In a properly cycled tank with feeding under control, it shouldn’t. There are other sources of nitrates besides fish waste. Overfeeding or use of non RODI water. My tap water has well over 25ppm nitrates.
I do not agree - internal in a tank - there is no other sources of nitrate besides nitrification. all other NO3 have to been added from the outside.
Hi all! I have been running a 2.5 gallon Pico tank for about a month now and added fish around the second week (I know I’m impatient). I currently only have one watchman goby and 4 hermits and I feed every other day. For the past two weeks since owning the livestock my API 5 in 1 test strips have given me the same results each time with parameters where they should be and I test 3 today and all of a sudden my nitrate and nitrite is off the charts at 200+ ppm and 10 ppm respectively. Anyone have any experiences with inaccurate test strips? I feel like if my readings are really where they’re at then my fish and crabs should have passed a while ago.
However - even if in my opinion is that test strips should never ever be used - I have to send out a warning signal in this case. I think that your nitrification cycle has stuck before the second step NO2 -> NO3 and that you are building up NO2 for the moment. NO2 is not as toxic in saltwater as it is in freshwater because of the high chloride content of sea water. It blocks the uptake of NO2 from the water. However – if it is present – it is a stress factor and should be as low as possible
Why do I believe this? You get high levels of both NO2 and NO3 and the high NO3 is caused by the NO2. Nearly all NO3 test will be is disturbed by nitrite in the water – it will give a false reading.
No panic – this will not kill your fish, but you should take actions that partly reduces the NO2 level and which promotes the start of the second step of nitrification. In this case many people recommend a WC – I do not do that. Instead – stop feeding. The good thing is that you will not have any free NH3 in the water – that step is working because you get NO2 – it is converted NH3/NH4 in the first step. However, if you continue to feed – you will add more NH3/NH4 that will be converted to NO2 and you will build up more NO2 if the second step not working.
Together with stop to feed you should add some nitrification bacteria active in the second step – it means Biospira spp or/and Nitrobacter spp,
1. You can get it in a bottle – be sure it contains any of these genera.
2. You can get it from a working aquarium – salt or fresh. Take some superficial sand from a working aquarium or squeeze the sludge from a working filter into a few litres of water (fresh water or saltwater). Shake and let it settle for a minute or thw, pour into a new container. Put this in the refrigerator and pour some of this water into the aquarium every day
3. Move a working filter from another aquarium
4. Get out in forest or unfertilized lawn and take some superficial soil. Put a hand or two in around 2 – 3 litres of water. Shake and pour it through a coffee filter and store the filtrate in the refrigerator. Pour some every day into your aquarium
I think that you can use your strip in order to see when your NO2 level is near zero and you can start feed again. If you feel sorry for your fish – you can feed it with 3-6 frozen adult artemia every third day – but not more and no dry food. If your light is on – the hermit will found food in form of algae.
Please see my article – 15 steps.
Sincerely Lasse
