home remedy for lowering dangerous nitrite levels?

[golden_betta]

i have had my 12 gallon aquarium up and running for about 2 or 3 months now,for the first month or so the nitrite reading was 0 (using quick dip brand test strips) but now the nitrite reading is way way off the chart,at around 15.0 to 20.0 ppm! :eek: . ph is around 7.2,alkalinity 120 ppm,hardness around 250 ppm,and nitrate 20 ppm and 0 ammonia.everything is in the safe zone.so is there any natural way to remove those highly dangerous nitrite levels?

P.S my fish seem happy and healthy all around so is the nitrite even a problem in the first place?

[oscarbartoni]

Test strips are not very accurate. I would take a sample down to your lfs to have then test it and make sure to give you the numbers and not that is is OK because OK does not tell us anything. What kind of algae eaters do you have. If they are common plecos then they are either too large now or will be very shortly. Are you sure that nothing has died in your tank and you are going through another mini cycle? Try to let us know exactly what kinds of fish that you have in your tank, but I am sure that you are overcrowded.

[golden_betta]

My algae eaters are common plecos,1 about 4 inches long,the other almost 3 inches,no fish have died in the tank.I also have a small black snail (i just updated my profile)

[oscarbartoni]

Common plecos can and often get to be over 18 inches long. The bushymouth plecos only get to be up to 7 inches longs (depending on the species). I would take the plecos back to the store and trade them in for algae eaters that do not get as large. Plus , do you have that much algae that you need two plecos? There are otto cats that only get to be an inch and a half which if you do not have any large fish that will eat them should be able to keep up with the algae, and they like company of the same kind, three or more is best for them. Personally I like to plant my tanks to keep algae at bay.

[golden_betta]

Today i cleaned out my tank completely (drained all water, rinsed rocks, exc.) as i was doing this i noticed my 4 ghost shrimp had disapered and also found the skeleton of my smallest pleco :( .So this explaines my nitrite problem,but now with new water the levels are down again.and with 5 less habbitants, i hope my overcrowding problem is over.
Any thoughts?

[AngelMom]

Test for ammonia daily ... you've probably just wiped out all your nitrifying bacteria. :eek: It'd be a really good idea to get some substrate or filter media from an established tank as you most likely will be cycling this one again.