m confused... i have an oranda living in a qtank for several days now... been quarantining him for popeye.... im doing 80% water change everyday with a water i let sleep overnight and dechlorinator...
the qtank has an airstone and a sponge filter connected to a 5 watt powerhead filter...

i just checked the nitrite level last night b4 a water change and it was whooping .5 mg/l... so i changed water immediately... this morning... i checked the nitirites again and i still get the same reading... so i hurriedly changed 50% of d water... den after 30 minutes.. i checked d nitrite again it was whooping 1.0 mg/l... Shocked Shocked Shocked .. so i go check the nitrite from d tap and its fine... .1 mg/l... and btw.. im using SERA N02 test kit for nitrite...

what could be d possible problem?? the nitrite level is driving me nuts... should i just transfer my fish to the main tank where nitrite levels are fine..?? or should i continue doing water change because i have changed the water twice within a 12 hour span...

Here are one or two ideas.

Perhaps test some tap water with dechlorinator? How different is 0.1 to 1.0 on your test chart?

Slugger

i already did... the tap water i told u i tested and got a result of .1 mg/l is the tap i dechlorinated and let sleep overnight...

I have had test kits that are just plain messed up and give inaccurate results. I have also had test dip strips that are manufactured incorrectly or that give cryptic results. Right now, I have a bottle of dip strips where the nitrite pads were simply never added, and the pH and kH pads have been reversed.

If you are using a dip strip, can you purchase a drop kit for nitrite? Aquarium Pharm. makes a nice drop kit that you can buy for just nitrites. IF you are already using a drop kit, perhaps you could get another kit? I strongly suspect your kit is doing something wrong.

If you cannot afford or do not want to buy another test kit at this time, you can take a sample of water to your lfs or another fish place and ask them to test it for you. Tell them you are particularly interested in the nitrite readings and that you want a numerical reading.

IT is also slightly possible that the meds you are using to treat the popeye are messing with your test results.

I hope your fish responds quickly to treatment.

I'm having the same problem with my nitrites now. DataGuru mentioned that it could take 3 weeks for the nitrite bugs to grow on your filters. Just keep up the water changes every day and add a little salt to prevent nitrite poisoning.

I know how frustrating it is as I have been doing daily 40% water changes for almost 2 weeks now. Good luck!!

Sorry,

I must have mis-read your first post.

The second question of my post was leading on to what Daryl has posted

I would suspect the accuracy of the test. It's a long shot, but when something doesn't make sense, I suppose you've got to question everything.

Slugger

its accurate i think.. i tested our tap water and it showd .1 mg/l nitrite.. im using SERA test kit... its d only available test kit in my lfs.. and its a drop kit...
and i dont think my lfs offers water test... it sux to live in my place...

anways... i do think its accurate... maybe if there exist a situation called "nitrite spike", then this must be it...

but then again... if the qtank shows signs of high nitrites, would u suggest i put my popeyed fish back to my main tank where i dont find any traces of nitrite??? would you? or would it be a bad idea???

I'm not sure about moving him back to the main tank, I don't know if its contagious.... maybe you can take some of the water from the main tank and mix it in? Or maybe some of the filter media from the other tank will help.

I wouldn't move him to the main tank because of the risk of contamination.

Now, if the test is accurate, perhaps add salt to the quarantine tank to help with the nitrites. One level teaspoon per gallon of water to bring it up to 0.1%.

What is the pH/temperature of the q tank?

Hope you have luck in treating the popeye.

Slugger

ph is at 8.0... temp is at 82-84 F... i dont really think salt is a good idea for popeye...

salting to 0.1% will protect your fish from nitrite poisoning so I would suggest to salt your tank.It'll relieve some of lilo's stress as well.

salted... hehe.. .1% should be around 3 tablespoon for a 10 gallon right???

Actually, about 1 Tablespoon of coarse grained aquarium or sea salt per 5 gallons of water is about .1% salt.

2 Tablespoons per 5 gallons is about.2% salt solution.

3 Tablespoons per 5 gallons is about .3% salt solution.

Salt is really not a great idea for Popeye, though. It will have the opposite effect that you wish for the fish. Epsom Salt is better for drawing the excess fluids from the fish's body.

It is a bad combination to have nitrites and PopEye or Dropsy.

I do not think I would add the salt with the popeye, though. I think the benefits would be canceled out.

JMO

Just curious, at what instance would you use .1%, .2% and .3% of aquarium salt? Thanks!

Yeah, you're right. Not a good idea to have salt and popeye. Missed that

Not much you can do. Perhaps use zeolite, no filter, and daily water changes?

Slugger