# high nitrite level



## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

okay my 20 gallon tank has unusually high nitrite levels. the nitrates are almost at 0, the ph is perfect at 7+ and i tested the tap and nitites are 0 out of the tap. the only deaths in the tank were a school of 7 spotted cory cats and a pleco when the power went out and caused a change to the water almost immedieately paticularly the temp causing them to stress and all died within hours of each other. i did have two ghost shrimp which were about a year old and i just found one dead and can't find the other so i am guessing he is dead somwhere but i doubt one dead ghost shrimp is causing a nitrite level of 5. i just vaccumed the gravel two days ago and the water is crystal clear as i change it about 50% twice a week. any ideas? is it possible that the filter could have a brown algae colony and it's being spread throughout the tank?


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## megamax42 (Jan 10, 2011)

How long was the power out?


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

a fuse blew while i was sleeping so several hours. the water has been changed 4 times since then though.


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## megamax42 (Jan 10, 2011)

What kind of filters are you running?


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

i run one HOB


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Sounds unusual that you lost that much from a simple power outage of a few hours. Sounds like there must've been something else going on before that happened. By brown algae if you mean diatoms, they will not kill fish.


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

from what i have read and from what i have been told by other aquariasts corys will get stressed out and die if anything in the water changes all of a sudden like the temp. my heater was off for all of that time and the temp had been in the low 70's and that was a month ago. early march in connecticut is pretty cold and the temp dropped significantly in the tank. nothing else died before or after except a ghost shrimp but he was over a year old and from what i have read ghost shrimp don't live long.


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

The temp change should have been gradual enough so that none of your fish would die over even eight hours unless you live outside. You do have a furnace, right?

Nitrites are as deadly as ammonia. Presence of nitrites indicate that your tank has not completed the nitrogen cycle. This is what killed your fish.

You post a question and then turn around and answer your question (corys will die if anything in the water changes SUDDENLY).

In a house with a furnace, insulation, windows, doors etc a power outage of eight hours might result in a temp change of 15 F over eight hours (air temp). This is assuming that the outside temp is 0F and the inside temp is 65F. Unless you open all the windows and doors so you can talk to your neighbors. Any difference in this temp gradient would of course increase or decrease the temp change inside your home if you have one.

The temp of the water in your tank would change much slower. Death to a sudden drastic change in temp would be very fast for your fish. Next time it is -20 f with a wind chill of -75F Jump in your tub and get all wet than run outside naked for an hour, see what happens.


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## ReStart (Jan 3, 2011)

How long has this tank been running? Is it in a nitrogen cycle? If not, perhaps something killed all the good bacteria, like antibiotics for example.

As you likely already know, it's high ammonia then high nitrItes, then nitrates. Have you checked ammonia levels? When you say high nitrites, how high is that? Keep up the water changes, maybe even go to 25% daily until the nitrites go down. High nitrites will kill all but the strongest fish.


Short of wc's and finishing the cycle, I know of no other way to reduce nitrites. Oh, Prime says it detoxifies nitrites, so what the heck, it won't hurt.


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

i will do some water changes daily until this goes away. the nitrite levels just spiked though after the corys died, i mean like a month later and nothing else was affected so while i do live indoors with a furnace smart ### and since nothing but the corys and the pleco died that's all i can figure and same with anyone around here that does this. this tank has been going for 4 and a half months and those are the only losses. i have two guppies male and female that are almost 2 years old 2 orange gouramies i have had since the tank started 4 african dwarf frogs i have had almost a year a baby guppy that was born in that tank and managed to hide and survive my bamboo shrimp are thriving. i am removing the plants that are currently in there and replanting and i have gotten rid of some of the decorations. as far as how high, my nitrites are at about 5. nitrates are almost undetectable.


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

No need for foul language. High nitrites in your uncycled tank killed your fish. Temp had nothing to do with it. Despite what the local yokels say.

Also since you all ready have all the answers, why are you asking questions?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I got a question, if the tank is only 4 1/2 months old how do you have 1 year old guppies born in this tank?

I have had cories survive a power outage during winter for 5 days and didn't loose one.


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

ok rtbob like a typical texan and yeah i know plenty of you since i just moved back to CT from wichita falls texas and prior to that i lived in San Antonio you guys seem to know everything. i asked because i would like to know why my nitrites were so high and what i can do to fix that. as for local yokles dude i am in connecticut you're texas you got the yokles hick. the people i asked here are biology professors i went to Patagonia with from UCONN who specialize in amphipods and aquatic life. Why did you have to add your two cents if all you wanted to do was criticize? i was genuinely looking for advice.


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

to answer your question Susankat they didn't start in that tank. I moved them.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

The answer to where your nitrites came from has been answered more than once. Your tank got a serious ammonia spike from something. Either you added a lot of fish at once (maybe the 7 corys that aren't listed in your sig) or something else, or maybe your tap water has ammonia, there is something dead in the tank causing ammonia. The ammonia spike caused a corresponding nitrite spike. This is where you are right now. Honestly, when was the last time you tested for ammonia or nitrite before the issue? Week, 2 weeks? I usually don't test for ammonia unless I am curious if I have a reading? 

Cories also like fairly clean water and aren't usually good to have in your tank when the tank is going through the cycle because of sensitivity to ammonia and nitrites.


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## rtbob (Jul 18, 2010)

Wow all that education and their still wrong. What a waste of time and money.

You said your nitrites were high. Then you ask why did my fish die.

Kinda like hitting your self on the head with a hammer than wondering why you have a headache. Is it because the lights went out?

For your information I live in Austin. If you knew anything at all about Texas you would know that Austin is a very different place than the rest of Texas.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

*r2 Funny...but true.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Ok guys lets calm it down. You asked a question, and you got answers, but in all reality you didn't give enough info to get a spot on answer as there can be many reasons.

I know a lot of professors also, but that doesn't mean they know squat about what is going on in an aquarium. There are a couple that I know that does as one is a professor in fish diseases and another in micro, but both have kept aquariums for many years. One is also involved with international betta conventions and the other is up in the main board of directors of the ALA.

You have gotten reasonable answers to your questions so lets keep it all civil.


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## laxfanweeb (Mar 2, 2011)

look rtrob i never asked "why did my fish die" go back and read first off. secondly the "their" in your sentence should be "they're" as in they are. i get it you're from Austin super. you guys are so great and so ahead and modern. I'll bet you think you are so ahead in your knowledge of alternative music being in Austin. Remember i am right next to New York City and go in all the time and have for more than 16 years. you're a hick sorry but deal with it. by the way changed out all my plants did another water change, added new plants and now have a nitrite level of less than 1 based on advice i recieved from a different site as well as inividuals from this site. this isn't facebook and i doubt anyone here is looking to argue. have fun though thinking that Austin is so different from everyone else in texas.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

laxfanweeb, that is enough. No flames allowed on this forum.


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