/nitrates so water changes could make quick difference.

As for the 20 gallon tank, I keep a few pygmy coryduras and a couple of siamese algae eaters in it. They do a great job of keeping the tank free of algae. I usually change 3-4 gallons of the water about once a month. The elodea is quite remarkable for sucking up nitrate/nitrite and mollifying ammonia spikes. It's something to consider if you plan on being in the hobby for the long term.


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## M-Mike-Shyamalan (Oct 20, 2015)

Had the same problem in my 130G when it was about a month old, I did 50% changes daily. huge pain but eventually it will even out. Clean your canisters if you haven't already. Make sure you leave the bio filters sitting in a bucket of tank water and not rinsing them out in the sink. Check the lines too to make sure there isnt a bunch of old food and stuff in there. Picked up some Tetra Safestart on Amazon to hurry things along and that seemed to help. Good luck!


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## Robert42 (Aug 16, 2017)

I am wondering if I can bump this thread up rather than start a new one as I have a similar problem but no dead fish thank goodness. If this is OK just reply to this post.


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