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My nitrite levels have been high. I keep one betta per 3 gallon tank and I have two betta. They are in a tank that has a filter and activated carbon that came with the tank. Both tanks have a higher than normal nitrite level. I have taken some action to bring the level down. But, for the future, should I get additional filtration. For instance, I have seen form mats or something in the store that goes under the gravel. Please advise.

2007-07-01 15:34:26 · 5 answers · asked by Mia 3 in Pets Fish

5 answers

In a mature tank, nitrite levels will be 0. This tells me that your tanks are either less than 2 months old, you've used an anitibiotic in the tank recently, you use some type of additive like Ammo-lock or Am!quel, or you're cleaning the gravel too well.

Your fish naturally produce ammonia as part of their wastes, and this will be converted to nitrite, then to nitrate by bacteria in the tank. It takes a while for them to build up, so you may have ones to convert the available ammonia to nitrite already, but not enough to convert all the nitrite to nitrate yet. The same holds true if you've used an antibiotic - these don't distinguish between "good" and "bad" bacteria, so both are killed, so it takes a while after medicating for the beneficial bacteria to recover.

If you use any product to "neutralize" ammonia or nitrite, these bind with the compounds to make them less toxic, but their presence still shows up when you test the water - this I why I don't particularly care for their use, except in emergencies - they tend to mask when a "real" problem occurs until you notice high stress levels in your fish from ammonia/nitrite poisoning.

If your tank has appeared cloudy, this is a result of rapid bacterial reproduction as the bacteria try to take advantage of having ammonia and nitrite as an energy source - many people who aren't familiar with the bacteria needed for converting ammonia and nitrite into nitrate (called cycling) think there's something making the tank "dirty" and tear down the tank and thoroughly clean everything (killing the bacteria). It may clear up temporarily, but the cloudiness comes back (this is actually a natural occurrance, and the more you try to clean, the more you prolong the cloudy water). If you do frequent partial changes of 20-25% 1-2 times a week, the cloudiness will clear up on its own once the bacteria level reaches a point where all the ammonia and nitrite is being converted and the reproduction slows down.

One filter on a 3 gallon should be enough.

2007-07-01 15:52:26 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 2 0

bettas are aggressive to each other even the males are aggressive towards the females until they are ready to spawn. Nitrites deprive oxygen to the red blood cells in fish so, the solution to pollution is dilution. Do a small water change every day, like about a gallon. Also add Seachem Prime which will detoxify the Nitrites for 24 hours actually use Amquel + its easier to dose because one capfull does 10 gallons. Seachems is one cap per 50 gallons. You don't need any more filtration.

2007-07-01 15:53:26 · answer #2 · answered by Ryan 2 · 0 0

No you should not need an additional filter, what you need is something like Kent Eco start or Hagen cycle, to keep your biological filtration working properly. Nitrite is tougher to control in a small environment, it is a "stronger" chemical than ammonia.

Hope this helps

2007-07-02 10:34:43 · answer #3 · answered by Dan the Man 2 · 0 0

i will nt recommend having carbon in ur tank unless u need to remove any medication u added.. carbon has a bad point as in once it is overloaded with impurities it will release them.. so if u have carbon u will need to change them or recycle them.. feeding patterns is also impt.. overfed = too much urea from ur fish.. wat u have seen in store is known as undergravel filter wher u use the gravel as filter material. this is a gd form of filteration becuz of the large surface area. also betta prefer little aeration so ultimately i tink as long as u feed in appropriate amounts, change water frequently ur betta will do jus fine and no additional filter is needed.

2007-07-01 15:51:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

no i dont think you need a filter for a 3 gallons

2007-07-01 15:46:18 · answer #5 · answered by always right 6 · 0 2

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