Nitrite Help

[t_nix]

Our clowns have been laying eggs like crazy, as in 2 days after one batch hatches- they are laying another batch. Since I can't stand the thought of the babies turning into fish food or worse- killed in the filtration, we have set up a small 2.5 gallon tank as a nursery tank to try and raise the babies. Since it is such a small tank, we are having trouble with elevated nitrites. We have started doing twice a day water changes (10% each time, slowly dripping the fresh saltwater into the tank) and have been running the rotifiers through a coffee filter instead of placing the rotifiers+the water they were living in into the tank. (I hope I am explaining this clearly) Since we have started this I have noticed a decrease in the nitirites, but they are still elevated and forgive me, but I do not recall the numeric level at the moment.

Are there any other suggestions as to how we can get the nitrites down further without stressing out the babies further? (So far they seem to be tolerating the 2x day water changes- only have lost 2 babies in the last 24 hours.) They will be a week old tomorrow and we will start adding brine shrimp in with rotifiers tomorrow (providing that they hatch in time) and I anticipate that this will also increase our nitrites. Any suggestions are appreciated and welcomed!

Also, while I am thinking about it- our next fry is set to hatch on Thursday. Could we put the new fry in with the current or do we need to purchase another tank?

Thank you!

 

[jennm]

What have you got for biological filtration?

You can use Prime or Alpha to help neutralize ammonia and nitrite. Chances are, if there's nitrite, there is likely also ammonia.

Jenn

 

[t_nix]

There are nitrates and nitrites which are both decreasing. The only filtration we are doing is the water changes which we have increased to 15% twice a day. Do you think putting a small amount of live rock "rubble size" would help?

 

[jennm]

That or put some Seachem Matrix or Denitrate in an area of flow. Cleaner than LR and a bit more efficient for your application. Then hit it with some Stability to get the bacteria going.

Jenn

 

[jj ocean]

You cant treat the larvae tank like a normal tank not doing large enough changes Through days 1-25 I do 70% water changes every 3rd day. I'd do 50% everyday if I had the time. After day 25 go to a sponge filter and do 50% water changes every 5-7 days Yes, straining rots is a must.

I airline drip the change water over an hour. I also use my display tank water for the change and add the new salt mix water to replace the displaced display water.

I wouldn't mix the hatches until at least 3 months They have different requirements at different ages when young.

 

[t_nix]

Thank you for all of the advice and a BIG THANK YOU to Jenn for spending so much time with us at the store last weekend- we REALLY appreciate your help.

We have followed all of your advice and the water seems to be doing well as are the babies. We noticed that a few of them have started to get their stripes last night and I am sooooooooooooo excited!! I cant wait for my macro lens to get here so I can get some close up pics of them. (Not using a flash obviously)

Our next fry should hatch tonight or tomorrow and hopefully we should have a higher success rate with this fry using all of the knowledge we have gained with the current fry.


Thank you again for all of your help!

Tiffany

 

[hud3339]

What kind of clowns are they? And how many do you have that lived so far?

 

[t_nix]

They are ocellaris clownfish and we have 24.

 

[shafiq_hossain]

Just out of curiosity. How long does it take for the Nitrite to be neutralized after adding Prime?

Thanks...

 

[jennm]

Should be pretty immediate. Prime (and Alpha) work very quickly.