getting nitrites down

[zeebo]

hi guys,
as i mentioned, i lost a filter on my 20g during the outtage, causing a cycle . I cant remove the bn and the high nitrites are screamin 50 for 3 days now and from past experience in fishless cycling , i know this could continue for 3 weeks .

My question is can i use small amounts of water from my 54g daily wc's to replace some in the 20g each day ...or will that mess it up more ?

Or should i do a large wc, say 75% to get the nitrites down and would that correct the problem?

Or should i do nothing and let it ride ?

not sure my fish nor i can take 3 more weeks of this . Although fish are acting normal, i feel this is cruel.

ideas, advice welcome

am-.50 / ni -50. / na -10 / ph-6.3 using Prime daily , feed every 3 days.

Georgie

 

[Breamlegend]

Use prime and do small water changes each day?

 

[zeebo]

yes, with discarded tank water from my 54g cuz i do 10% wc's on the 54g daily, so yeah, smaller ....would the tank water help?

or 1 big wc from tap ? or would i be asking for more trouble ?

thanks
georgie

 

[Joby]

When I didn't know any better and cycled tank with fish in the bad old days I did daily 50% water changes. It does slow the cycle down but it also is a bit easier on the fish as you know high nitrites isn't good for them :cry:

Hope your tank sorts itself soon :thumbup:

 

[D-MAC]

I would definatly do sml w/c to help keep it down....That with the use of Prime should help see the fish through this period...I would also consider the use of Microbelift Nite-out II as this is a bacteria reqiuired for the oxidation of nitrite to nitrate and will help speed things up

 

[Art_Gal]

I agree with the pwc's. It's amazing what pwc's can do. Just make sure you add prime to the fresh water. You can also bubble the water overnight and then heat it up the next day if you're worried about adding fresh tap water to your tank. I've never heard of Microbelift...do they sell it in the US? Sounds interesting.

Also, after you get the nitrites down you can take some filter floss from your 55g and add it to the 20g filter. That should jumpstart the bio-filter again and keep the ammonia & nitrite levels down.

 

[Tener ds]

water changes well help

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Good advice from the other posters. Try and do minimal feeding, and carry on with the water changes. You can use the water from the other tank as it shouldn't contain any nitrites (NO2), just nitrates (NO3), but you will need some fresh water as well. If you can, I'd change at least 20% a day, but if you use the water from the 54g you could change any amount up to 100% a day.

Don't worry about this lengthening the cycle, it may do a little bit, but there will be sufficient ammonia entering the filter to keep the tank cycling. The other advantage of larger water changes, would be that you could do this straight away

Also, after you get the nitrites down you can take some filter floss from your 55g and add it to the 20g filter. That should jump start the bio-filter again and keep the ammonia & nitrite levels down.

cheers Darrel

 

[zeebo]

thanks guys, but the bn didnt make it

just did 50% wc with water from the 54g

will continue daily

have 2 dither fish left

D-MAC, not sure can get that in US, will check it out.

dont want to remove any biomatrix from the 54g (have 2 hob's) as the L128's are in there and weary to mess up that tanks water , although readings are good. would hate to screw up that tank so soon after the long po.

final note,
thanks for all your concern and advice...i knew this was gonna be rough.
Georgie

 

[Joby]

Sorry to hear the bn didn't make it :cry:

 

[zeebo]

thanks Joby.appreciate, my heart is sunkin as i feel responsible for not checking the 20g as diligently as i did the 54g. should have caught that filter.
:wb::wb:

Thanks D-MAC , I called the aq store and they will mail it to me tomorrow.

I will prob get the 30g from my friend this weekend . so i will just toss eveything in there after cleaning it.

hoping this is over soon ,

Georgie

 

[Lornek8]

Sorry for the loss, especially considering the circumstances that were not your making.

Were you still feeding your fish?
For next time (hopefully not), maybe think about not feeding your fish if you had been doing so. This will slow the production of ammonia. Healthy well-fed fish can go quite a long time without food.

 

[Art_Gal]

I'm so sorry to hear about your bristlenose! That's so sad. :imsorry: Hang in there with the tank. I know it feels like it will take forever, but eventually it will get sorted out!

 

[zeebo]

Sorry for the loss, especially considering the circumstances that were not your making.

Were you still feeding your fish?
For next time (hopefully not), maybe think about not feeding your fish if you had been doing so. This will slow the production of ammonia. Healthy well-fed fish can go quite a long time without food.

hi , Lornek , no food in either tank starting 1 day before the storm, as they predicted power outtages , trees still full leaves, and snow on them.... so i knew to prepare and set up everything i would need, but did not feed either tank for first 5 days , then a tiny bit on the 6th , then power back but had lost the one filter which i assume held 1/2 that tanks biomedia. strange cuz i have another hob and 2 hrydra sponges and a small fish load....

still getting high ni and am readings ...doing 50%wc and Prime daily and will get the Microbe lift night-oit II via Fed-X delivery later today.

have not fed the 2 dither fish in this tank since that 6th day po

that has always been my plan of action IF we hear of a storm brewing our way..nobody eats till its safe again.

thanks for all you guys help here , and D-MAC,thanks again for recommending the MicrobeLift . crossing fingers.

georgie

 

[Lornek8]

Did you happen to test the tap water?
Maybe because of the power outage the water company did some funky stuff with the water.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

dont want to remove any biomatrix from the 54g (have 2 hob's) as the L128's are in there and weary to mess up that tanks water , although readings are good. would hate to screw up that tank so soon after the long po.

You can take some media out, and then replace it with some new media, it will re-colonise really quickly. The fact that they are HOB's is actually to your advantage, these are very efficient at aeration and it is often aeration rather than the quantity of media that limits biological filtration.

Maybe because of the power outage the water company did some funky stuff with the water.

I was just wondering this when I read Lorne's post. They may have put the chlorination up, if this was via chloramine that would continually produce ammonia, which would quickly be converted to NO2, but possibly less quickly to NO3.

cheers Darrel

 

[jessonthenet]

hi guys,
as i mentioned, i lost a filter on my 20g during the outtage, causing a cycle . I cant remove the bn and the high nitrites are screamin 50 for 3 days now and from past experience in fishless cycling , i know this could continue for 3 weeks .

My question is can i use small amounts of water from my 54g daily wc's to replace some in the 20g each day ...or will that mess it up more ?

Or should i do a large wc, say 75% to get the nitrites down and would that correct the problem?

Or should i do nothing and let it ride ?

not sure my fish nor i can take 3 more weeks of this . Although fish are acting normal, i feel this is cruel.

ideas, advice welcome

am-.50 / ni -50. / na -10 / ph-6.3 using Prime daily , feed every 3 days.

Georgie

Only benefit I can see using water from another tank is to do quick water top ups and save on water conditioner or it has the same ph or correct temperature but then if you keep taking water from the big tank eventually you will have to fill that back up.

If there isn't high nitrites in the tap water then just use that treated first to do water changes until the bacteria colonise again and borrow a little media from your other filter.

Water from the other tank wont help cycle your tank. I would do no more than a 50% change so you don't shock any fish. If you are prepared to do 75% then you may as well change all the water.

Good idea to use an airstone in your tank as nitrites can suffocate your fish as it stops the absorption of oxygen. Depends how long the nitrites have been in the tank to how affective aerating the tank will be as the gills may be too damaged among other things causing death.

 

[zeebo]

hi everyone, Lorne, we did not loose water during this outtage... and we have gas water heater so has hot water...that is why i was able to put hot water botts in the tanks to keep them warmish. So, no , i didnt test the water .Had not even thought about it but would be good idea anyway.

jess, the nitrites and amonia have been high since the 5th , and i have been using Prime and 50%wc daily, the am is still 1.0 and the nitrites have dropped to 2.0 ,whereas they had been running 50 , 40. So i got the Microbe start up and night out II today and hope to soon see some lower readings. Thanks about the wc's from the 54g , the only good thing about that was the ph match , as my tap is very high... and i do 10% wc on my 54g daily anyway.

Back to the problem tank , now doing 20% wc and will see how this micrbobe lift goes.. crossing fingers..

many thanks all ,

Georgie
Georgie

 

[zeebo]

oh, ps thanks for the heads up re the air stone , and i did add one when this problem began, had hoped it would save the bn but didnt. Still have it going .
Georgie