Nitrite poisoning??

[Hartless9]

I have a 29 gal tank with one male betta and three neon tetras. My nitrites are around 2.0 - 3.0 according to the tetra easy strips (I have read that the strips aren't always accurate). I set up my tank about two months ago and recently had an ammonia spike caused by my mother over feeding while I was out of town, as the cycle goes, my nitrites are now spiked and the ammonia is gone. All tetras are normally active but the betta is showing signs of stress. I added Seachem Prime to the tank yesterday but it did not lower nitrites. Is there anything other than daily water changes with Stress Coat to save the betta/ prevent stress on tetras?

 

[toolman]

Water changes, water changes, water changes. [emoji98]

Sorry, but nitrite at 2-3 is very toxic!

 

[MrBetta]

I had the same problem just a month ago. My Betta would just hang on top of the water while the neons where fine. I was in the process of cycling the tank and had the nitrite spike as well. All i did was do a pwc and dose with prime, stress zyme & coat. After 12-24hrs did a pwc again until nitrites went down to 0. Did this for 2 days. Prime detoxifies amonia & nitrite for 24 to 48hrs again i think. Get api testkit i heard its more reliable.

 

[ColoradoMollies]

I am not an expert, but I have the most experience with bettas out of any fish. I defer to anyone who says they know a specific reason why what I'm saying is inaccurate, HOWEVER, I truly thing you should move your better until you get it under control. Too many things can happen to it while it is weakened from the nitrite situation.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think the conditioner you have might do nothing for nitrates and nitrites. Check the bottle.

I looked it on a retailer site to verify the following about Seachem Prime: "Prime removes chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia. It converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank's biofilter."

There are conditioners that handle all of it. I have a brand called KORDON and it "detoxifies nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, Chlorine & chloramines". I also have a brand that only does chlorine and chloramines. So, I guess conditioners come in all different varieties.

Also, have you cleaned out the extra food waste? Do water change, but also vacuum that substrate and get it out of there or it will continue to produce more nitrates and nitrites as it breaks down.

I do hope this helps. Not trying to be a know-it-all. I certainly don't know it all! But, I've learned a lot of lessons the hard way, so just trying to share tough lessons.

 

[toolman]

Prime doesn't remove ammonia and nitrites it just makes them safe, but they'd still show up during testing. And I believe it only detoxifies to 1ppm( don't quote me on that, but not 2-3ppm)

 

[ColoradoMollies]

So does it mean anything if they list different chemicals on the label? Curious.