2 QT tanks, same water, diff params..why?

hrairguitar

New member
Hey all.....

K so I have 2 QT tanks...one is a 55 gallon with 12 fish slowly having salinity lowered for hypo (ich) and the other is a kiddie pool with a shark by itself

I change 20-50% of the water daily. I feel like changing water is a part time job

All params are good and nearly identical in both set ups except for the shark pool has nitrites close to .5 ppm whereas the 55 gallon has little to zero

Why is this?

The 55 only has a HOB filter with some sponges. I feed it probably half a cube of mysis a day and throw in a small piece of seaweed for the tang and foxface

The shark eats about 3-4 small pieces of shrimp or calimari. I feed it with tongs and make sure no mess is left and no piecs go uneaten. If the shark produces waste then I immediately scoop it up with a net or if I'm doing a water change then I syphon out anything I can see. The filter for the shark is a DIY filter made out of 2 5 gallon buckets with some bioballs and sponges/filter pads. I make a point to clean it regularly and when I do water changes I use nite out and seachem prime.

Any thoughts on whats up with my nitrites in shark pool? All other params (ammonia, alk, ph) are fine and stable which match the 55 gallon but I cant seem to get the nitrites down for shark. It acts fine, swims at night and eats regularly but I'm concerned about it living with high nitrites for 2 to 3 months until its tank is set up and cycled

Am I overreacting here? If I keep up with my daily water changes then will it be fine or should I be super concerned and is there something else I should be doing?
 
i would say if there is no amm. and you have nitrites perhaps your going through a cycle. if it were me i would dose the pool with seachem stability per instructions.
 
Ok so maybe I should cut back on feeding the shark...I usually feed it every other day the equivalent to a shrimp or 2 at most....maybe ill change it to once every 2 or 3 days

The pump for the shark is a lot stronger than the fish too. There's no rock or sand ...its just a couple buckets, power head, pump, heater and a pipe to hide in with an airstone.

I'm going to change as much water as possible tonight and hopefully I can take a big chunk of it out


Seachem stability? Ill have to look into that asap
 
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