Death at the aquarium!!

[DrConnie]

My nitrites spiked suddenly a few days ago...death to a pleco, a serpae tetra, 2 neontetras, a veiled angelfish, a glofish and a red eyed tetra. My daughter is grief stricken
I added aquarium salt as directed by the LFS, but they just keep dying! Advice?? Please!
What causes the nitrites to go up? I've done 2 PWC's in the past week with a thourough vacuum. What more can I do?

 

[jcolon]

I'm sorry to hear about your fish. How old and large is the tank? Are you using the API test master kit? If so can you post your .. ammo ... nitrites ... nitrates and pH. Nitrite poisoning is very nasty and a horrible way for fish to die. Unfortunately, until your parameters are under control, aquarium salt does you no good.

PWC's is a must. Are you using seachem prime? If not I recommend you get some as it helps lock up ammonia and nitrites for up to 24+ hrs in a less toxic form. This gives your fish some breathing room but still allows the bacteria to consume them.

 

[DrConnie]

My tank is 29 gallons and it's only been up & running about a month.
I don't have test strips...I've been getting my water tested at the LFS every 2 or 3 days. Yesterday they told me ammonia, nitrates & pH were fine, but Nitrites were bad. (I never got the numbers)

What is seachem prime? I assume it's a water addative? I have Tetra AquaSafe Plus water conditioner/dechlorinator and the aquarium salt, but no other chemicals.

I'm so new to this & feel like I'm a horrible person for killing my fish!

 

[jcolon]

By coming to AA for help ... Your showing your not a horrible person.
It happens... For now pwc's are the key.

 

[jcolon]

Opps sorry .. forgot to add that IMO ... get your own API test master kit and skip having the LFS test your water if they're using test strips. Strips are practically useless IMO ... too unreliable. And yes Seachem Prime is a de-chlorinator / conditioner that many members highly recommend for locking away ammo and nitrites as I mentioned earlier. It's very concentrated ... since I'm not familiar with the Tetra AquaSafe Plus ... I suggest getting prime for now.

 

[librarygirl]

Sorry about your fish If your tank has been going for a month then it was probably in the process of cycling and it hit the nitrite spike.

Do you have any more fish in the tank or no? If not, I would highly recommend cycling the tank fishless before getting more fish. If you do have fish, then you'll need a dechlorinator (like others said Prime is the best), your own liquid test kit and a bucket Test the water every day for ammonia and nitrite and as soon as either gets over 0.25 according to the API kit, do a water change. The links in my signature should help, just choose the one that fits your situation (with fish or without).

 

[Ickletas]

I use tetra aquasafe and it does an identical job to prime (based on the back of the tetra bottle and the info on seachem website).

 

[jetajockey]

Start doing some big water changes until you can test the water yourself, a 50% wc will turn things around dramatically in a cycling tank.

Also keep in mind that when fish are exposed to high nitrite/ammonia levels, even if the toxin level is lowered to a safe range, it's often too late for some of the fish in the tank. Once they start showing signs you are likely to lose some.

 

[jetajockey]

I use tetra aquasafe and it does an identical job to prime (based on the back of the tetra bottle and the info on seachem website).

Just as a heads up,

Aquasafe doesn't detoxify ammonia, they actually have a separate product that does it, I think called ammonia safe? something to that effect.

Also, it's far less concentrated, a capful of aquasafe treats 10 gallons vs a capful of prime which treats 50gallons.

 

[Ickletas]

Just as a heads up,

Aquasafe doesn't detoxify ammonia, they actually have a separate product that does it, I think called ammonia safe? something to that effect.

Also, it's far less concentrated, a capful of aquasafe treats 10 gallons vs a capful of prime which treats 50gallons.

Oopsie my bad, you are indeed correct . Also I would like to correct myself, I use Aquasafe, NOT Aquasafe plus (which has added stuff for the health of your bacteria apparently).

 

[DrConnie]

How often should I be doing these big PWC's? I've done a 50% change twice in the past week.
Also, what is the approximate cost of an API test kit? Unfortunately, money is an issue.
We've still got 2 glofish, one danio, one platy, a mystery snail and a cory left...poor things

 

[eco23]

How often should I be doing these big PWC's? I've done a 50% change twice in the past week.
Also, what is the approximate cost of an API test kit? Unfortunately, money is an issue.
We've still got 2 glofish, one danio, one platy, a mystery snail and a cory left...poor things

I personally suggest doing a minimum of 50% every day until you are able to get your own quality test kit. An API Master kit runs about $25-30, but they last a long time and give highly accurate results. They're one of the tools that are vital for keeping a healthy aquarium.

If you haven't already seen it, I suggest closely reading over and following this guide-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[DrConnie]

Wow...every day. Ok well I gotta do what I gotta do. Thanks so much.