# tank has high nitrite...



## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

i have had my 55 gallon tank for about a month now.. the water has been cloudy always and i never looked at any readings of nitrite or anything until today and they were all okay other than very nigh nitrite... i also always cleaned my filters and media with sink water so im guessing i was pretty much wasting time and its like day one of my cycling again... would water changes every 3 days help the nitrite?? and i really havent done reading on changing the filter... what do i clean and what dont i clean (filter? media? bio-wheel) and how often (when cycling)?? what holds the bacteria?? and if the bio-wheels holds the bacteria what holds it when i put the AC110's on my new tank? their are no bio-wheels on them....

PLEASEEE answer as many questions as you can.. i dont like reposting things... i know people dont like reposts... =) my piranhas will thank you! ha


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

When cycling a tank, you dont change the water. The beneficial bacteria needs to be able to grow on your bio-media, which would be the wheels (NEVER WASH THESE). Your cycle will start with an ammonia spike, it will gradually go down and you will see a nitrite spike. That will gradually go down and lastly you will see nitrates in your tank. Its cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate. It has taken my tanks anywhere from 3-6 weeks to cycle if you dont help it out. You can put some cheap fish in there to cycle it, or use ammonia. I used ammonia, and it works well. There is a thread on here somewhere if you search for it telling you how much to add. With the emperor filters, I clean everything BUT the biowheels or any other bio-media you have added. You dont need to replace the filter cartridge if you just clean the grime off of it. Keep your bio-wheels and any other media in tank water. It cant dry out and your bacteria will die. To get your AC 110 going, you will need to put it on an established tank and let it run for at least a couple weeks, or start the cycle over again. The bio media for the AC 110 is the sponge as well as any bio media you add. I used the ceramic rings on top of the sponge when i had one.


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## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

mori0174 said:


> When cycling a tank, you dont change the water. The beneficial bacteria needs to be able to grow on your bio-media, which would be the wheels (NEVER WASH THESE). Your cycle will start with an ammonia spike, it will gradually go down and you will see a nitrite spike. That will gradually go down and lastly you will see nitrates in your tank. Its cycled when you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate. It has taken my tanks anywhere from 3-6 weeks to cycle if you dont help it out. You can put some cheap fish in there to cycle it, or use ammonia. I used ammonia, and it works well. There is a thread on here somewhere if you search for it telling you how much to add. With the emperor filters, I clean everything BUT the biowheels or any other bio-media you have added. You dont need to replace the filter cartridge if you just clean the grime off of it. Keep your bio-wheels and any other media in tank water. It cant dry out and your bacteria will die. To get your AC 110 going, you will need to put it on an established tank and let it run for at least a couple weeks, or start the cycle over again. The bio media for the AC 110 is the sponge as well as any bio media you add. I used the ceramic rings on top of the sponge when i had one.


okay but i still can do water changes right?? and is it okay to clean the filter cartrige with hose/sink water as long as the media and bio-wheel never see any sink water and the media is cleaned in tank water or should i clean the filter cartrige in tank water as well?? with ammonia how long will it usually take to cycle?? is the filter, media and bio-wheel the ONLY thing that keeps the bacteria??


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## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

not too many responses all at once!!!


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## Leasure1 (Jul 24, 2006)

never rinse anything that has to do with filtration in anything but tank water. And bacteria is all over your tank. gravel. intake tubes decorations, glass, etc. Just do your water changes and gravel vacs. don't rinse jack. and don't use carbon. hole in head syndrome. bad stuff.


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## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

Leasure1 said:


> never rinse anything that has to do with filtration in anything but tank water. And bacteria is all over your tank. gravel. intake tubes decorations, glass, etc. Just do your water changes and gravel vacs. don't rinse jack. and don't use carbon. hole in head syndrome. bad stuff.


so dont rinse anything the whole time im cycling even if i have some dummy fish in their?? and what happens the day that i need a new filter (i know everyone says just rinse it) how will the cycling stay in tact? from all the other sh*t in the tank? and lets say i wanted to add another filter onto the tank... what will happen and what do i have to do??

and i dont get how a tank stays on its cycling route when you do a 25% water change?? someone said when its fully cycled you can even do a 100% water change... how is this?? how would the filter and gravel have enough bacteria to keep a 55 gallon tank stable again when 100% new water??


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## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

do not go over a 50% water change when the tank IS cycled.......only if you 
are treating for something (another typic, dont want to get you all......







)
you can do a 25% water change, but never and i mean EVER clean your
bio media or wheels, i dont care if you have green slime crawling out
of your tank.........DONT.

your tank is getting matured, you can add some bacteria dry or wet, your choice
or you can do it the hard way and feed your tank, pull out the fish (feeders?)
and feed the water till you have ammonia which will turn into nitrites and then
nitrates=good bacteria which supports fish!!!!!!!!

so in closing, you can do small water changes, but sparingly.........









do not do a 100% water change.....sounds like too many people 
are placing bugs in your ear!!!!!


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## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

okay.. so i can clean the filter when its cycling just not the media and bio-wheel??? and i still dont see the fact of how you have to clean the filter in tank water but then your replacing 25% of your water with tap water at that time and its sucking it right in the filter as if you put the filter in sink water...


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## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

anyone?? anyone??

bueller?? bueller??


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## mori0174 (Mar 31, 2004)

DEALS2926 said:


> anyone?? anyone??
> 
> bueller?? bueller??


You dont need to touch your filter while the tank is cycling. Leave it alone. Like I said, when you clean the emporer, you can take the whole thing apart and clean it all out. It will keep the filter running longer than if you just "dont rinse jack" and leave it alone. When you DO clean the filter, take the biowheels off and leave them in the tank. It doesnt matter if they sink; they wont be in there long. You can rinse and scrub (dont use anything but water and a brush) every part of the filter with just tap water. Then put it back together, prime it with tank water, and you are good to go. You dont need to do this more than once a month or two. Dont, dont, dont do water changes during cycling. Once its DONE cycling, you can do it almost as much as you want, but I stick to 25-33% of water changed a week.


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## DEALS2926 (Aug 26, 2006)

okay... i get it but then again i dont... lets say the tank is totally cycled... i clean everything in the filter with tap water but the bio-wheel and dip it in some tank water before i put it all back in to run it... so that take all the bacteria out of the filter other than the bio-wheel but i doubt the bio-wheel is keeping the tank stable at this point...

so i guess from what im readin... the gravel holds pretty much all the bacteria because you can do upto a 50% water change of TAP water when the tank is cycled...

I GUESS IM TRYING TO SAY EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT ANSWER =(

and other thing that still is clicking in my head.... HOW IS RINSING THE FILTER IN TANK WATER KEEPING IT DE-CLORINATED WHEN YOU ARE DOING A 25% WATER CHANGE RIGHT AFTER AND ALL THAT IS RUNNING RIGHT THREW IT AS IF YOU WASHED IT WITH THE TAP WATER??


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## harrykaa (Jan 10, 2005)

to Water Chemistry Forum

Basic rules are as follows. They are very important to follow when carnivorous fishes like piranhas are kept in that tank.

1. Do the 100 % cycling before adding any carnivorous fish into the tank.
(If you already have piranhas there, try finding out is there another cycled tank where you could house them temporarily. If not reduce feeding to minimum, lower the temperature a bit to cut down aggression. Do necessary water changes to lower the nitrite concentration. If also ammonia is present, lower the below 7.0 to prevent ammonia burning the fish gills. Do not clean the filter, the one that has bio media.)

2. When the tank is cycled, you may clean the the mechanical filter media when necessary. This is when the circulation is reduced due blockage (clog in mechanical media). Do not clean the biological media. If that becomes clogged, you may rinse part of it (less than 50 %) in a container filled with the water from the tank itself.

3. If you replace the whole filter, let the new one first run 2-3 weeks together before removing the old one. Thus new nitrifying bacteria will grow there. Most of these bacteria are in the biological filter media, if you use good media, such as Eheim Substrat Pro. It has a surface area of 20.000 cubic inches per gallon. Nitrifying bacteria grow on a surface of any media (also sand, gravel, rocks, driftwood etc.) where water circulates (they need constantly oxygen).

Harry


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