Nitrite problem

I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank that has been up and running for more then 2 months. It is currently stocked with 2 small Angels, 2 Pictus cats, 3 Bloodfin Tetras and 3 Cory Cats. In the last month I have lost 6 Swordtails.
My filtration system consists of an undergravel filter powered by a powerhead and a Fluval 203 canister filter.

I have tested my water daily and have 0 ammonia, nitrate has been reading around 30 to 40ppm (safe) and my nitrite is off the chart. I have been doing 25% water changes every other day for the past 2 weeks using ro/di water and it will not come down.

What else can be done to bring this level down?
I thought it could have had something to do with my former Penguin Bio Wheel filter not being sufficient so I changed it back to the Fluval Canister Filter.


Please help, this is driving me crazy......And to think I want to start a Marine Aquarium!!!

 

How often are you feeding? Do you have any real plants in there? What is your pH at?

 

No live plants, PH is at 7.2 and feeding flake food every other day. All food is eaten before it makes it to the gravel....The angels are pigs...lol

 

My "expertise" is not in FW, but I do have a Q for ya. Are you cleaning your gravel when performing a WC? Luna

 

yes for the most part. I have had fresh water aquariums for years and have never had a problem with it. I have gone as far as removing drift wood along with 2 new rocks I bought from a lfs that said they were ok (the rocks) to have in the tank and would not leach anything into the water. But still nitrite levels are way to high

 

Is this a recent issue or you have always had this problem? When was the last time you cleaned-out the canister filter? Over feeding? Did you add something new to the tank? Luna

 

its been going on for around 2 weeks now, I replaced my Penguin Bio Wheel filter last week with the canister filter thinking that was the issue but I still have the issue. Canister filter had new carbon added and everything was cleaned before use. So I say it has been operating for a week tops.
I only feed every other day and all food is eaten before it gets to the gravel.

I stopped at a LFS today and bought Nitra- Zorb in hopes that it will correct the problem.

I'm almost to the point of taking it down to make room for the new 75 gallon salt water tank...Thats what I was going to do anyways but I don't have everything to get it going yet..We'll see what this Nitra-Zorb does before I do anything drastic.

 

Have you tried a different test kit or taken a sample to the LFS for testing? You might be suprised at how often test kits go south and give wildly false readings. There could be another reason for the swordtails. I would get a test done with a different test kit first and go from there.

 

Sorry about that... Yes, I have taken water samples in to the LFS and He too told me my Nitrite was way to high and recommended me do a 25% water change every 48 hours using ro/di water. So far I have changed out 20 gallons total in the last week and the nitrite are still up there. I am stumped.

 

So this issue started after you changed out the bio-wheel to the canister? Never mind, I just re-read the other post. Assuming that FW is some what similar to SW, I think that your in-between creating the needed bacteria to take care of the No2. Remember that theres a bac. that turns Nh3 into No2 and another bac that turns No2 into No3. If it was No3, then it would be time to clean something out or stop over feeding. But we're talking about No2. I think that when you changed out the bio wheel, you might have killed some of that bac. Give it a couple of days and test every 3rd day to see where your at. That Nitra- Zorb is a temp. fix, you need to find out whats causing the No2. I think that your in the middle of a mini-cycle. I hope I made sense. Luna