high nitrite levels

[fishfan12]

hello,
i have 2 freshwater tanks. one is a 5 gallon tank that holds 2 fancy goldfish. the goldfish are extremely sluggish. i have checked the water and the nitrite level is 2ppm and the ammonia level is high to, i'm not sure of the exact reading. i have added stress coat, aquarium salt, and changed the carbon filter.
my other tank is also freshwater. it is 14 gallons and holds 2 sunset wag platies, 2 black mollies, 2 hi-fi skirt tetras, and one lyre tail molly(the other died previously). the nitrites and ammonia in here are about the same as the other tank, maybe a little lower. i have only added rock salt to here as the stress coat seems to irritate them. i have changed the carbon filter in here to.
both aquariums have had their water changed every week. can someone tell me how to fix the nitrite levels.
thanks, in advance, for your help.
p.s. i have read that java moss and ferns help, is that true?

 

[betta4me]

Goldfish poo....a lot. I think your five gallon, depending on the size of the fish is way too small for them, which is why you are unable to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels at 0. I think the general rule of thumb is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water, and think for goldfish, it's double that. Someone else may chime in with better advice but I think the only thing that will help is more frequent water changes or a bigger tank. I wouldn't use any chemicals to try and reduce either.

 

[fishfan12]

my goldfish are each about one inch long and they are basically full grown.

 

[bluerose]

Rule of thumb for goldies is generally 10 gallons+ EACH.

So your 5 gallon is about 1/4th of the size you'd need.

Goldies get bigger than an inch, so no, they are not full grown.

Do more water changes and get your tank cycled; stop adding anything but dechlorinator and leave your filter alone except for rinsing in the tank water you remove during your water changes. This goes for both tanks.

 

[fishfan12]

i'm sorry but i have to disagree with you about the fish size. i have talked to many professionals and they say the size is fine. is there anything else you can recommend?

 

[fishfan12]

also, can someone tell me if adding java moss would help?
thanks

 

[Zagz]

Java moss will help some but whether you believe it or not, the tank is too small for goldfish. They are very messy and will need at least gals each. The general rule of thumb most experienced goldfish keepers go by is 20 gals first fish and 10 gals each fish afterwards for goldfish. If you research goldfish min tank sizes you will find that to be fairly accurate.

In order to keep the ammonia and nitrite down, do 50% pwc today and another 50% tomorrow and then keep monitoring the levels and do water changes whenever the levels go above .5ppm.

 

[fishfan12]

ok, thanks for your help

 

[missileman]

When you say the water was changed each week along with new filter cartridges, how much water? and how long have you had these tanks?
Water changes should be on the order of 25% to 50% max. unless conditions are completely out of hand and the carbon filter about every 6 weeks to 2 months. (I dissagree with the majority at this site about reusing carbon filter until they fall apart) However you need to get your tanks completely cycled before changing any filter element.
The reason not to do 100% water changes and frequent filter changes is because bacteria needs to colonize in your tank and filter to take care of your amonia and nitrite.Until this happens you will always have problems with your tanks.
You will also need to vacuum your substrate and only feed what they will eat in less than a minute. excess food will cause problems.
Read up on on aquarium cycling.
Amquel Plus will reduce amonia and nitrite levels.

 

[fishfan12]

the tank my goldfish are in i have had for about 3 years. the tank my tropicals are in i have had for 1-2 months. i change the carbon filter only once about every 2 months. when i do a water change i take out 10-20 percent.

 

[missileman]

I would expect high nitrite readings on the tropical tank at 1-2 months. That is about the right time for a normal cyle to be that way but the goldfish tank I am stumped.
Have you tested nitrate? very high nitrate levels can stall the normal cyle and force the nitrite and amonia levels up.
At the very least you should do a bit larger water changes (about 30%) and more often, maybe every other day, until you get the readings down to a safe level.
When I have any problems with my readings (usually high nitrate) I use Amquel Plus as a water conditioner when I change water. It helps eliminate amonia, nitrite and nitrate along with the chlorine and chloramines.
In answer to your other question. Java moss or any live plant will help but only to a point. I prefer hornwort myself, it is a floating plant. No matter what plant you do get it should be quarantined just like new fish. You can get a snail infestation from plants that will be hard to get rid of and adds to your bio-load.

 

[fishfan12]

doesn't amquel also suck oxygen out of tanks and its only short term.

 

[missileman]

Here is a spec sheet about Amquel Plus.
Kordon LLC - Kordon - AmQuel+

 

[fishfan12]

it is only short term though and it does lower oxygen levels a lot

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Your 14g should be close to being cycled by now, usually 6 weeks, so you should have seen the ammonia and nitrites drop to near 0. When you clean the tank, what exactly do you do? What type of filtration system do you use and how often do you clean it?

If you clean too much, you can cause a tank to start the cycle all over again, or cause a partial cycle.

Most plants suck up the nitrites pretty well, but I wouldn't rely on them to do that, that's what the bacteria are for.

Mollys and platys like the salt, I use 1 teaspoon per gallon.

I don't know why the dechlor/stress coat would irritate them, that's odd...

 

[fishfan12]

i use an aqeun medium filter. my tank is a tropical starter tank. when i clean the tank i use a gravel vac and suck out about 2 buckets of water. then i fill it back up with 2 dechlorinated buckets of water. i take out about 20% of the water.

 

[Nyquil Junkie]

my goldfish are each about one inch long and they are basically full grown.

one inch for a goldfish is a fry.


Those pigs will get huge. I have 2 fantails i 'thought' would stay small... hahaha... they are about 8" long now, and still growing.

You need a large bio filter to handle the goldpigs poop load, that will, in time, fix your problem.

 

[fishfan12]

i changed the water in my goldie tank and the ppm is down to about .75.