Nitrites in Quarantine Tank

[ltkenbo]

I setup a 10 gallon quarantine tank last week, bare bottomed, just a couple of pieces of PVC and a fake plant. It's got a sponge filter which was seeded for like 2 weeks in my 55's sump and also just a filter sponge that sits in the corner which seeded for like 2 months. The water in the tank is from my 55 which is mature. Anyways, I added a maroon clown like a week ago and was planning on doing a water change soon and I checked the water parameters tonight and found there was no ammonia however there is about .25 ppm of nitrite. Any concern about this? I mean obviously I need to change the water but I mean why is it doing this when I'm using an established filter with only a single fish?

 

[Bifferwine]

Because there isn't enough bacteria in the filter to handle the fish's waste and any food you're feeding it. There's no rock or sand in the tank to harbor bacteria, either. In quarantine tanks, you often have to do very frequent water changes (sometimes daily) to keep up. A 10 gallon tank is small -- and with no substrate or rock, even one fish could be enough to cause ammonia and/or nitrites to creep up.

 

[dcantucson]

.25 nitrite is acceptable for a fish only tank though, isn't it Biff?

 

[Bifferwine]

Not nitrites. Nitrites in any amount can be fatal. Fish are more forgiving of ammonia than nitrites.

 

[dcantucson]

So am I thinking Nitrates then are okay at a low level?

 

[ltkenbo]

Yeah nitrates generally are only toxic to fish at high levels like greater then 10-15 ppm, but it does all depend on what type of fish.