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FAQs on Marine Water Quality involving Nitrites, Science
Related Articles: Nitrite,
Ammonia, Nitrates,
Establishing Cycling,
BioFiltration, Phosphate,
Silicates, Phosphate,
Related FAQs: Nitrites 1, Nitrites
2, Nitrites 3,
& FAQs on Nitrite: Importance,
Measure, Sources,
Control, Chemical Filtrants,
Troubleshooting/Fixing &
Nitrates, Ammonia,
Phosphate, Silicates, Chemical
Filtrants, |
A/the "nitrogen cycle" encompasses dynamic activities...
ever-changing... with circumstances, biological, chemical and
physical interactions |
Comment for Neale (Nitrite toxicity; RMF, stuff you may want to comment
on) 10/21/08
Dear Neale,
I hope you and the
rest of the Crew are well. I wanted to ask you about a post I read today
that you answered regarding a trigger and a tank with 0.2 ppm of
nitrites. In your answer, you stated that the nitrite level was deadly
and that few marine fishes tolerate any level of nitrites for long.
<That was certainly my understanding... until now, perhaps!>
Now, I
worship WWM and particularly enjoy reading your answers every day, but
everything I have read suggests that nitrite is actually harmless in
marine aquaria except at almost impossible to achieve levels. For some
reason that escapes me (I am no scientist), there is something about
marine aquaria/fish that makes this situation much different than in
freshwater aquaria/fish (in which case/es it is indeed deadly at any
level).
<It has long been reported (e.g., in the Interpet Manual of
Fish Health) that sodium chloride (the dominant mineral in sea salt)
detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, which is why it had often been used as a
"tonic" to help freshwater fish in badly maintained aquaria.
Extrapolating outwards from that to say marine fish are essentially
unharmed by nitrite at even quite high levels does make sense.>
I was
wondering if you could bring some clarity to this issue--it's a frequent
point of contention on the message boards. From what I have read,
nitrite in marine aquaria is indeed a problem, but only because it is an
indicator of an immature/inadequate bio-filter and/or an overstocked
aquarium.
www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/rhf/index.php
Thanks!
Andy
<That study seems pretty conclusive, though Bob Fenner may have
different opinions, and I wouldn't put myself up as any kind of marine
fishkeeping guru! Most of my marine fishkeeping experience is with
coldwater stuff at university, lab animals such as snapping shrimps and
mantis shrimps, and some reef and fish-only display tanks I've helped
maintain over the years. In my defence, my instinct in this case was
that the aquarist had two fish in a tank that was far too small for
them, one of which was showing clear signs of stress. My assumption
would be problems with water quality, and that nitrite was detectable
would seem to corroborate that. So whether or not nitrite is the thing
harming this fish, it's certainly a clue that water volume, overfeeding,
lack of filter capacity and so on would definitely be issues for the
aquarist to review. Or put another way, nitrite in marine tanks may be
comparable to pH in freshwater tanks: in itself not a critical factor,
but pH is revealing about the stability and type of water chemistry
conditions in the tank, and these things do indeed directly affect the
fish. Anyway, fascinating stuff, and thanks for writing! Neale.> <<Mmm,
I do want to chime in... a bit... and do agree that it is NOT the
presence of nitrite per se that is/can be a matter of concern
directly... rather than as Andy and the article state, much more so the
indication that the given system is not "well-established" to "bump up"
or accommodate if you will, further loading on the forward reaction of
nitrification. Still the "window" of measuring, measured nitrite is
useful, should be heeded as a warning to suspend feeding, further
stocking. RMF>>
Question about nitrites during fishless cycling, BioSpira f'
1/25/08
Hello all,
<Hi Allison, Jeni/Pufferpunk here>
A
hopefully quick question for you. I have a new 30 gallon freshwater tank
which I set up about 2.5 weeks ago (no fish), when I added about 1.5 ml
of some ammonia I bought at the grocery store. It didn't tell me what
concentration it was, but I read that "Household ammonia is a dilute
mixture of 5 to 10 percent ammonia gas in water." My water indicated
about 2.0 ppm ammonia.
<Should raise it to 5ppm.>
It took about a
week before my ammonia went down to zero, and since then I've been
adding a little bit each day (about .5 ml) and it's always at zero when
I test it again the next day (and then add more). I haven't tested my
nitrite until tonight and it's reading around 2.0 ppm, though I can't be
sure because it's a color test. I would have thought the nitrite would
be at zero by now, since it's been a week and a half since the ammonia
first went down to zero. Could it be that the ammonia I'm adding daily
is killing off the bacteria that does the second part of the cycle (the
nitrite-to-nitrate part)?
<No, that bacteria feeds off ammonia.>
I was hoping to be able to get my first two fish (two Cory cats) in a
couple days but I want the nitrite to
be at zero, of course. Should I
continue adding my .5ml of ammonia each night and wait for the nitrite
to get down to zero?
<You need to start out with enough ammonia to
test 5pp, ammonia. When you start seeing nitrite, you cut that amount in
half, until ammonia & nitrite are 0 & the nitrate spikes. Then do an 80%
water change & you're ready to add fish (you can fully stock your tank
at this point).>
If you advise to NOT add ammonia, how then can I
keep the bacteria multiplying?
<All the bacteria will die without
"food'">
I don't know of anywhere to get Bio-Spira locally, otherwise
I'd just get that and the fish all at once!
<Unfortunately, I have
seen way too many instances of folks counting on Bio-Spira to cycle
their tank, only to find out it wasn't kept refrigerated from
Marineland, to the supplier, to the wholesaler, to the LFS, to the tank.
I have a friend who is a wholesaler. He went to a supplier's warehouse &
there were huge skids with cases of Bio-Spira, sitting out in their very
warm warehouse. They had been there for quite some time. I was at a LFS
one time, where they had some Bio-Spira out on their counter. I insisted
it was to be refrigerated & they should read the directions on the back
of the package. They read it & put it in the refrigerator for sale. It
had been on their counter for months! I am getting a lot of reports of
folks depending on their tank being cycled with Bio-Spira & after
putting precious, sensitive fish (like puffers) into their supposedly
cycled tank, losing these fish to ammonia/nitrite poisoning. I'm sorry I
for being so long-winded in your particular email but I wanted people to
know about this growing problem with Bio-Spira. If it isn't kept
refrigerated the entire time, before getting to your tank, bets are,
it's not going to work. One way to prevent this problem is to buy online
from a place like Drs Foster & Smith. They guarantee cold delivery. Good
luck with your fishless cycle. Here is an excellent article:
http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/
~PP>
Thanks for the help! I really appreciate it!
Allison
Re: Question about nitrites during fishless cycling 1/27/08
Hey
Jeni,
<Allison>
Thanks for the help. That's a nice simple formula
to follow for a fishless cycle. And thanks for the interesting info on
Bio-Spira...I guess it's better to do it the old-fashioned, foolproof
way to be safe.
<At least you can be sure that way! I'm very
disappointed at the state in which some Bio-Spira gets to us... Glad I
could help. ~PP>
Thanks again!
Allison Nitrite Levels
and Puffer Fish 8/11/04hi
<Hi, Pufferpunk here>
Just
recently I have stripped down my tropical tank and made it into
marine. I brought all my equipment of a friend who was selling up. He
kept all of the living rock and coral sand living with the fish. The
nitrites went high then went to zero now they are going back up
again. The fish I have are one regal tang one clown one green Chromis
and one porcupine puffer. The tank is Rio 125L filters are the standard
Rio filter with a 1000lph power head, fitted and an external filter of
about 600lph turnover. I also have a SeaClone protein skimmer. Should I
worry about the levels of nitrite being produced because of the fish or
will they be ok while my tank finishes its cycle, is there anything I
can do to help this situation and the fish along?
<I never suggest
cycling a tank with fish in it. Ammonia & nitrItes are extremely toxic
to fish. Living in toxic water will compromise their immune systems &
can cause permanent damage. Porc puffers especially, are very
susceptible to ich, brought on by a lowered immune system. I highly
suggest finding some SW Bio-Spira to finish cycling the tank
immediately. ~PP>.
cheers Andy. Question on
Nitrites
I did a water test on Nitrites yesterday ( just bought
the test kit) and it is very high.
<Ummm, what's missing here? How
high is very high?>
My ammonia level is zero. I read that water
changes can help the high level on nitrite. Today is the day that the
water change was due so I did it and both test came out the same as
yesterday.
<Yes, water changes will likely forestall cycling... only
temporarily dilute nitrites>
I have 3 green Chromis and 1 yellow
shrimp goby. Could this be cause by the liverock and how can I lower
this level ? I have 45 lb of Fiji liverock in a 55 gal tank and I filter
my water.
Lianne T Carroll
<Yes to the possibility of causes...
Lowering really a matter of time going by... don't feed at all, or
attempt to alter water chemistry, physics if the NO2 is anywhere near
1.0 ppm... Read over the "Biological Filtration" FAQs on
www.WetWebMedia.com
Bob Fenner> Re: Question on Nitrites
Sorry my mistake. By very high I meant between 2.0 and 5.0 ppm. The
color is hard to tell which one it is. Either way deep purple is bad and
light blue is good. Someone else also told me that not feeding for a
while is good. Thanks for the info I'll read the FAQs. Hey I deserve
this for being new to the trade. haha
Thanks Bye
Lianne Carroll
<Yikes, this is VERY high indeed... please review what I have stated,
chat with others, look through your reference works... and DO NOT feed
or attempt to alter your water chemistry... other than executing a large
(if you have the water pre-mixed) water change... like 50% soon... and
again in a few days if the nitrites are still above 1.0 ppm. Bob Fenner>
Nitrite
Hello Bob,
I am having trouble cycling my 130 gallon
tank. It has been over 5 weeks and I still have high levels of nitrite.
Ammonia is zero, and nitrate is currently 5 ppm, but last week it got up
to 20ppm. I currently have 1 black molly in the tank which has been
doing fine. There is an outbreak of diatom growth, but apart from that
nothing else.
<Diatoms are completely normal.>
I feed sparingly,
almost not at all (diatoms are keeping him fed). The tank is kept at
about 25 degrees Celsius,
<That is ~77F for the Metrically
Challenged.>
with 9.5 hours of two 150watt MH per day as light. I
have changed 60 liters at the most and this seemed to have no effect.
<~15 gallons, would have a minimal effect on 130 gallons, about 5%.>
Just yesterday I modified my trickle filter so it had some biospheres as
well as the plastic hair rollers in it - I thought perhaps there wasn't
enough substrate for the bacteria.
Apart from these observations, the
only thing I can add is that the pH is a little high - 8.6, as I was
dosing baking soda a while ago ( learnt from my mistake).
Could you
suggest any reason for the prolonged wait for Nitrobacter to proliferate
?
<Nothing to worry about. One to two months is normal. -Steven Pro>
Cheers, Andrew Hough
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