# nitrite issue



## lybrian1 (Aug 10, 2010)

my flowerhorn tank seems to be experiencing a nitrite spike or something. i checked the water parameters once more and found ammonia to be 0, nitrate is consistently 20-40 ppm for weeks now and nitrate is acceptable. i do daily partial water changes and it doesnt seem to help. i added some filter media from a more established tank. nothing seems to help.

it is a 10 gal tank with a HOB filter rated for 30 gal.
what should i do to solve this problem? will adding plants help?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I'm assuming one of the parameters is "nitrite", in which case, there is no acceptable level of nitrite. Water changes, check your filter, etc. etc.


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

I don't know much about cichlids... But flowerhorns in a 10gal? 

I'm gonna assume these are young and you're growing them out or something...

So assuming you aren't overstocked or using an inadequate enclosure size to begin with...

I'm also going to assume that you're having problems with your nitrates, not your nitrites, since I'm sure you wouldn't have fish anymore if your nitrites were steady at 20-40ppm, and you didn't actually give a reading for your nitrites, but instead said "nitrates are acceptable" after you already give readings for nitrates.

The most likely source of nitrates would be overfeeding or dirty substrate... Perhaps you reused old substrate which was full of organic waste? Perhaps you're not removing uneaten food before it has a chance to collect in the substrate? Are you siphoning the substrate every time you do a water change?

Only anaerobic bacteria can remove nitrates by converting it to nitrogen gas. This is not the bacteria you have in your filter. The only (common) way of removing nitrates is with manual water changes.

Hope my assumptions were correct and this was some help to you.


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## lybrian1 (Aug 10, 2010)

i dont believe it is over stocked at all. there are 2 one inch flowerhorns (with divider) which i am out growing. it is bare bottom so that i can clean it everyday. i have lot of tanks on hand so i have no reason to overstock them.

i do feed them a lot but i do water changes daily so that shouldnt matter.

i actually may have found the problem. my intake is quite strong so it is sucking in some food and decaying in my filter. i have done some filter maintenance so it should be fine now


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

Yeah, I figured you probably weren't trying to keep adult flowerhorns in a 10gal 

Glad you seem to have found the source of your problems though. I hadn't thought to suggest debris in the filter. I'll have to make a mental note of that.


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## lybrian1 (Aug 10, 2010)

i need to do something about the intake. the filter is for a 30 gal tank so the intake is too strong for the 10 gal

i did put a sponge over the intake (which i bought from ebay) but the sponge get clogged and seems to decrease the flow rate quite a bit,

do you have any suggestions on how to keep large particles of food from being sucked into the intake? i am feeding tetra colour
i want to avoid using sponges as i have tried many different types


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## qwerty (Dec 15, 2009)

hmmmm... When I was running an AC70 on a 29gal I used one of those plastic mesh-bags that you buy garlic in... you know those little mesh bags they use for selling garlic by the 3?

It's a little easier than a sponge in the sense that you can see exactly how clogged it's getting at all times, and it's arguably easier to clean.

Otherwise no, I use aquaclear sponges on my eheim intakes and don't have any flow restriction problems as long as I keep them clean. They cost like $2 each so it's not a big investment.

Perhaps you could try feeding slower so the fish have a chance to eat what you put in before it gets a chance to reach the filter? Maybe put something in front of the intake to obstruct the flow like a large rock, so there's less of a direct current so the food can hang around in the water before finding its way into the current and being swept into the filter? All I can suggest and not sure if that would work.


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## lybrian1 (Aug 10, 2010)

i was thinking of making a mesh basket over the intake. that way even if the food gets stuck on the mesh, the fish would still go for it


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

I turn off all my filters in my tanks except for shrimps tanks when I feed regardless if there is a sponge over them or not, get a power bar with the on/off button and plug all your filter in there and then just switch the power off/


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

probably not enough bacteria to keep up and break down the nitrites from execessive feeding and rapid growth of the young flowerhorn. It's a good thing you have bare tank, do a very large amount of water change. But you have to keep doing it daily though. some breeders even do 100% water change for their grow tanks.


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## Holidays (Apr 18, 2010)

btw what's the temp?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Why not turn the filter off when you feed, then remove excess food?

You shouldn't be leaving excess food in a fry/growout tank to rot anyway.


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