High Nitrites

I would stop adding the chemicals, they can do more harm than help. Your tank is going through a fish cycle right now. I would read this article to familiarize yourself with the nitrogen cycle.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

Best bet is to get your own test kit (liquid is best, API is best brand out there) so you can monitor your own parameters (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate). You should do water changes as much as possible to keep the nitrites under .25ppm. Hope this helps and good luck!

changing the filter may have slowed the cycle, which is probably why you still have excess nitrites. then again, extremely high levels of ammoina or nitrite in the water can stall the cycle. you need to do more water changes to get the nitrite lower; no chemicals besides prime as a dechlorinator are needed.

I totlly agree with the two Js...

and btw, :welcome:

lambitron said:

Thanks for the quick replies. We'll do another water change tonight. About how often should we be doing these? And how often should we use the prime? Oh, and should we still use the freshwater salt?

If changing the filter can slow the cycle... how often are you supposed to change it? We were told to change it once a month? Or is that after the tank is cycled?

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Salt is NOT needed for a FW tank. Getting a test kit and testing daily is very important right now. If Ammonia or Nitrite are > .25, do water changes to bring them under that. The filter media only needs to be rinsed occasionally and not necessarily changed out.

Yep, you just have to wait it out. The cycle is a natural process your tank is going through. Changing out the filter probably made it worse by throwing out a lot of your good bacteria. Also, are you using a declohrinator, like Prime, to treat the new water going into the tank when you do water changes? The chlorine and chloramines will kill off good bacteria as well. Stop adding salt too. There isn't a need for it and unless a fish is sick don't add it to the tank.

lambitron said:

Yeah, we are using Prime for water changes. I'll stop using the salt too.

When are you supposed to change a filter then? Sorry if that's a dumb question... but doesn't it get all full a junk? How can it filter if it's all yucky and gunked up?

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Not a dumb question at all. If you rinse out the gunk every couple weeks it should be fine. There's no reason to totally replace it unless it's falling apart. This is what the shops and manufacturers don't want you to know... lol

lambitron said:

Thanks for the quick replies. We'll do another water change tonight. About how often should we be doing these? And how often should we use the prime? Oh, and should we still use the freshwater salt?

If changing the filter can slow the cycle... how often are you supposed to change it? We were told to change it once a month? Or is that after the tank is cycled?

Click to expand...

Change the water as often as necessary to keep the ammonia and nitrites under control. That may involve a 40-60% water change, followed by another one about an hour or so later if you water is still testing high. You can change the out as much water as you want, up to about 90% or so if needed. You will just need to make sure your water temperature matches that of your tank with such drastic water changes.

As far as the filter goes, you do not need to change the filter media at all. The bacteria that keep your ammonia and nitrite in check live on the filter media so changing it out removes these from your tank and you have to start your cycle over. Just rinse your filter out in some old tank water or dechlorinated tap water and re-install the media. If you use straight tap water, the chlorine in the water will kill off the bacteria on the filter media.

Using Prime to treat your water is a good choice as well as it will not oly dechlorinate the water but also treat ammonia and nitrites to render them non-toxic. See Seachem's FAQ's page on their website for the dosing to reduce ammonia and nitrite.

John