# Nitrite question



## artemisblossom (May 22, 2008)

I am at the part of the cycle where the nitrites have spiked in my 55 gal tank. I do daily water changes but it soars between 2-5ppm over night what do you thik of adding something to the tank to make the nitrite less harmful to the fish? I see several things that claim to do this at my lfs.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

You can add aproduct or just let the cycle continue. With your fishload and type of fish, I do not think you need to add anything to neutralize the nitrite.

Plants help and are a more permanent solution not requiring dosing each time, but you can always use something like prime.


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## the_limit (Jul 24, 2008)

I had a similar problem and unfortunately most of my fish died because of stress, etc.

Anyways, keep changing the water, and it will keep the nitrite diluted, which will give you a lower ppm reading. Also, what I found from reading up on some sites and books, is that you should add conditioner to your water *before* you add it to the tank. The reason being that water contains chlorine which is meant to kill bacteria in your drinking water, etc., but it also kills the good bacteria which break down your nitrites.

Changing water will naturally remove more bacteria, as well as the nitrite - so you will end up having to wait for longer for your bacteria colony to get established. So keep doing your water changes, and as ameekplec has said, you can use dome prime, its pretty good stuff. But make sure you dechlorinate the water before you put it in.

some questions:
-what kind of fish do you keep, how many?
-what kind of filter do you use?

Cheers.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Freshwater-Aquarium-3216/lowering-nitrite.htm


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## artemisblossom (May 22, 2008)

Thank you to everyone ! The tank has finally cycled now It has been almost a week that I have had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and <10ppm nitrates. i have 6 platies, one male guppy, 2 diamond tetras and I just added a snowball plec , 2 SAE , and a golden mystery snail. During the almost 3 months it took to cyce the tank I lost 2 swordtails and gained 2 tiny swordtail fry that are living right now in the breeder net and are growing like cazy.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

the_limit said:


> Changing water will naturally remove more bacteria, as well as the nitrite


The water column (the water in your tank) contains an almost insignificant amount of the nitrifying bacteria compared to your filter media.

The main consideration with WCs is that the fish have to adjust to the new water parameters, and that puts undue stress onto them.


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