Final word on Reducing Nitr i tes ....?
Chris Parsons
but have not seen a straightforward answer on my specific question:
My ammonia is at zilch due to the several water changes. My tank is
at 9 weeks old. 46 gallon bow tank. Saltwater with no living rock.
One maroon clownfish that is dying a slow death. Nitrites are sky
high, despite repeated water changes over the past couple weeks.
Nothing is helping. Nitrites still remain high. I haven't overfed or
anything. Only one fish in the whole tank. Have a protein skimmer
and everything.
HOW DO I REDUCE NITRITE LEVELS?
Maybe its not as simple as I want it to be. Water changes aren't
helping. I've done a 50%, 35%, 35%, 20%, and 10% in the past 2 weeks.
STill sky high.
I was *TOLD* (incorrectly?) that I could add this Nitryfing Bacteria
and Oxygen Booster stuff to the tank and that would help reduce
Nitrites. They have only gotten higher since adding it. Was I
informed incorrectly?
Is there anything I can put into the water to neutralize the Nitrites
and save my fish??
HELP
Frank M. Greco
What is wrong with it?
<< Nitrites are sky high, despite repeated water changes over the past
couple weeks.
Nothing is helping. Nitrites still remain high. >>
Nitrite is NOT toxic in marine systems due to the presence of both sodium
and chloride ions. Unless the level is 100 ppm or greater, this is not the
cause of your fish's problem. How high is this level? As to reducing it, one
massive water change, using a gravel cleaning siphon, should do the trick.
The addition of a PolyFilter or two will also reduce the nitrite level. But
before you do that, what test kit are you using? Some, such as dry tab and
dip stick types, are highly inaccurate in salt water.
--
Frank M. Greco (pHran...@netzero.net / http://www.frankmgreco.com)
SysOp-The Forum at Frank's Aquarium.com
Visit us at http://www.frankmgreco.com
Stop by and chat every Sunday night at 9 pm EDST
at mic://chat.annexcafe.com/#fish
Chris Parsons
> << One maroon clownfish that is dying a slow death. >>
>
> What is wrong with it?
>
> << Nitrites are sky high, despite repeated water changes over the past
> couple weeks.
> Nothing is helping. Nitrites still remain high. >>
>
> Nitrite is NOT toxic in marine systems due to the presence of both sodium
> and chloride ions. Unless the level is 100 ppm or greater, this is not the
> cause of your fish's problem. How high is this level? As to reducing it, one
> massive water change, using a gravel cleaning siphon, should do the trick.
> The addition of a PolyFilter or two will also reduce the nitrite level. But
> before you do that, what test kit are you using? Some, such as dry tab and
> dip stick types, are highly inaccurate in salt water.
Ok you're the first person out of about (literally) 20 people who has
told me that Nitrites aren't toxic to fish, even in very small
quantities. Why are you the only one who says this?
My scale for my marine tank only goes from 0 to 1.0 ... so im not sure
where you get the idea that its only significant at 100 .... obviously
even the marine testing kit considers 1 incredibly high for a marine
tank, and even suggests taking fast action to reverse it.
Did you mean 1.0 rather than 100 ?
Frank M. Greco
told me that Nitrites aren't toxic to fish, even in very small quantities.
Why are you the only one who says this?>>
I don't know why I am the only one saying this since it is a well known
fact. Nitrite, at levels normally found in our aquaria, is not toxic to
MARINE fish, not fish in general. Nitrite induces methemoglobinemia since it
is transported across the gills and enters the bloodstream, oxidizing
hemoglobin to methemoglobin. Methemoglobin can not carry oxygen efficiently,
and so the fish's tissue is deprived of the oxygen it needs. Both sodium and
calcium ions, present in large quantities in salt water (55.2% and 1.16%,
respectively) inhibit nitrite uptake across the gills, thus reducing or even
eliminating, the toxic effects of nitrite in marine fishes at levels one
would encounter in a home aquarium.
Methemogloinemia can occur when the nitrite level reaches 25 ppm, or
thereabouts, but only becomes acute when the nitrite level is 100 ppm or
greater (for marine fish). Some fish will even tolerate over 1000 ppm
nitrite without showing any ill effects. However, levels this high are not
usually seen in our aquaria, and so nitrite toxicity in marine fish is
generally not an issue.
<< My scale for my marine tank only goes from 0 to 1.0 ... so im not sure
where you get the idea that its only significant at 100 .... obviously even
the marine testing kit considers 1 incredibly high for a marine tank, and
even suggests taking fast action to reverse it.>>
There is no need for a hobbyist kit to measure a high nitrite level since it
would be rare for a hobbyist to encounter anything much over 10 ppm.
Besides, if the level was higher than the highest reading, one could always
"cut" the sample and retest.
You don't need to take my word on this, either. There have been several
papers written on this very subject.
<<Did you mean 1.0 rather than 100 ?>>
No. I meant 100 ppm nitrite. At nitrite levels experienced by our fish, the
induction of methemogloinemia would be so slight as to be insignificant, if
it occurred at all.
With all that said, long term (> 6 months) chronic exposure to nitrite, even
low levels (0.015 to 0.060) can induce mild methemogloinemia.
While ideally it is the goal to have zero nitrite, when low levels do occur
in marine aquaria, it's nothing to be overly concerned about insofar as the
health of the fish goes. It will not harm them. However, it would be
important to find out WHY nitrite is present, and then take corrective
action. Sometimes, when nitrite is present so is ammonia, and ammonia can be
far more toxic to marine fish than nitrite.
Steve Hampton
<snip>
> I don't know why I am the only one saying this since it is a well known
> fact. Nitrite, at levels normally found in our aquaria, is not toxic to
> MARINE fish
<snip>
It is not a "well known fact", it is probably the single most misunderstood
fact in Marine Fish Keeping. Most books and Marine Fish websites report the
opposite of what is facts about nitrites. I'm sure most people reading this
think you are wrong. For those I am posting a few websites that concur with
your knowledgeable post. Good job Frank!
www.bioconlabs.com/nitribactfacts.html
www.petplace.com/Articles/artShow.asp?artID=368
--
Steve H.
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery
But Today is a Gift...That's why we call it the Present!
"Frank M. Greco" <pHran...@netzero.net> wrote in message
news:jAO%7.9760$J%5.21...@news02.optonline.net...
Frank M. Greco
following article:
Influence of Nitrite and Chloride Concentrations on Survival and
Hematological Profiles of Striped Bass by PATRICIA M. MAZ1K . It's a good
article on the subject.
Note that I am not saying we should disregard any nitrite reading, because
we shouldn't. What we should do if it's present, IMO, is to find out WHY
it's there and correct that problem rather than worrying about the nitrite
itself. Think of it as an indicator that something else is wrong with the
system, and needs attention.