Nitrite Spike....Fish sick?????

sentencedme · 10/13/2008, 11:26 AM

I currently have a yt, blue hippo, yellow tailed damsel, purple back dotty, false perc, auriga fly, and a six liner and a few inverts in my 120 gallon..... (100 lbs of live rock).. Run a coralife 125 gallon skimmer, sock for mechanical filtration, and liverock for biological...... I also have 2 koralia 2's in there with 1200 gph gen x pump.....So, water movement is not an issue....

A couple of weeks back I had a tremendous ammonia spike to 8.0 ppm with nitrites out the roof (Wife overfeeding grrr). I did 3 60% water changes since then to lower the ammonia concentration becuase of toxicity. Now my reading are managable

nitrates 20 ppm
nitrites 5.0+ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ammonia 0
ph 8.2

For some odd reason the nitrites have not gone down after the water changes. Now, I've heard about the nitrites being toxic at high concentrations such as my and today I read on this forum that nitrites are not toxic in saltwater. People have said to keep the fish in there since they have survived the spike. I did and now my fish are showing signs of distress again (yt and hippo are showing white pimples on their bodies and auriga has a few damaged scales, kinda look like they are brown, and is showing hemorraging on the fin. Blue hippo has also has almost a penny size algea looking brown spot on his body.???? Now, that I lowered everything I was wondering if the the nitrites are causing this to my fish....?????? What should I do????? I do have a 30 gallon quarantine tank ready to be set up in case.....
Please advise.....
Maybe a chemical agent got in there somehow (wife spraying the room with scent spray....
what do you think it can be???? help please

P.s. I lost 2 skunk shrimps in there within the past 3 weeks.....didn't find their bodies assuming they were cleaned up by the hermits.....could they have caused this???? or any other animal that died in there?????

Don-Coraleone · 10/13/2008, 11:31 AM

the shrimp didnt cause it but the high nitrate prob caused thier death because they can not tolerate high nitrate. is it a new setup or has it been runnig awhile?

sentencedme · 10/13/2008, 11:31 AM

I put in garlic to boost their immune systems daily......... by the way false perc is fine, dotty is fine, sixliner is fine, and yellow tailed damsel is ok.......what could this be????

sentencedme · 10/13/2008, 11:32 AM

8 months......

sentencedme · 10/13/2008, 03:54 PM

bump

limitdown · 10/14/2008, 01:50 AM

You're correct in that nitrites are not toxic in saltwater as the chlorides in SW bind to them, making them harmless.
The dead skunk shrimps might be somewhere in your tank decomposing, slowly releasing ammonia which is being converted to nitrite.
The distress of your fish might be from the previous ammonia spike.

sentencedme · 10/14/2008, 03:24 PM

are the fish going to be sick all the time, periodically, or just for now???????????????

otrlynn · 10/14/2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sentencedme
[
Maybe a chemical agent got in there somehow (wife spraying the room with scent spray....
what do you think it can be???? help please

[/B]

Another water change could not hurt. Also make sure that your wife is not spraying room deodorizer in the same room as the fish tank, or using any spray cleaner around the fish tank that could be drifting into the tank. If you use glass cleaner, spray it on a paper towel away from the tank and do not ever spray it directly on the glass, b/c some will probably land in the water. Make sure that if your/her hands are in the tank, that they are free of soap, hand lotion, and any other chemicals, and give them a good rinse in warm water before putting them in the tank. The more conservative approach is to wear unpowdered, waterproof gloves when working in the tank

10/13/2008, 11:26 AM	#1
sentencedme Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Alsip, illinois Posts: 535	Nitrite Spike....Fish sick????? I currently have a yt, blue hippo, yellow tailed damsel, purple back dotty, false perc, auriga fly, and a six liner and a few inverts in my 120 gallon..... (100 lbs of live rock).. Run a coralife 125 gallon skimmer, sock for mechanical filtration, and liverock for biological...... I also have 2 koralia 2's in there with 1200 gph gen x pump.....So, water movement is not an issue.... A couple of weeks back I had a tremendous ammonia spike to 8.0 ppm with nitrites out the roof (Wife overfeeding grrr). I did 3 60% water changes since then to lower the ammonia concentration becuase of toxicity. Now my reading are managable nitrates 20 ppm nitrites 5.0+ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ammonia 0 ph 8.2 For some odd reason the nitrites have not gone down after the water changes. Now, I've heard about the nitrites being toxic at high concentrations such as my and today I read on this forum that nitrites are not toxic in saltwater. People have said to keep the fish in there since they have survived the spike. I did and now my fish are showing signs of distress again (yt and hippo are showing white pimples on their bodies and auriga has a few damaged scales, kinda look like they are brown, and is showing hemorraging on the fin. Blue hippo has also has almost a penny size algea looking brown spot on his body.???? Now, that I lowered everything I was wondering if the the nitrites are causing this to my fish....?????? What should I do????? I do have a 30 gallon quarantine tank ready to be set up in case..... Please advise..... Maybe a chemical agent got in there somehow (wife spraying the room with scent spray.... what do you think it can be???? help please P.s. I lost 2 skunk shrimps in there within the past 3 weeks.....didn't find their bodies assuming they were cleaned up by the hermits.....could they have caused this???? or any other animal that died in there?????

10/14/2008, 01:50 AM	#6
limitdown Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 640	You're correct in that nitrites are not toxic in saltwater as the chlorides in SW bind to them, making them harmless. The dead skunk shrimps might be somewhere in your tank decomposing, slowly releasing ammonia which is being converted to nitrite. The distress of your fish might be from the previous ammonia spike. __________________ All I want for Christmas is to stay employed... Current Tank Info: 200g display + 50g sump FO

10/13/2008, 11:31 AM	#2
Don-Coraleone Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: east coast Posts: 1,478	the shrimp didnt cause it but the high nitrate prob caused thier death because they can not tolerate high nitrate. is it a new setup or has it been runnig awhile?

10/13/2008, 11:32 AM	#4
sentencedme Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Alsip, illinois Posts: 535	8 months......

10/13/2008, 03:54 PM	#5
sentencedme Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Alsip, illinois Posts: 535	bump

10/14/2008, 03:24 PM	#7
sentencedme Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Alsip, illinois Posts: 535	are the fish going to be sick all the time, periodically, or just for now???????????????