I know fish and pond waste produces ammonia, then bacteria breaks down
the ammonia into nitrites then other bacteria convert nitrite into the
relatively-harmless nitrates. I know plants will absorb the nitrates,
but do they also absorb nitrites? I haven't been able to find much on
the web mentioning this and I've found some posts saying "yes" and
others saying "no".

I've noticed my fish hanging out near the bubble fountain which is
something they don't normally do. They also don't seem to be swimming
around all that much - usually they're just hanging out together. At
night I can hear them splashing around out there too. They look
healthy because they're plump, have bright colors, and their fins seem
intact and not clamped against their bodies. They haven't been too
eager to eat though, because I'll throw food in and they ignore it. I
assumed this was due to the pond not having much in the way of plant
cover and that my fish don't seem to like me all that much - "what did
I ever do to them???"

My colorcoded water test strip shows that my nitrite level is over 1
which is considered safe, but I did read that long-term exposure to
elivated levels can be harmful too. Most of my submerged vegetation
either died off in the winter or was eaten by my fish so if more
plants will suck in the nitrites I'd like to stock up.

I live in central Florida so my daily temps have been in the 80s for a
few weeks.


Thanks