My Nitrites are through the roof!!!!!

[Aconley2468]

Help! My nitrites in a tank are through the roof! I test my water every day with the API master fresh water test kit and my nitrites never budge. They test off the chart Like above 5.0ppm! At first I thought the test kit was defective because all the other levels go down when I do water changes but the nitrites never change So I took my water to a local pet store and they told me that they were in fact high. After doing some research online I dozed with seachem Stability and prime after Doing an emergency water change. I tested the levels after a few hours and they were down to 0.25ppm after a few more hours I tested it again to see where it was at and it was back to through the roof! I tested it again a few hours after the second test and it’s the same. I’m at a loss here and I don’t know how to correct the problem I need advice! I have three mollies one clown Pleco seven mystery snails and six ghost shrimp in a 55gal. Help me please!

 

[JasonG2003]

Hi

Dude, you need to let your tank cycle. If you stocked the tank before the beneficial bacteria has even became established, you’ll receive high amounts of ammonia and nitrites; they are toxic to fish. Get yourself some Seachem stability and do a water change to dilute the amount of pollutants in the water. A picture would also be nice.

 

[charliebankston]

Do a 30-50% water change, dose with prime again and add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt per gallon after the water change

 

[Aiken Drum]

How long has your tank been established?

When you say your nitrites never budge, what level are they normally at?

 

[Aconley2468]

I've had the tank for about 2 months, I have slowly been adding fish and stuff not everything all at once. The nitrites have been high ever since the ammonia levels spiked in the tank the API test chart doesn't even have a color to match what its at, it has only ever dropped once for a few hours. I have been doing daily water changes and dosing for stability and prime for 2 days now and I'm freaking out that nothing is improving. I listened to the people at the pet store who told me to change my filters and I did (I was dumb and should have trusted my gut) but I think the cycle is stalled hard! I haven't lost any fish yet but I'm scared that nothing is going to help!

 

[Aconley2468]

about 2 months but I have been adding things in slow not all at once.

 

[JasonG2003]

If you keep dosing prime and stability, it won’t work. Beneficial bacteria get their nutrients and essentially food from ammonia and nitrites in the tank. The byproduct of this, is nitrates which you will need to remove via water changes. If you keep dosing stability, it’s fine, but when you keep dosing prime, it neutralizes ammonia and nitrites; the bacteria starve and can’t increase their population as rapidly. I would say keep dosing stability but dose prime moderately.

 

[Aconley2468]

Ok, thanks so much. I have aquarium salt should I add that too? Should I be trying to "fix" this or leave them alone?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Aquarium salt is good for treating nitrite poisoning.

You really need to be doing water changes though. Dont rely on prime too much. If your ammonia and nitrite combined is 0.5ppm do 25% water change.

Stability is often referred to as nitrite in a bottle. That could be the source of your nitrites. High nitrite seems to be a common issue with stability.

 

[fishwonder]

All pretty good info from the above. 55 gallon tank... what type of filter are you using and what media is in that filter?