HELP!!! nitrites still up!!!

rachelmayt

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Oct 27, 2007
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Hello, I am still in the mode of FLIPPING OUT!!!!!:help:
I have been doing wc every 4 to 5 hours since thursday, I did not have the master kit until saturday. I have tested and the nitrites have come down a bit earlier they were this morning they were 1.0, the nitrates 5.0 and the amonia 0. I have not done a wc since this morning, thinking as long as the fish do not appear in distress, then I should back off. Maybe I was not giving the tank enough space to level out???? I just did another test, and the nitrites are back upto 2.0 and the nitrrates are still 5.0 and the amonia 0. The fish are still fine, I have not lost any, and they are all swimming around. What is going on, what should I do????
 
All I can say is to continue doing wc's until the nitrites get under control .... I would do a 50%-75% then turn around and do another 50%-75% to try and get them under .25
 
All I can say is to continue doing wc's until the nitrites get under control .... I would do a 50%-75% then turn around and do another 50%-75% to try and get them under .25


:iagree: ------ Fishy cycles can be time consuming.........
 
thanks I did not even think of doing a back to back wc!! Maybe that will work!! I will try it.
The tank that I have is a 33g, I have 7 neon tetras, 3 red platys, 1 rosy minnow (Stella), 1 black phantom tetra (stan), 3 rasboras, 3 glolight tetras, and 7 danios.
Should I add more stress zyme??
Thank you for all the help!!
 
I managed to throw one of my tanks into a cycle a few weeks ago by adding fish and cleaning the filter the same day (stupid thing to do)...

I did back-to-back 75% changes every morning before I left for school, threw in a dose of AmQuel (which I happened to still have), a change as soon as I got back in the evening, and at least one or two more before bed. Did this daily for almost a week, then twice daily water changes for another week or so when it seemed that the nitrites weren't going up as quickly. I managed to not lose any fish, though at least one was certainly affected (bottom of tank, breathing heavily, nonresponsive, which is what tipped me off to a problem... he perked up by the end of the 2nd back-to-back wc that morning).

All I can say is thank goodness I'd decided to get a Python a few months ago... and I went through a lot of Prime...
 
well I did a retest and the nitrites were over 2.0 so I did a 50% wc and tested and it went down alittle, so I did another 50%wc and it did go down to .50 So that was good. Now all I need is the nitrates to go up!!! I wish there was some type of dance I could perform, kind of like the rain dance!!Hehe! So I am patiently waiting.
I am doing all this by the bucket, I am tired!!! I unfortunately can not afford the python yet!! I wish they were cheaper. Hey I wonder if ebay would have one on there???? Oh well, thank you for all the advice and input. I am glad I am not alone!!
 
Glad to see you are making progress...another 50% would get you at .25ppm

Once you get them lower it will be easier to maintain..... I would go ahead and do another 50% tonight and then it might get to where one wc a day will keep you where it needs to be until the cycle finishes
 
Yep gotta do the water changes atleast 50% because your levels are higher. I know it is tedious but is worth it to your fish. When I got a spike of .25 ammonia a few weeks ago I did one wc in the morning and another in the evening then once a day until the levels were normal you will get more nitrates once your nitrite level comes down it is all in the cycling process but you can't let it go or your levels will just rise if you get a spike of ammonia or nitrite you just have to do the wc's and keep retesting my mini-cycle lasted approx 4 days and then everything was back to normal. I actually just tested this evening nitrate was 5 ammonia 0 nitrite 0.
 
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It is now 6:30 I tested and the nitrites are .50 the nitrates are 0 and amonia 0. So I am going to do a 50% wc, and see what happens then. Thanks again.
 
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