Nitrite problem

[dan12]

uhh how does fish die from nitrites are there any signs that its dying from nitrites cause my damsel fish began to have an off white colored scale so i wasnt sure, becaus when i got home my hermits crabs were eating it. i had it for 5 days.
thanks
i also have been cycling my tank for a month now but even still well last week i checked my tank and my nitrites were high before i put my fish in, when does the nitrites level begin to fall

also if u leave sand in ur saltwater tank for a logn period of tiem does it become live sand eventually?

 

[Blown 346]

I wouldnt put anything else in the tank until it is done cycling.
Once the cycle is over your nitrite and ammonia will become zero.
A cycle can take anywhere from a week to over a month, everyons cycle times are different.

 

[yogisfriend]

Ah Dan, Using a live fish during cycling is a big no-no. Poor guy. I am sure you were told to do that, but it's a hard death for the fish.

Take your time. Please don't put any live animal in your tank until your tank is finished cycling.

Do you have live rock? If so, how much? Are you using RO water? Are you using lights, skimmer, etc? Are you doing water changes?

 

[WaterKeeper]

The nitrites and nitrates can combine with hemoglobin and reduce their oxygen uptake ability. It works a little like cyanide or carbon monoxide poisoning. This doesn't appear to be as great a concern as once thought with fish buy is a real challenge with invertebrates. Symptoms of toxicity to fish will be labored breathing and perhaps gulping air at the surface. Gill membranes may also be discolored at high concentrations.

Oh and
[welcome]

 

[dan12]

whats the difference between nitrites and nitrates sorta confuse me are they both the same.
I mean i have been cycling my tank for a month but why isnt my nitrite going down? my nitrate is good and so is my amonia.
RIght now i have an eclispe head, its weak with dual aquatic bulb 18watt im hoppin to get a glass top and a new light
i am using 20lbs of live rock
what is RO water yogisfriend thanks a lot

 

[dan12]

hey um how come my snails and hermit crab lived through my amonia spike and my nitrite at high level, like my nitirite is way above the viollet color any help thanks

 

[dan12]

?

 

[dan12]

can someone help

 

[WaterKeeper]

Nope.

 

[WaterKeeper]

Well OK, in the order of toxicity we have ammonia followed by nitrite than nitrate. Nitrate is the most stable form other than nitrogen gas. Scavengers, like snails and crabs, feed on decaying matter and are pretty much immune to ammonia unless it goes extremely high. Fish tend to be sensitive to ammonia and nitrite to some degree where with some corals any of the ANN, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, group can cause unexplained declines in their well being.

 

[Swanwillow]

go on down to the reef chemistry forum, on his stickies there are LOTS of different things about ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite toxicity...

long and short: nitrite isn't too toxic... but thats another matter: you shouldn't be putting fish in an un-cycled aquarium, and having nitrite means that something isn't right yet.

what size tank IS it?

 

[bertoni]

I doubt that the nitrite is the issue. Your new tank might have any number of metabolites from the decay process, though, or perhaps various toxins from decayed animals, etc. I would do a series of 25% water changes to try to improve conditions.

I'd also take back the damsels because they tend to get mean. They might also have brought diseases into the tank, which could have been the cause of death.

 

[dan12]

not im sure its not diesease would die in 5days do you think its a 35 or 40 gallon tank

 

[bertoni]

I'm sorry, but I can't understand your post.

 

[Swanwillow]

I can-yes, a disease would kill a fish in 5 days in your tank... who knows how long it had the disease in the lfs's tank?

and, 20 lbs of LR in a 35-40 gallon tank, 0 ammonia, ??? nitrites, trates?

whats the water temp at? and what are the numbers for the trites and trates.