Need help with Nitrite

D

DaveyCrocket

AC Members
Jul 21, 2004
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North Carolina
www.brownsports.com
I am new to aquariums.
I have a 20 gal. tank.

2 algae eaters
1 albino catfish
6 neon tetras
2 red and black platties
2 orange and black swordtails
3 cherry barbs
1 (recently deceased) black molly.
I don't have any live plants.

I added the fish slowly as suggested.
I am in the middle of the fourth week.
All my numbers have looked good up until now and the ammonia,
nitrite, and nitrate started climbing rapidly.

I have not used any salt until now.

Sunday I did a 40% water change/gravel siphon.
Monday it looked like this.
temp - 76
ph - 7.2
ammonia - .5
nitrite - 3.0
nitrate - 20

Tuesday the black molly died and I removed it.

today (Wednesday) it looked like this
temp - 76
ph - 6.8
ammonia - between .5 and 1.0
nitrite - 5.0
nitrate - 30

I put in 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt.
(I thought I would add it gradually over the week)
I also put some "Aquarium Products C-100" in the filter.
(says it is supposed to help with the amonia)

I'm really concerned about the nitrite climbing so high.
What should I do?
 
Welcome to Aquaria Central! You have WAY too many fish in that tank, especially since it hasn't even finished cycling. You should only have 2 fish in there until the tank is at least 4 weeks old. So your options are to: set up another tank temporarily till the water conditions go down, or return some of the fish, or do many massive water changes everyday. If you want to do the water change route, I would do a 25% today, 50% tomorrow, 50% the next day, and 25% the following and that should bring the numbers down. Also feed really lightly until the water improves. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.
 
I guess that shows you can't trust all the books you read.
I got a book at the pet store on beginer aquariums.
I have less than the number of fish that the book says is ok
for a 20 gallon.
Here is what the book suggests.

3 to 10 days after set up
2 algae eaters
1 cat fish

after 10 days
7 neons
5 black phantom tetras
5 harlequin rasboras
2 dwarf gouramis
3 Corydoras

after 4 weeks
4 guppies
4 platies

I admit that seems like a lot over a fast period of time but I assumed the people who wrote the book knew what they were talking about.
:rolleyes:

My mother-in-law had the same problem and she had to do water changes everyday for about a week. So I guess that's what I will have to do.
I was just afraid that would cause too much stress on the fish is why I was trying the salt and C-100.
 
I agree, a large water change every day will soon have your Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate under control. When the cycle is finished, I suggest you test your water regularly until you get a feel for how often you'll have to do a water change. If your tank stays as heavily loaded as it is, you're probably going to have to do 25% twice a week to keep the waste by-products at a manageable level.
If I were you, I'd consider taking the algae eaters back. They will get too large for your tank (4" +) and become territorial with age. Oto catfish are excellent algae eaters and stay quite small; two or three otos won't put as much strain on your filter as even one full grown algae eater.
What type of albino catfish do you have? If it's a cory catfish, it would be best to get at least one more; corys need to be in at least pairs, preferably groups. If it's an albino pleco, it will get HUGE and unfortunately you're going to have to return it; they're very messy fish.
Oh, and I wouldn't worry about water changes stressing the fish. As long as the water going in is dechlorinated and a similar temperature and pH to the tank water, the fish won't mind at all. My fish seem to enjoy water changes; when I vacuum the substrate they peck at my hand, they play in the fresh water as I pour it in, and seem very perky afterwards. I change my water at least once a week, and have never seen the fish upset by it.
 
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I am also a little concerned about the type of algae eaters (AE) you have. If they are Chinese AE (CAE) or common plecos, you will have a problem down the road.

CAE turn into large mean fish who don't eat a lot of algae and common plecos can do a foot easily.
 
Water changes are not stressful on the fish when done correctly. It's easiest to use a siphon of some kind, as this will allow you to also clean the substrate of solid wastes. Most fish will skitter away from you, but they aren't stressed by having wastes removed and replaced with clean water. You can safely do up to 50% water changes without causing distress--but any detectable ammonia or nitrite is very stressful for the fish.
 
Lookin' good Davey Crockett (davey, davey crocket, king of the wild frontier, hehe!!) Keep up with those water changes, and soon enough you'll see 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes, and nitrAtes will be under control with your weekly (or more often) water changes.

~Tara
 
You really should change enough water to get nitrite below 1 ppm, or even better, .5 ppm. The amount of nitrite you currently have is likely putting some serious distess on your fish.

Jim
 
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