Very High Nitrite!! Help!!

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Blake2K

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Aug 28, 2011
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Hello all. I am somewhat new to fish keeping and have a 20 gallon tank. I started out really small with a 5, 10, and now the 20. I am having troubles with my nitrite converting. This tank is about 6 weeks old and should be established already. I do 25% water changes once a week to try to help it along. I have not done a full water change because that is probably the worst thing you can do to a tank. I heard aquarium salt and or Nutrafin Cycle supplement can help speed up the process. Any ideas? Thanks in advance to all that respond.

It is a fish in cycle. Two gouramis, Bala Shark, Clown Loach and a Pleco. Things seemed really fine and established. The tank had been really cloudy for a week and right before I ddecided to do a partial water change it cleared up on it's own. So right now here is how we do the tank changes..

We do a 25% water change. I add conditioner, clarifyer if it needs it, bacteria supplement, and just recently started adding the nutrafin stuff. We test the water ourselves. We bought the 30 dollar testing kit with the tubes and all the chemicals. Usually everything seems fine except for the nitrites. Today the amonia an nitrites were high. Luckily, the fish all still seem happy and are not ill and have not died. I am surprised because the guy at teh pet shop says he can't believe they are not all dead. So that's where we are at. It has been high for about two and ahalf weeks. I know it could take a couple more weeks but I just don't want to be missing something. I don't want to kill our fish.
 
jpappy789

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
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Josh
What test kit are you using? Sounds liquid, which is good because it is more accurate but that is bad because your issues then are real. What are the specific levels?

Your tank is very much overstocked considering the full size of the fish and depending on their current sizes your tank may just have too much bioload for the bacteria to process.

A large water change wont hurt a thing. The bigger and the more frequent, the better at this point.

6 weeks for a fish in cycle with that bioload sounds about right, unfortunately. The bacteria need to catch up and that takes time.
 
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Blake2K

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Aug 28, 2011
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Thank you! Yes it is a liquid test kid by API. Very nice stuff. Well right now I am within the 1 inch per gallon rule because once the shark and loach start growing we will be getting a bigger tank. They may have been wrong but the fish guy said it should be fine. It is only a few weeks away. We will definitely try a larger water change next week. I do have a fish that poops allllll the time and he is not overfed so i dunno. The nitrite is the highest it can be ( 5.0 ppm) and amonia was at about .40 ppm.
 
jpappy789

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
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Josh
Those are at very scary levels. I would do a large water change IMMEDIATELY.

The 1" per gallon rule is hardly a good rule and to be blunt the guy at your store doesn't know what he is talking about.

Gouramis are usually not good when mixed unless it is a smaller, more peaceful species (honey, sparkling, pearl, etc.)

Bala sharks can reach over a little over a foot and should be in a group as they are schooling fish.

Clown loaches are also schooling fish. They will quickly grow to about 6" before slowing down in growth. Eventually they too will be over a foot in length.

Depending on the pleco species you may be looking at something that could reach 18-24"...most "common" species will at least get to 8-10"

You are looking at a VERY large tank in the near future. The sooner you upgrade, the better.

What is your filtration like?
 
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Blake2K

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Aug 28, 2011
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We did a water change last night. When do you suggest the next one? I have the aqueon quiet flow 20. Dunno how good that is but it came with the tank. is there somethign better that I can purchase?
 
jpappy789

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
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Josh
Haven't used it myself but sounds like it is rated for only up to 20 gallons...usually those ratings are over-judged so by most standards you are also underfiltered.

The sooner you do the wc, the better. 5 ppm NO2 is not good at all. Neither is the ammonia but at that level it is still tolerable.
 
Kashta

Kashta

Always Niko's fault.....
Jun 24, 2008
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Since you have fish in the tank, it's overstocked, and under-filtered... you are looking at a very long time and LOTs of water changes. Expect you'll have to even do multiple water changes the same day, back to back.

What I would do is wait about half an hour after doing a large water change. Then test it again. If you still get measurable results for ammonia or nitrites, do another water change.

You need to keep doing this until you bring those levels down.
 
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tolawdjk

AC Members
Sep 8, 2010
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On the subject of filtration, it is very very hard to have too much. In fact I would qualify it as impossible unless your fish cannot handle the return flows and even then those can be channeled to prevent problems.

The simplest reason to think of why the 1 inch rule doesn't work is that fish are not 2D creatures. 1 inch of guppy is not 1 inch of goldfish. Factor in other issues like how a species processes their food intake and things can quickly get out of hand. Watch how much waste 3 1 inch guppies produce then compare that to one 3-inch pleco.

If upsizing your filtration and rehoming isn't an option, look at least getting a sponge filter in there, preferablly something with two sponges. You want to increase the available area of bacteria growth to combat the nitrites and ammonia.

Your test kit is going to tell you when water changes are necessary at this stage. In a month or three, when the tank has established, you will develope a routine that will work for your conditions...probably in the 50-30% once a week, depending on stocking levels.

I think if you rehome that pleco, you are going to find that your issues are much easier to handle.
 
stephcps

stephcps

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Jun 2, 2009
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I totally agree that at this point you have a couple of issues. First I would rehome a couple of fish. You have a huge bioload in that tank. second you really need either a larger or another same size filter to run two. Running the two would be what I would do. You also need to be doing minimally a couple of water changes a day to that tank. You may not "see" it. But those fish are suffering and under stress.
 
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