High Nitrite, acceptable for larvae?

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damien

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My larvae are about 3cm long now, and if they grow any larger they won't fit through the opening in the turkey baster. It is time to move them to a tank where they have more room and where they don't need to be moved daily.
I did some test today, and both nitrate and NH3 levels are fine, but Nitrite is too high (about 1.6mg/l). Should I add them to the tank anyways, or should I do something first?
Water changes are a bit difficult, because there are daphnia in there.
 
Nitrite is more toxic than ammonia. A level that high would probably kill larvae.

If I were you, I would make a large net of a wire coat hanger and stockings (nylons/pantyhose/whatever they're called in your neck of the woods). Place this over a bucket, and pour your waste water into the bucket through the net. Then, you lose no daphnia (they're stuck on the net), and can do water changes.
 
I would do the water change as those levels of nitrite can kill the larva. An alternative is to siphon off the debris and water using airline tubing.

Ed
 
Instead of transfering the larvae with a baster, I use a "pouring" method. I carefully pour out most of the water from the container. (If I pour out any larvae by accident, I just pour them back.) When I have all the larvae in just a little bit of water, I quickly pour the water/larvae into a container of clean water.
 
I'll try the pouring method for now.. I'll see what I can do for the water quality.. maybe I'll just let it complete the cycling..
It kinda sucks that I can't put a filter in the tank, since my air pump is already going at his max to supply air to the BBS hatcheries..
 
My larvae are poured into a fine fish net then replaced in their clean container and fed. I tried various methods. Turkey baster was great for a while, then they got super active, its only used now to check to see if any have perished( have some gold ones that are tiny still), then I tried the pouring method but some of the larvae had death wishes and would charge, or alternatively try to hold on to the top.In the end I just poured water and all throught the net and then replace pronto into the clean tray..no casualties, though the odd one tries to convince me its dead.
 
No, they are all fine so far. I don't slosh the water in, just gently tip them in and then out, haven't lost any at all through this method.
 
I often use a kitchen sieve instead of a fishnet (the sieve is not used in the kitchen anymore - I don't want my noodles to have a fishy taste :p ). With the bigger holes in the sieve some unwanted muck goes throug as well (dead Daphnia for instance).
 
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