Nitrite in salt mix?!

Has anyone ever had the problem of Nitrites coming from their salt mix. I recently tested my qt tank and realized that the Nitrites were testing around .25. After several water changes i saw the number did not lower. Tested my RO water, came up zero. Tested my salt water mix and came up with .25, so i figured it must be my salt causing the nitrites. Just wanna know what to do and see if anyone else had this problem.

 

Some salts can contain nitrites. What kind of salt are you using? I use Instant Ocean with great success.

 

Im using Crystal Sea Marinemix, Premium Reerf Blend Salt, and no not confusing them it is NITRITES. I no some salt blends contain phosphates and nitrates, just havent heard of NITRITES being an issue, but its what the test is saying.


Thank you for your help!

 

Have the LFS check it.. could be the test kit.

 

could be test kit, like what he said. My friends main tank had terrible water quality and he was totally oblivious to it because of the test kit. He ended up having a couple casualties because by the time he figured out was wrong it was to late.

 

I have no idea if any salt mixes come with Nitrite in it, but if they do, it is not a problem. Nitrite is not a problem in saltwater. The only bad thing about it, is it could become nitrate in your tank.

Kim

 

False, nitrites are in fact VERY bad for your aquarium. They are toxic and can lead to the demise of your inhabitants.

QUOTE:
In a properly cycled aquarium, nitrite is converted to nitrate and then, if there are areas deprived of oxygen such as in live rock and other filter materials, this nitrate is converted back to nitrite and then transformed into harmless nitrogen gas. If this cycle breaks down then nitrites, which are extremely toxic to fish and invertebrates, can form in high concentration.

 

You need to get your facts straight. Try reading this.

Nitrite and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Here is a quote from that article.
Marine species are less susceptible to nitrite toxicity because chloride (at 19,350 ppm in seawater) outcompetes nitrite for the same uptake mechanisms. Nevertheless, it is possible for some marine fish to take up nitrite via both their gills and their intestines after swallowing seawater. For example, when exposed to 46 ppm nitrite in seawater, the European flounder (Platichthys flesus) takes up 66% of its nitrite via intestinal routes.24 Further, its internal nitrite concentration was found to remain below the ambient nitrite level in the water. At these concentrations, there was some alteration of internal biochemical parameters (such as an increase in methemoglobin levels from 4% in nonexposed fish to 18% of hemoglobin in exposed fish). Nevertheless, there were no mortalities under these conditions, and the difference between this result and what is often observed in freshwater fish at similar nitrite concentrations is attributed to differences in their internal nitrite concentrations.

Notice the 46 PPM nitrite

Normal levels of nitrite in a saltwater aquarium are not toxic. In freshwater it is very toxic, but we are dealing with saltwater.

Kim
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This is actually quite true. Craig Bingman, Boomer, Habib Sekha, Rob Toonen, and a lot of people who've been around a while used to try to explain this to people for years but I finally just gave up and let people think what they want to think.