nitrite/nitrate levels

[mjy]

I have a 64l tank with 5 small fancy tail goldfish. I have been testing the water regularly and evry thing seemed O.K. After feeding the fish Brine Shrimp and also adding a plant called Cambomba on the same day the nitite and nitrate levels have increased dramatically in 2 days.

What am I doing wrong?

[Rbishop]

What are your exact readings, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate abd pH?
How long has the tank been up and operating?

[Ms.Bubbles]

Well for one thing your tank is seriously overstocked. Ideally, goldfish need 15 gallons EACH, and they crank out a ton of ammonia, which can cause toxic water problems in such a small space.

Did you cycle your tank before adding all those fish? If not, you could be in the middle of a nitrite spike. You need to do lots of water changes to get the nitrite to 0 (un-readable level), and get the nitrates to below 20 ppm.

Don't overfeed your fish. This can contribute to ammonia and nitrite spikes.

Plants would not have any detrimental effect on water, except if you did a lot of digging and perhaps dug up a lot of deteriorating food and plant matter, which could also cause an ammonia/nitrite spike.

[mjy]

Readings 2 days previously were ammonia 0, nitrites <0.1, nitrates 5-10, pH 7.4 current readings are ammonia 0.3, nitrites 1.6-3.3 (hard to tell), nitrates 110, pH 7.4.
Have carried out 2 30% water changes since and removed, plants and added freindly bacteria when doing each change to bring levels down. (Tank is approx 6 weeks old - thought tank was cycling)
Am I on the right track??????

[Rbishop]

I do not believe your tank is cycled....

Do 50% water changes every 12 hrs till you consistently get ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates less than 40.

What "friendly" bacteria are you adding?

[mjy]

I have been adding nutrafin cycle but have switched to Seachem Stability.