High Nitrite Levels!

[SeymourFRESH]

alright, i've been testing my water on a 10 gallon QT tank with one fish in it. it's a fairly new tank (about a month old now) and i have had a sick fish in there that i am trying to cure. i foolishly added a fish to it a week after running the aquarium, without checking the levels until about a week after i had the fish in there.

well, it's been a month and after RECENTLY finally doing another water test, i find my nitrites are extremely high (like about 2.0 at least) and nitrates are 10. the fish is looking really stressed lately, and i've been doing a LOT of water changes, but it's obviously not helping the nitrites.

so i'm wondering, what do i need to do to save this fish? should i keep doing water changes or stop so i can let the cycle complete?

 

[rich311k]

Only way to lower them is to change water. Try changing 75%. Bio-spira may help if you can find it.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Stopping water changes will cycle your tank, but it will also kill your fish. Do as said above, 75% water changes for the next 2-3 days to get the levels down, then 50% daily or every other day til it's cycled. It'll still take another month or so to complete the cycle, or a little less. Generally cycling is done in 6-8 weeks.

 

[toddnbecka]

Put a filter in or on the tank containing media from an established setup, and you won't have to wait for the tank to cycle.