Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

how long can fish survive with nitrites in the water when the tank is salted and aerated. Have been having very high nitrite readings for almost three weeks now, have only fed once (very small amount) in the last week, they are ravenous. They look fine, happy but hungry. Any warning signs I should look out for (apart from a dead fish) to know when I might have to do a part water change?

I would be changing some water to get the reading down to a reasonable level, just keep the salt level up.

cheers obo...I'm just thinking that will slow the process even more...I guess it;s better than dying fish though.

So this is a new cycling system yes??

Yes...It was cycling (I think) before the addition of the trout but obviously not enough to handle the new load. 35 trout, 800l GB constant flood, 1200L fish tank. See chippy had a day off for more info.

I reckon you have overloaded it with 35 trout that size added to the existing 19 goldfish. Have you got a pond or somewhere you could move the goldies too

Yep think so trying to find a home for the goldies today...I think one of the local pet shops will take 'em back for fifty cents each

Ive ran high nitrites for 6 weeks now with half the amount of grow bed and triple the amount of fish. But as most of the pro's here on this forum have pointed out- Im nuts.

@Charlie: Were you doing water changes? Did you lose any fish?

if your fish arnt dead yet they will bee soon. nitrite poisoning attacks the gills of the fish, and even low levels will kill fish over a period of time.

Yes, they seem to get over it well (especially trout) but heaps get sick later.

Chippy, had a quick look at your system setup. How much aeration do you have? I found that with nitrites that linger around for a while, the addition of aeration will usually clear them out pretty quickly...

Cheers. Ivansng, only the return flow. Have done a third water change and put a tiny system together for 1/2 the Goldies. Didn't want to get rid of them. Will add more aeration and maybe extra filtration if hasn't cleared up by the weekend.

Yea Ive done plenty of water changes, regular salting and I have a huge aerator. No fish losses to date but I need to expand very soon or I WILL lose fish.

Charlie, I think I read in your system thread that you are still feeding the fishes... you aren't suppose to feed them until both ammonia and nitrite readings are zero...