koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
water changes usually will do the trick in lowering nitrites atleast temporarily. but the biggest cause of nitrites is insufficient bio filtration.....this is my post from a previous thread:
just thought i'd give a breif explaination of the nitrification cycle...fish waste and dead plant matter produce ammonias as they decompose... nitrosomas bacteria breaks down the ammonias to nitrites. nitrites are sill poisonous to fish, by way of accumalative damage...nitrites are absorbed into and stored in the blood stream of the fish. when enough accumaltes the fish become ill with whats known as brown blood disease, (nitrite poisoning)...now another strain of bacteria (nitrobacters) comes into play. this bacteria breaks down nitrites to nitrates. nitrates are used by your plants as food. both of these bacterias come in two different subcatagories known as aerobic and anaerobic..the aerobic bacterias are the desired bacteria. the anaerobic bacterias are not desirable. but are present in the ecosystem....aerobic (high oxygen) and anaerobic (low to no oxygen) bacterias both perform the same task but the anaerobic bacteria produces toxic gases as a byproduct of its process, namely hydrogen sulfide..when high levels of anaerobic bacterias are present your pond and/or filter may give off a rotten egg smell, this is the hydrogen sulfide.
just thought i'd give a breif explaination of the nitrification cycle...fish waste and dead plant matter produce ammonias as they decompose... nitrosomas bacteria breaks down the ammonias to nitrites. nitrites are sill poisonous to fish, by way of accumalative damage...nitrites are absorbed into and stored in the blood stream of the fish. when enough accumaltes the fish become ill with whats known as brown blood disease, (nitrite poisoning)...now another strain of bacteria (nitrobacters) comes into play. this bacteria breaks down nitrites to nitrates. nitrates are used by your plants as food. both of these bacterias come in two different subcatagories known as aerobic and anaerobic..the aerobic bacterias are the desired bacteria. the anaerobic bacterias are not desirable. but are present in the ecosystem....aerobic (high oxygen) and anaerobic (low to no oxygen) bacterias both perform the same task but the anaerobic bacteria produces toxic gases as a byproduct of its process, namely hydrogen sulfide..when high levels of anaerobic bacterias are present your pond and/or filter may give off a rotten egg smell, this is the hydrogen sulfide.