Water changes

[George]

My tank was not completely set up before I got my shrimp. My introduction into the Volcano Shrimp was the result of a "friend" buying me an ecosphere. After receiving it I did research on the shrimp and was horrified to discover how little they lived in these ecosphere envrionments. So, my set up was a hurried one. The only issue I am having is that my Nitrite levels are not coming down. Ammonia is zero and Nitrate is good. My thought is to do water changes of about one third of the water to keep the levels of Nitrite tolerable. Will changing water often like this be counter productive because I am bringing the levels down artificially? I was wondering if I should get a water treatment to neutralize the nitrites. My shrimp seem fine. I have an air bubble and a filter. I rarely use the filter because I am afraid the shrimp will get sucked into it. Would using the filter full time reduce the Nitrite? I could fashion a mesh cover for the water intake I suppose.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Varanus]

Using a water conditioner like Prime would be a good temporary solution. A more long term one would be to add an aquatic plant to help absorb toxins in the water. Do you have any of Mustafa's macroalgae? If not then try ordering some and see if it helps.

That you have nitrite and yet no nitrate or ammonia readings is a bit strange to me though. Its my understanding its rather unusual to get a nitrite reading at all (I don't think I ever have myself), as typically once you get nitrite the cycling process is going strong enough that it gets converted to nitrate so quickly that the water tester won't detect the nitrite. What kind of water tester are you using? If its the strips rather than the drop tests you may need to get the latter as they are more accurate.

Most importantly, how high are the nitrite levels? As far as I've read nitrite isn't a problem for most species provided it stays low.

[i<3Opae]

Ammonia is zero and Nitrate is good.

Will changing water often like this be counter productive because I am bringing the levels down artificially?

My tank never showed ammonia during cycling. I doubt that my test kit was bad, so there was only one explanation - the bacteria (nitrosomonas) that break down ammonia have established an efficient colony already. I barely saw any nitrate neither, it's always boarder lining orange, but mostly yellow. So finally, you mentioned you nitrite is still high. It could be that the bacteria (nitrobacter) are still building up. You should see it gradually go down. Doing water change might help the shrimp if they are affected by nitrite - but will slow down your cycling process perhaps. My suggestion would be to leave the tank alone, and monitor shrimp behavior, if they hide/sit at the bottom not moving much, that's a sign to worry. Nitrite is extremely toxic to these little guys, but if you have a big enough tank, the bacteria colony will be able to convert nitrite to nitrate before anything happens to your shrimp.

I rarely use the filter because I am afraid the shrimp will get sucked into it. Would using the filter full time reduce the Nitrite? I could fashion a mesh cover for the water intake I suppose.

Since I cycled my tank with the filter on all the time, I would say run the filter after you do something to the intake. A "pre-filter sponge" (Fluval has one) is perfect for that. It's a cylinder shaped black sponge that goes right over the intake. Or you could use pantyhose/mesh and rubberband. I used gauze before my pre-filter arrived and the cotton practically melted in the water after 3 days, so that's not recommended lol. The bacteria colony live in filter media, on the tank walls and substrate, not in water. So the more surface you have, the better for the colony to establish.

Keep us updated! Good luck!