Results 1 to 20 of 26
Thread: Nitrite levels high
-
06-08-2017, 12:13 AM #1
Nitrite levels high
Just completed the new pond last week and added 10,000 litres of fresh water (with dechlorinator) and got about 2,000 or so litres of water from the original pond back in. Fast forward 6 days and my Nitrite levels have spiked. I did add a pond bomb to help with the new water - put straight into my Eazypod.
ive just finished doing a 2,000 litre water change and will check levels again in the morning. Ammonia is at zero and Nitrates are slightly elevated when I checked at 7pm this evening.
Anything else I should be doing?
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
06-08-2017, 01:00 AM #2
Have you checked your PH, KH & GH to see where they are?
Have you added any fish yet? If so are you feeding?
Cheers RichardCheers
Richard
Pond build in progress.
-
06-08-2017, 07:03 AM #3
- Join Date
- Oct 2014
- Location
- East riding of yorkshire
- Posts
- 3,881
- Thanks / Likes
- 3865
Nitrite levels high
Is that your only filtration on 12,000 ltrs GSA? What is your current fish stock?
Inevitably you will get NPS due to it been completely new. There is only the filter that has any maturity to it (if its previously been used?) a pond can take a few years to mature really as every single bit of area within the pond and in contact with the water builds up a bio layer that helps with the nitrification cycle. Its quite surprising how much bio the pond itself holds once mature, not enough to deal with good stock and feeding on its own but it massively helps. Im being really honest here too but an easy pod is definatly not ideal for a 12,000 ltr (2,600 gal) pond on its own and i would recommend looking at adding to it or going bigger. A nexus 220 or even 320 would of been alot better suited.
When you say spiked? How high has it spiked? If theres no ammonia reading then that part of the cycle is working and its a case of waiting for the nitrite bugs to catch up which if your nitrates are coming up then something is happening water changes, minimum food and keeping a good eye on it are the best you can do until it comes through, although i do fear that with a pod this will be a regular occurrence for you mate.
Sent from my iPhone using TapatalkIts always a work in progress
-
06-08-2017, 08:09 AM #4
PH, KH and GH are all good. Filtration wise, I have the Eazypod and also a Bioforce Revolution 9000. The Eazypod has been running about two months previously and the Bioforce has just been connected up. The NT Labs 200 Kit shows Nitrite between 2.0 and 4.0 (difficult to tell with the pink colouring).
Nitrates are slightly elevated, but not by much. There are two Koi about 50cm each, one around 40cm and 5 around 20cm. Yes, I've been feeding once a day, but have now stopped. Apart from three of the 20cm Koi, they were all in my previous pond of 3,000 litres along with 60 or so Goldfish, which were all fairly small - around 10-20cm each. There were no issues at that point. Goldfish have all now been rehomed, my wife is a teacher and her school has a large pond that had recently been emptied by Herons.
Ive seen a few of the fish flashing yesterday, hence why I checked the water levels yesterday, normally I check on a Sunday.
I'I've added plenty of Aeration also via two 25cm diffusers running on two air pumps.Last edited by GSARider; 06-08-2017 at 08:28 AM.
-
06-08-2017, 09:59 PM #5
Changed about 3,000 litres in the past 24 hours and Nitrite is down and I think it's now between 1.0 / 2.0. I will change another 2,000 litres tomorrow.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
06-08-2017, 11:43 PM #6
Hi gsa
Unless your fish are showing any stress due to the nitrite being high I would not change another 2000 litres so soon after the 3000 litres, that will be almost 50% water change in less than 48 hours, in a way you are only diluting the problem and possibly reducing the good bacteria in the filter.
If it was me I would either leave it 3 or 4 days and then do another 3000ltr water change, OR
If you are able to trickle in / out try to set it up so that you change about 800 - 1000 ltrs per day. That way you will have a more stable water change.
This way you can test daily to track your parameters and give the nitrite cycle a chance to kick in without shocking the system or the fish.
You need to give the filters time to mature properly which will take time. Constant large water changes will only prolong the process.
Cheers RichardCheers
Richard
Pond build in progress.
-
07-08-2017, 06:47 AM #7
Couple of the fish are still flashing, hence why I was thinking of changing again. I will have a look this morning and see how they are.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
07-08-2017, 08:23 PM #8
I changed about 500 litres this morning, then checked Nitrite levels this afternoon and they have dropped to between 0.5 and 1.0. Fish have stopped flashing and are zipping about the pond.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
08-08-2017, 10:13 PM #9
Down further when I checked again this afternoon. Ammonia still showing at zero and Nitrite between 0.25 and 0.50.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
08-08-2017, 11:34 PM #10
That's good GSA was that with or without doing a water change?
Cheers RichardCheers
Richard
Pond build in progress.
-
08-08-2017, 11:36 PM #11
Only 300 litres today and that was because I vacuumed the pond out and lost some water.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
09-08-2017, 12:09 AM #12
Are pump or gravity fed?
If you are pump fed it might be worth giving the filters a good clean out to remove any crud build up.
I would also stop any water changes for a few days but still monitor the Nitrite levels.
If they do increase carry out small daily water changes rather than large ones. As i mentioned earlier you need to allow for time for the nitrite cycle to kick in, large water changes will slow this down.
Cheers RichardCheers
Richard
Pond build in progress.
-
09-08-2017, 12:56 AM #13
Pump fed Richard and I cleaned out the Eazypod four days ago - as it was going into a new shed, I vacuumed out a load of algae and slime from the bottom of the outer chamber, the other filter is brand new, so nothing done to that. I haven't done anymore big water changes, just 300 litres today.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
28-08-2017, 06:41 AM #14
Gsar. I had a new pond built 13 months ago. I have a drum. 320 nexus. And a ultra sieve 3. My pond has just gone through NPS. I lost a few fish. Reasons are another story. My pond has only just come out of the nps. It can take 2 years. Also i had 2x easypod k1 mature media to put in my nexus. As lee said. The pond its self needs to mature. As well as filters. Some good advice on trickle in and out. I did this as well. Small slow water changing this way continually. It helps the good bacteria catch up. While large changes. Just dilutes it. Not all but some. Also get the air flow right. Thete is a couple of us on here. Had problems with this to
Good luck mate.
Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk
-
Designer1 Thanked / Liked this Post
-
28-08-2017, 08:58 AM #15
Seems to have settled down with water quality over the past two weeks with no major issues.
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
28-08-2017, 09:36 AM #16
-
GSARider Thanked / Liked this Post
-
28-08-2017, 09:59 AM #17
I'm currently trying to add a bio box to the system to help with future loads...if I ever get the flow rates right!
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
28-08-2017, 02:46 PM #18
I'm just having a similar issue, nitrite at 0.12 and ammonia at 0.28 so large water change in progress. Have also put some envirex in to try help. On with the refill now.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
31-08-2017, 09:03 PM #19
Voodoo, any thoughts about the cause of your current spikes?
-
freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
-
10-09-2017, 06:55 PM #20
Quite possibly the husband over feeding but we h e been using a few treatments and salt lately too so that most likely contributed too.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Aquaforte Dm vario 20000 pumps
Still for sale. Postage available for cost Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk