End of my rope! LOL

[Squirt0170]

I did a HUGE water change today and the Nitrites are STILL at 3.0.

I left for the weekend and came back.. the Nitrites were VERY High.. off the chart from the way it looked... I had plants in there but I don't know if they are causing it or not, so I removed them (I had a large and small one) I'm doing water changes daily.... I put the temp up to 87 degree's because 2 of my fish started getting Ich last Thursday. I'm using treatment's and everything I'm supposed to. I checked the water before I added it to the tank and every new bucket of water I added had no nitrites.... I have been continusly sweeping the gravel with a vacuum.. That doesn't seem to take the level down either.... Am I doing something wrong? I went and bought the liquid test to make sure it was accurate and it is reading the same as my test strips... My numbers are always the same.. except for when I came back home this weekend.. I had my bf watch them while I was away.

 

[SeymourFRESH]

well, your nitrites are high because your tank is not completely cycled. vacuuming the gravel all the time can make it worse because you're sucking out the beneficial bacteria needed to complete the cycle

see here for info about cycling:
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

you can easily solve your problem and get your tank cycled very quickly by getting this product:
http://www.marineland.com/products/mllabs/ML_biospira.asp

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Also, if your tank was cycled, and you added ick treatment as well as turning up the heat, that could have knocked off some of your bacteria, thus causing your nitrites to spike. Check for ammonia as well. You may need to do lots of PWC's if this is the case. Personally, I would never use ick treatments for ick. Just heat, and maybe a little salt. That's it. Any meds put in the tank can possibly have ill effects on the bacteria.

 

[Squirt0170]

I'm sorry Lonewolf I didn't explain myself well regarding the ich... I'm not using any treatments made specially for Ich... the only items I'm using are:

Aquasafe
Stress Zyme
Amquel+ for removing Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia
Aquarium Salt

I WILL say when I did the huge water change THAT did help!! but any other time I'm doing water changes it doesn't seem to.. Also, one more question.. I do know i'm in the second stage of the cycle... How long does THAT usually last?

So far my fish have been AWESOME in dealing with my sillyness in treating the tank and water changes.. I haven't lost one to this so far... I'm REALLY trying to do my best and you are all wonderful here! I want to thank you all for your help so far with all of my questions!!

 

[rich311k]

The nitrite stage is the longest part. Could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 or more. Just keep changing the water. You may need to do two 70% changes in the same day to get things back in the safe level.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Amquel+ will bind ammonia, yes, but doesn't make it available to the bacteria like Prime does, and will starve the bacteria. Amquel is ok for a dechlor, it's just the Amquel+ that some have had problems with.

 

[Squirt0170]

well I just did another large water change and lost a Bala shark

He started breathing really fast as both of my silver dollars are doing (the rest of the fish are fine. He however died VERY fast.. He was floating around and wasn't able to move (like he was paralized) so I pulled him out to quarentine him and he jumped out of my bowl (I JUMPED) Scared me!!!! and then he quit breathing,... I was VERY careful picking him up too....

Besides that I do have GREAT NEWS!!!!! My Nitrite IS down now to .5.. which is a HUGE improvement... I'm going to be keeping a close eye on my bala's

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Get your nitrite down more. Bala's are more suseptable to water conditions than most other fish. They tend to catch diseases, etc, much faster than other fish as well. .5 is still high, try to get below .25. Use .5 as your max limit.

 

[Zagz]

Sorry to hear about the bala shark. Cycling with fish is hard and requires a lot of work, keep doing water changes as necessary and it will level out. Do not gravel vac while cycling. You need the debris and gunk to help cycle the tank.

 

[noncentric]

Hi Squirt, sounds like things have been busy for you.

Just wondering, have you ever tested your tap water (after adding dechlorinator) to see what those parameters are. I think that's always a good idea to see if there might be a "baseline" of ammonia/nitrites/nitrates.

Also, live plants should help consume ammonia/nitrites/nitrates - as long as the plants are truly aquatic plants and are healthy. If your tank has adequate lighting, then it would be beneficial to add live plants - but you might want to wait until the Ich treatment is over, since salt and live plants don't do too well together.

Otherwise, all the good advice has already been given. Good luck!

 

[Squirt0170]

Thank you guys for ALL of your kindness and help!!! I will stop vacuuming until the cycle is done. I have been VERY busy

After my 2nd large water change I lost my 2nd Bala so now I'm down to one. The fish are acting a LOT better today so I'm going to leave them be... They were in shock all night from the water changes... I really thought I was going to lose one of my silver dollars as well but they both made it okay... I know I'm not going to get any more fish until the cycle is complete.

Just to note I have tested the water before I put solution and after to see the differences.. I know there are no Nitrates or Nitrites. The PH is always high but balances out when I add the new water to the tank. and everything else is okay and normal.