[ToYoTa]

Is it normal to have a Nitrite level of 0.25-0.50 PPM in the Established Cycle Aquarium? I have it in my 55. Have i got to take Evasive Action?

 

[Mr.ThomasWalls]

It happens alot in a planted tank.
What is your nitrate level?

 

[ToYoTa]

Give me 5 minutes

 

[ToYoTa]

After shaking the vile for 1 minute its showing over 40 PPM. After 5 minutes my Nitrates are somewhere between 40 & 80 PPM. Thank You!

 

[lillou]

Unless your kit is screwed up you should think about a water change to get the nitrate down in the 10-20ppm range.A 33% water change today and one tomorrow should do it.

Someone else mentioned plants. Are you planted?
The above recommendation is for a planted tank. If you aren't planted I would do a 50% water change followed by a 50% water change.

 

[ToYoTa]

OK its late now i cant get to it untill tomorrow afternoon. but the nitrite is normal..yes its planted, but im not running co2. im trying to find out how to hook it up to the canister by leaving the co2 line out of the tank.

 

[lillou]

This is a copy of Gomer's setup over at aquaticplantcentral.
You just hook it inline making sure you run water through it from the top down, and the CO2 injects at the top. There is probably a sketch here but I didn't feel like searching and this is the clearest picture I know of for a CO2 reactor.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/attachment.php?attachmentid=471&d=1099597504

The nitrite usually doesn't spike in cycled tank unless you just added more fish and the bacteria has to adjust to the new bioload. Or some of your bacteria died during filter cleaning, etc.

 

[epicfish]

I acutually have a Gomer reactor. Works pretty well.

 

[Rex Grigg]

That's a very complicated reactor with a lot of unnecessary parts.

Try http://rexgrigg.com/diy-reactor.htm

 

[ringram]

I have a "Hofteizer"(sp?) reactor that I made from mostly PVC pipe. It worked quite well for a year or so, then I decided to try a diffuser and have been happier with that, except for the need to soak it in bleach every couple weeks or so, to kill algae.

 

[andy1_52]

go with rex's idea. or just do what I did and run th co2 line right into the intake on a canister filter so it will use the entire filter as a difuser. Only problem with this is if you put too much gas into the filter at one time it has a likely possibility of becoming "air locked". When I had my filstar xp3 this happened a lot, however with my new FX5 it's never happened before.