My tap water shows nitrites ???

[cactusgal]

So I've been doing water changes on my small 5 gallon tank(which only has 15) 1/2 inch molly fry,and 1 otto in it.Going on 7 weeks into cycle.
I've been doing water changes every 2nd day because I cant seem to get the nitrites down...So I decided to test my tap water and it shows 0.3 ppm nitrites,and 0.1 ammoina...I use prime and have been adding cycle...but every time i do a water change (aprox 20-30%) I seem to loose another fry?? With my tap water showing these levels what else can i do??

Is there anything else i can add to my tap water to lower the nitrites??

Thanx
laura

 

[Reframer]

Just dose a little extra prime and do smaller more frequent wc. When your filter is mature it will be able to handle it. Maybe call you city water official to complain about the water quality.

 

[jm1212]

i think your elevated ammonia and nitrite levels may have something to do with the fact that your tank is very overstocked.

 

[JoelB]

I would have suggested a small amount of salt as it will bind the nitrite until it can be processed, and mollies are naturally good with salt...but the otto might not like it.

 

[cactusgal]

i think your elevated ammonia and nitrite levels may have something to do with the fact that your tank is very overstocked.

I did a water test before the water change and this is what it read(from the tank)

Ammonia 0.3ppm
nitrites 0.1 ppm
nitrates 3

I then did the water change and tested right after and this is what it showed (from the tank)
Ammonia 0.3 ppm
nitrites 0.3 ppm
nitrates 3

So the only thing that changed is the nitries...This is because the tap water is that amount.

I do add aquarium salt with every water change...I will add some more prime and see what happens.
I only plan to keep 6-8 of these fry(hopefully the rest will be given away next week) This should help with the load on the tank.

This is planted tank,corner eclipse with bio wheel + 1 have a fluval u1 filter as well,air stone.
I will just keep plugging away with water changes i guess...It just seems like the water changes make it worse??

thanx for the help

 

[JoelB]

A couple of more involved options. An RO unit, for one. You could also have another tank going with nothing in it but a mature filter and some minimal hardy but not messy fish, and keep your tap water there for a time before using it.

 

[cactusgal]

A couple of more involved options. An RO unit, for one. You could also have another tank going with nothing in it but a mature filter and some minimal hardy but not messy fish, and keep your tap water there for a time before using it.

Not quite sure what you mean by this?? I have a cycled 60 gallon(just got finished cycling) It has 4 neons and 3 danios so far in it.
I also have a 3 gallon cycles betta tank...both of these tanks seem to be showing fine readings..however I'm not changing the water every 2nd day on these either.

So Do you mean add my tap water to the 60 gallon ,let it get established then use the water from the 60 to do water changes on the 5 gallon??

 

[peanutbowl]

A couple of more involved options. An RO unit, for one. You could also have another tank going with nothing in it but a mature filter and some minimal hardy but not messy fish, and keep your tap water there for a time before using it.

:hitting: Way to make a mountain out of an anthill. We are talking about a 5 gallon tank!

If you have a walmart somewhere nearby, you could buy some RO water in 3 gallon jugs for about $1.50 a piece,maybe less. Mix that with your tap water 50/50 for water changes. That will help reduce the nutrients you are adding to the tank. Or you could use it straight up but you would have to add KH and GH to the water to make it healthy for the fish. Once the tank is cycled, using the tap will not be much of an issue.

Also, add some squeezings from your other, established tank's filter media directly into the new tank's filter. Might help speed things up as far as cycling goes.

 

[Trigger1985]

Prime in your WC container before you add water to make sure it's nice and mixed up and let it sit for a few minutes to give it time to work might help in the short term.

 

[cactusgal]

:hitting: Way to make a mountain out of an anthill. We are talking about a 5 gallon tank!

If you have a walmart somewhere nearby, you could buy some RO water in 3 gallon jugs for about $1.50 a piece,maybe less. Mix that with your tap water 50/50 for water changes. That will help reduce the nutrients you are adding to the tank. Or you could use it straight up but you would have to add KH and GH to the water to make it healthy for the fish. Once the tank is cycled, using the tap will not be much of an issue.

Also, add some squeezings from your other, established tank's filter media directly into the new tank's filter. Might help speed things up as far as cycling goes.

Well hauling water from the city is not an option for me..we live 2hrs from any city that we can get bottled water from.

I will use sqeezing from my other tank..thanks for that...I am a newbie...So all these ideas just dont come to me as easily as it may come to some others that have more experience.
I appreciate it.