QT high Nitrite

Hi All, Long story but I have 2 clowns and a manderine in a 20Ltr QT due to Ich in the main tank with coral. They are in there with a small flow filter, heater and air stone and have been doing wekk for 3 weeks (3 weeks to go before back in the main tank). I have been testing for Nitrate every day with minimal result and doing a 50% water change using RO water every second day.

Today while testing all tanks I decided to test the Nitrite in the QT and it was off the scale....over 5 using API test. All other tanks are 0 and the RO is 0.

I have done a 75% water change, fish are healthy no Ich, feeding well but still my test water is dark purple instead of light blue...PH 8.1 Salinity .020, nitrate 0...any ideas?

Really appreciate your input as I have never had a Nitrite reading in any tank ever and not sure why?

 

Have you been treating your qt tank with medications? If so they may have altered your results. Nitrites that high should have had a very negitive effect on your fish, maybe your testing supplies are bad. I would double check my water readings with my lfs guy (saveing some of it and doing water change first). If you are only going to test for one thing dly; I would test for nitrites as anything above zero can have devistating effects. I use dip strips dly, and do regular testing twice a week. I also check salinity dly. Good luck, I hope everything works out ok.

 

I agree that if you used any chemicals/meds for your fish, it could affect your results and that you should check to make sure that the tests aren't outdated.
However test strips are horribly inaccurate and are a complete waste of time.

 

Thanks, not using test strips and yes treating the tank with anti protozoal which contains quinine hydrocloride and malachite green. Tests are liquid based and only 8 months old with good readings in all other tanks.

 

Mandarin fish don't get ich. I'd place that fish back into the main tank as it is more sensitive to medications than other fish and treating it might harm it.

 

he is doing great and loves the clowns. I really dont want to split them as i know that the Ich has a cycle of 6 weeks looking for a host fish to reproduce. No fish in the QT have ich anymore (clowns had it really bad and we lost angels and blennie) I stopped medication 3 days ago.

 

Good to hear. Mandarins secrete an oily substance which is what protects them from getting ich. This and their skin type is what makes them sensitive to medications so if it happens again (hopefully it won't), there is no need to quarantine the mandarin.

 

Thanks for this info, he was the toughest little guy to catch We love him dearly. Any ideas why my Nitrite would be so high? With no ammonia or Nitrate reading? There is really no good filter system on the QT only flow thats why i am doing water changes daily. Its made no difference today.

 

If you have nitrite, the q-tank may be in the middle of a cycle. If you notice that the nitrates start to rise as the nitrites start to drop, you'll know that the cycle is near its end.

 

A couple of suggestions, if you don't mind. Number one, a 20 litre tank (aproximately 5 gallons) is very small for keeping 3 fish, even with large water changes. If you ever do this again, I'd suggest a larger tank. However, at this point that is a minor point.

As was mentioned above, you likely are in the middle of a cycle. Now, you don't particularly care to have your QT cycle, so my suggestion is to be sure your medication is totally gone (large water changes, and maybe a bag of carbon), and then add a water conditioner such as Seachem Prime. This will detoxify the ammonia and nitrites in your system. Just keep adding this to your water every few days or so until you are ready to move the fish to the DT. The reason you need to be sure all the medication is gone before adding the water conditioner is that sometimes there can be an interaction (such as between Prime and Cupramine).

Hope that helps!