josediamond1027
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hello all, I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life ): I set up a new 75 gallon fish tank on February 7, 2019. I was so excited, after a week I took in a water sample to my local pet store and they assured me I was ready to start adding fish.... I began with 2 goldfish. I then waited 2 days to add another, then another 2 days for my 5th. They were fine for a month, as in March 1, 2019 one of them showed signs of dropsy I knew something was wrong so I took in a water sample to the same pet store and they said the nitirite levels were really high! (5ppm) so I made a 15% water change and added “Microbe-lift Nite Out II” The next day I made another 15% water change and took in another water sample to the pet store. They said the nitrites were still high (5ppm) and nitrates were beginning to show. It has been a week and my nitrite levels won’t drop at all ): I have 3 goldfish left and I feel so irresponsible and guilty for having them live in these conditions. I’ve been keeping up with 15% daily water changes and adding Prime with every bucket of water I replace. Nitrates were at 40-80ppm today but dropped to 30-40ppm. I have also been adding API aquarium salt as this is known to block the nitrite from affecting my goldfish; although the levels are still there. Please help me! I’m not sure whether to higher the wager changes or not, I don’t want to slow down the cycle or have it restart and make it worse for my fish. What do I do? When will nitrites go away? Ammonia levels are at 0. I have also read other people having issues with my same API MASTER TEST KIT when testing ammonia because you never really reach the 0ppm indicated on the color sheet.