Need serious help...

[Bearchumjs]

I've read many articles and they say food turns into ammonia but it never references anythig about food becoming nitrites

Fish waste and fish food waste turns into ammonia. Bacteria grows in your filter pad and substrate that turns ammonia into nitrite. Then A second colony of bacteria forms to turn the nitrite into nitrAte. Ammonia and nitrite are deadly to fish. Nitrate is much less harmful but still needs to be controlled. The only way that you remove the nitrate is by doing a wc. That's why I do a 12-15 gal pwc once a week to remove the fish poop and water containing nitrates. It keeps the nitrate level in check. So when your cycle is done you will get readings of 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and there will be some nitrates.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Ok so I'll do a major cut back on food for a day and retest for nitrites and see what I get... I'll ultimately cut back feeding to once a day cause I think that's what's gonna help... I'm almost there I can feel the end of my cycle lol

 

[Quest84]

cycling a tank stinks...theres no way around it. If ur doing a fishless cycle, ur staring at an empty tank for 2 weeks. If your doing a fish in cycle, your doing constant water changes.
I prefer fishless cycling because its less work, and won't harm any of the fish.

if your showing nitrates your almost there

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Yea I'm on week 5. My nitrates are about 10

 

[jetajockey]

Some fish like corys can be sensitive to salt, but I was suggesting a very low dose just to help combat any potential nitrite toxicity. Anytime you add a med, including salt, it's always a good idea to watch the fishes behavior. If they start freaking out then you need to do a water change quickly and come up with another plan, lol. But generally speaking, that low of a concentration of salt does not hurt fish, including the salt sensitive ones. I've treated my cories with the standard 1tbsp/5gal salt ich treatment and have not had any issues either, but that's another subject.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

1tbsp/5G seems like a lot considering my 55G... Whats the minimum does you recommend for a tank my size?

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

The more I re-read this thread the more I'm starting to realize the truth that I may actually be over feeding my fish... My catfish is still kinda small 2.5" at most and he's just now starting to look a lil round... I may hold off on feed tonight and tomorrow to see how the catfish looks and how my nitrites look

 

[jetajockey]

For reducing nitrite toxicity I'd only do 1tsp/5gal. The 1tblsp/5gal recommendation is for treating Ich using the salt/heat method. If I notice any nitrite related issues in the fish after that I'd consider dosing more than the 1tsp/5g but I definitely keep an eye on the salt sensitive fish any time I have to do this.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

So it sounds like its something I'd have to do after work so I can monitor the fish... How often should this be done? Daily or every other day?

 

[jetajockey]

You only have to dose salt initially and redose in a percentage relative to how much you remove during water changes.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Ok cool, that makes sense