High Nitrite - 0.50PPM

Question
QUESTION: Hi Trish,
Mine is a new 30 gallon tank and i had it setup like 1 month+. Initially i had lots of ammonia in it, but with 20-25% partial water changes i got rid of ammonia, which now stays at 0. Now my nitries are high but i know i am getting there, will still the water changes like every other day up to 15-20% will help? Another thing i found some brown powdery spots on my airline tubing and stuff .. i cleaned it. Is it some alage or fungus. If so is it harmful to the fish. Today i didnt keep the aquarium light on, so that it doesnt encourage the extra growth. I have 2 filters one an emperor 280 and another aqua 50 filter. I figure my filtration is adequte. Presently i am having one gold fish, 2 platys, one moon tail molly and a female sword tail. I wanna add some more but i think  i wanna wait till my nitrite levels read 0.
My emperor filter has extra catridge, do u think i can mix carbon and the bio stuff or i should i not mix them up. I maintain the water temp at steady 72F. One of my platty had delivered a baby, so i seperated the little one and taking care of him/her seperately.
If i decide to add in any more fish .. what variety u think would be compatible for my tank with respect to the inmates and the water temp.

Thanks,
Vamsi.

ANSWER: Hi Vamsi.  I think from what you are telling me, you are doing a great job so far.  Your tank is still young, and it is still "cycling", so your nitrites are going to be high, but should start going down. Once the nitrites come back down, they should stay that way, so should the ammonia.  When nitrites start going down, your nitrates will start to rise, and this means you are nearing the end of your tank "cycling" or "establishing itself". This is a good thing!  I would keep doing about 10% water changes every other day or third day even, and up the tank temperature to about 76.  Also, as far as the lighting in the tank, try to mimic our days and nights, as would happen in the wild.  The easiest way is to keep the light on for about 12 hours or a little more.  Believe it or not, LACK of light can cause some brown algae's.

As far as the tubing, it sounds to me like water got in them and since the tank is not cycled all the way, you wound up with the algae.  I would just replace this tubing (if it happened to me).  I cannot tell you what will happen if you don't replace the tubing, because I don't know.  Maybe nothing, maybe something.  It's hard to tell.

Ok, now, as far as the fish.  I would not keep a goldfish in with the other fish.  Reason being, goldfish are "cold water" fish and the others are "tropical", warm water fish.  You can look this up online.  Plus, goldfish are extremely messy fish, and they will foul up your tank very quickly, which is not really good for livebearers.  You want a livebearing tank as clean as possible.  Especially if you are going to keep fry in a breeding net in that tank.  You need your water to be pristine in order for the fry to thrive and survive.  As far as other fish to put in there, I will give you a link to research this (as what I like you might not like, etc.).  I just always suggest to make sure you keep all areas of your tank covered, to make the tank aesthetically pleasing (i.e. bottom swimmers, middle swimmers, top swimmers).  Here is a good link: http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/fish-popular.asp#corys .  You want to stay with warm-water tropical fish.

After your levels have all come back to normal, I would perform weekly tank maintenance and partial water changes. Here is a great site on performing this:  http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html

Your filter situation sounds fine.  Only add extra media if it becomes necessary.

I hope this helps you out.  If you have any other questions, or if you need me to elaborate on anything here, please get back to me.  I wish you the best of luck.  Keep up the good work!!   ;o)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Trish,
Great to hear from you and will kepp all your advice in mind. Another last question i would wanna  is, should we need to change the bio media inthe filter or can it be left indefinitely? Please advice. I am also planning on an undergravel filter i would like to hear your views and opinions on it. I have read a lot of contradicting stuff on that so i am not sure if i should go for it or not.

Answer
Hi Vamsi.  About the undergravel.  This is mainly a "preference" type of thing.  I have an undergravel with a powerhead in one of my tanks, as well as a HOB filter.  I personally like it.  However, I have just seen that somehow baby snails have been born obviously under the undergravel filter.  I'm getting them 1 by 1, lol.  Would I recommend you try it?  Yes, I would.  You'll either like it or you won't, and if you don't, just take it out.  It's a pain to put in or take out of an already set up tank, but it can be done.

About the bio media.  The wheel itself you should not clean.  "A discolored surface and slowed - even irregular - wheel rotation due to a heavy wheel is normal and desired to achieve the best biological filtration. In fact, the more discolored the surface of the BIO-Wheel, the more ammonia-fighting bacteria are present and working to remove toxic impurities. Any excessive build-up of algae or debris on the BIO-Wheel can be gently rinsed away with room temperature, aquarium-safe water." (Taken from a website).  The cartridge media inserts however (that go in the back of it) do need to be rinsed in water you take from the tank, and they should be replaced every 4-6 weeks.  My bio wheel has a place for 2 inserts and I use them both. Others just use 1.  It really depends on the amount of fish you have.

I hope this helps!  Don't be afraid to write me back if you have more questions.  Take care and good luck!!!   ;o)