Extremely High Nitrites in New Aquarium?
Hey, In the middle of January I purchased a 10 gallon freshwater tank. Right off the bat I made the mistake of overstocking. After letting the cycle run for three days, I added a guppy, platy, and molly. 4 days later I added another guppy, 2 mollies, and a sword tail. I already know this was too many. When I first added fish the lady tested the water and said it was perfect, so I did not have it tested before the added more fish. Since then, 2 mollies, and the platy have died. Ive had water tested 3 times. At first, the nitrite and ammonia was too high. I added prime to my water. Then the nitrite and nitrate was to high so I preformed a 25% water change and changed the filter. I added prime, water conditioner, and salt to the new water. When I had it tested once more both chemicals were darker than the highest color on the test strips. Finally, I removed 50% of the water, and washed out my rock and fake plants. I added the same chemicals – double the prime, conditioner, and salt. After waited 24 hours I tested again. Now everything is under control except the nitrites which is at about 5. Please help me. I’ve never had an aquarium before and I really want to get the water safe enough to replace just one fish. Is it worth it to start over or will I break the cycle being established.
What do I do with the fish in the tank if I start over?
I would just start over. Chemicals you might add to control the nitrites (among other nitrogenous wastes) will just make it worse in the long run, as they eventually break down and re-release the chemicals you originally added them in to control.
Empty out your tank, rinse everything off, add new water, and run a fishless cycle (google “fishless cycle” for details). After the cycle, add fish slowly…no more than a couple at a time so that the bacterial colonies have time to keep up with the increasing bioload.
yah i would start over as well. adding chemicals to lower nitrate levels are not the best way to fix the problem. First run your tank without fishes, then the best tank starters are zebra danios. pick fishes that don’t die easily, are in good health.
Remember not to change too much of the water at one time!! Don’t do more than 1 third of the water in one change because it will start the whole nitrogen cycle over again! Bad idea! If the nitrites are the only thing high, I would leave it be because if there’s not a lot of ammonia, then the nitrites won’t have anything to eat. However, this might make the nitrates go up a bit. If this happens, don’t freak out. I would suggest either waiting it out or doing 25% water changes every other day. Good luck!