Unanswerable question

[Longshot]

I have a 55g tank. One dwarf gourami, one tiger barb, one swordtail, and one glass fish. Four others have perished. They were all given to me, that is why it is a weird combo of fish. My tank was set up 30days ago, it was without fish for about one week. Then the fish were added. I got a test kit and have been testing it since the fish were put in. The nitrates and nitrites were both maxed out and have been that way since i have had fish. They have never come down. Even after 50% water changes they would drop slightly and spike back up off the charts within the day. The fish seem fine but have bright red gills. What are your opinions on when I might start to see the levels go down? Any other advise? Thank you.

[Aqualung]

From what I understand, the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrates take longer to get established than the bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite. What are your readings for ammonia levels?

I think the nitrites should start dropping soon, but in the meantime keep doing lots of large water changes to keep the fish as comfortable as possible.

[Neo Sithlord]

Uhmm.. Maxed out? That's not good! You need to keep Nitrates 40ppm or lower and Nitrites (much more toxic) at zero to max .5 ppm. Ammonia would be the primer for the whole works and it should remain zero. Check out the cycling sticky for details.
You need to do water changes daily untill you get a reading of 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and under 40 ppm nitrate (preferably 20ppm or less). There's a bacteria (Bio filter) that will build up as a result. Once it's established you can do weekly testing and water changes. I'm new to this but I do have some "book" smarts when it comes to your issues. For now I'd suggest getting a reading of 0 ammonia SLOWLY. Your fish would proublebly get stressed by a major water change right now. So work on doing daily water changes to bring things into reasonable levels.
It would help other more qualified folks here if you could tell us your exact readings from the test kits. What does your water test out of the faucet? The more info you give us the better we can help you. Honestly I think you came to the right place. There are alot of people here that know far more then I and are always willing to help.
You should aim for 0 ammonia .25 or less nitrite and 40ppm or less nitrate for now. I'm assuming the ammonia eating bact is developed by now. Also if nitrates are sky high then the NitrIte eating bact are begining to establish. You're on your way to keeping a healthy aquarium but you need to get the maintenance down abit more, and also need to understand how the "bio filter" works.
Just curious what type of fish did you loose? That could also be of some help. I'm starting out a tank right now after doing a partial "fishless cycle". I've lost 3 neon tetras which are very touchy when it comes to water quality, but I've been doing water changes to keep me fish healthy nightly since I bought them. My original stock was 1 male betta and 6 neons. I now have 3 neons, 2 white cloud minows (Much more resiliant then neons) and 1 male betta. my ammonia is at zero but I'm working every night after work to drop my NitrItes below .25 ppm and since nitirite gets turned into nitrAte I have less trouble keeping that in line. Again read about cycling a tank. You should get al the answers you need, and ask questions here we can help.
-Neo SIthlord

[pinballqueen]

Wow Neo, you're a brave man to cycle with neons.... I can't even keep them living in an established tank :P I always went with danios to cycle because everything else would croak on me (and that is WITH using filter media, plants, and the like from an established tank.... when I start a new tank, I'll definitely do fishless... too expensive to cycle with fish in my opinion, let alone the loss of life :shake: )

Bright red gills? Like, an unusual color (bloody and irritated looking?) or normal, healthy red? Nitrite poisoning is usually indicated by brownish, sickly looking gills, I'm not sure what ammonia poisoning would look like (back to the "I used danios, and I can't see very well" point that I touched on earlier :P)... Best to really keep up with the water changes and keep your fish as comfortable as possible. If you change the water and the nitrites/nitrates/ammonia are still off the chart, Change more.

[Longshot]

Thanks for your input. Turns out that one day I woke up to check the tank and amazingly, the nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia that were off of the chart that night turned to absolute zero that morning. It is really amazing how things suprise you in this hobby. I thank everyone who replied.

[happychem]

Nitrates went to 0 overnight? That's suspicious...

[holyherbiness]

How do nitrates fall to zero?
I thought the only way was through heavey water changes
boy am i confused :shake:

[Longshot]

the nitrates did not fall to zero. they actually are at something like 0.5 ppm. I just included it with everything else meaning that everything is fine. It is pretty cool when it all works out.

[Aqualung]

Seems strange that nitrates would be reading that low, unless the tank is very heavily planted.

I'd take a water sample to the lfs and have them test it for you, just to make sure you are getting accurate readings.

[happychem]

At a guess, it looks like your reducing agent isn't working properly, getting your NO3 results tested at the lfs would be a good idea.