by -Rambler- » 2006-01-24 03:29
Just noticed this forum board and took a look, I'm still new here anyway heres my 2 cents. Under the assumption that tankgirl is in the process of establishing a nitrogen cycle. From what I understand you (tankgirl) are some where in the 2nd phase of the cycle where the ammonia is no longer detectable but nitrites are now present and spiking. This is good, however your pH is a little on the low side, possible from the high ammonia levels you had. The nice thing about this stage is that you can use tablesalt to "sheild" the nitrite from the fish. NaCl reduces the toxicity of nitrite to fish. I don't know what volume your aquarium is so, from what you stated the level was at.3 mg/l or ppm and it doubled as of today, so that would make it .6ppm ? if so you can dose salt at the rate of 4ml per 40l or a little more than 1/2 tsp per 10 gallons US. No need to add more salt unless you remove water for a PWC. Then you do the math for the amount of water you removed. For instance say it is a 40l tank and you removed 10l at the pwc. Since your nitrite level is .6 the reccomended dose is 4ml per 40l, you removed 10l so add 1ml to the10l you need to replace to refill the aquarium. IME at this stage when nitrite is spiking and no ammonia is present, keeping your nitrite somewhat high (no more then you have now @.6ppm) will speed up the process a bit. The only thing to watch is your pH because it is somewhat acidic, and especially ammonia. Make sure you don't detect any ammonia again, if you do keep its level <1 ppm. If PWC's corrects your pH to a little closer to neutral, do so. The bacteria that is trying to establish can be actually killed by the acidity. This can stall your cycle a great deal (I know, been there my own self). If necessary acidic pH can be corrected with baking soda. Hope I helped and didn't confuse. Do a search for "treating nitrites with salt" on a search engine for more detailed info. Personally I have never tried this, only because I didn't know about it until I finally did establish. However alot of people use this method with great success. I now only cycle new aquariums using a fishless cycle method. This may come in handy down the road when you get your next larger aquarium as you become addicted to this fascinating hobby.
The Aquarist formally Known as : PB, AKA****, If my legs Rambled as much as my mouth I could circle the earth daily.