mark4785
Member
My aquarium currently contains 4 albino corydoras which are all continually gasping for air. I have tested my ammonia and nitrite levels and the former is at 0 ppm while the latter is between 0 and 0.25 ppm.
I'm finding that every time I dose the aquarium with nitrate (a fertiliser for the plants), the drop-checkers are turning yellow (indicating very high co2) and the nitrite level is going up to 0 - 0.25 ppm.
I have come across an article on the internet ( Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health Considering Nitrite, Ammonia reduction to Nitrite - Water Quality and Fish Health ) which indicates that under hypoxic conditions (low oxygen) nitrate can be converted back into nitrite by a certain strand of bacteria. Is this what is happening in my aquarium? If it is, why would the tank become hypoxic only after introducing the nitrate fertiliser?
I have been using the said nitrate fertiliser for about 5 years and used it today on a separate tank; the fish in there are not hypoxic and have been solidly healthy for as long as I can remember.
I'm really confused as to what to do. I was previously advised by the UKAP community to plant-up and avoid the liquid ammonia cycle as the latter was ann avenue which I could take for healthy plants and fish; this is something I chose to embrace and now the fish are really suffering at this moment as it would seem that my nitrate fertiliser is being converted into nitrite by some sort of rogue bacterium in the filter.
I'm finding that every time I dose the aquarium with nitrate (a fertiliser for the plants), the drop-checkers are turning yellow (indicating very high co2) and the nitrite level is going up to 0 - 0.25 ppm.
I have come across an article on the internet ( Koi, Goldfish & Pond Health Considering Nitrite, Ammonia reduction to Nitrite - Water Quality and Fish Health ) which indicates that under hypoxic conditions (low oxygen) nitrate can be converted back into nitrite by a certain strand of bacteria. Is this what is happening in my aquarium? If it is, why would the tank become hypoxic only after introducing the nitrate fertiliser?
I have been using the said nitrate fertiliser for about 5 years and used it today on a separate tank; the fish in there are not hypoxic and have been solidly healthy for as long as I can remember.
I'm really confused as to what to do. I was previously advised by the UKAP community to plant-up and avoid the liquid ammonia cycle as the latter was ann avenue which I could take for healthy plants and fish; this is something I chose to embrace and now the fish are really suffering at this moment as it would seem that my nitrate fertiliser is being converted into nitrite by some sort of rogue bacterium in the filter.