how do i get rid of nitrites in my freash water tank?

Question

MY NITRITES ARE HIGH AND ALREADY LOST 2 CICHLIDS AND NEED TO GET RID OF THEM FAST!!!!!!!!!

i have no ammonia in my tank my ph is a little high but i put ph minus in today my nitrates are low and my nitrites are like 20 so i need help with my nitrites

i have a live amazon sword plant and a fake amazon aword and 2 other fake plants and i am using a 20 gal underwater filter and a 30 gal canister filter

Answer 1

The absolute FOOL PROOF method of fixing nitrites are water changes. 50% every day if you have to - until they are under control. Do your tests every day about an hour after your 50% water change. Within a few days if not immediately I bet it will be 100% better.

Do not change any filter media or introduce any new inhabitants into the tank. Is it a new tank? Sounds like maybe it isn't done cycling. Post again with your other readings Ammonia, pH, nitrates. Also please tell size of tank in gallons and how many /what type of fish you have in it. Anything new introduced recently. Email me if you want.

Your fish are probably pretty stressed out at this point. You should add a little sea salt for a destress tonic (do not add table salt or any kind of salt with additives - freshwater aquarium salt is the best). 1 teaspoon per gallon should be added to the tank asap. This will not harm any of your fish but might yellow a few live plants.

Answer 2

Nitrites build up along with nitrates and ammonia when water changes are not done regularly (weekly). You should be changing 25-30% of the water every week.

It is probably not the nitrites that killed your fish, ammonia is much more toxic and is usually the culprit when water changes are neglected for a long period (3-4 weeks). I would do a 50% change right away and then every 3 days for a couple of weeks to get those toxins down to manageable levels. Then you can go to once a week after that.

Never, ever change 100% of the water, that will remove all of the beneficial bacteria that help in the conversion of the ammonia and nitrites to nitrates that the plants can use. Plants are not the cureall, you still need to do the regular water changes.

I also keep cichlids in most of my tanks, they are the best! I have African and South American. Also lots of different catfish from all over the world.

I currently do water changes on all 22 of my tanks every week, it takes me about 3.5 hours because I built a special siphon using a waterbed fill/remove valve that hooks up to my basement faucet and sucks out the tank water and replaces it when I turn the valve on the faucet.

Answer 3

Your tank is not fully cycled. A fully cycled tank consistently has 0ppm ammonia & nitrite, and a presence of nitrate.

The 2nd stage beneficial bacteria which convert nitrite to nitrate is not yet in sufficient numbers to process all the nitrite the 1st stage bacteria is producing (1st stage converts ammonia to nitrite). You're probably experiencing what is known in the hobby as the "nitrite spike" (it typically follows the ammonia spike in a cycling tank). Nitrite spikes can last 1-3 weeks. The higher your nitrAtes get, the closer you are to the end of the spike.

Nitrite, while not as toxic as ammonia, is still toxic to fish and they can die from nitrite poisoning. Levels over 5ppm are definately lethal (as you have already experienced).

Perform 25-50% water changes daily or near daily to get nitrites below 2ppm. As the 2nd stage bacteria grows in sufficient numbers the level will fall to undetectable levels and you should not have to worry about it.

Load your canister filters with as much biological media as possible to provide additional bio-media surface area. Typically 2nd stage bacteria reproduces slower than 1st stage bacteria (which has already colonized most of the surface areas in your tank and filters).

Answer 4

what are your water parameters?
Ammonia=0
NitrItes=0
Nitrates= <20 ppm
and so on....
it sounds like you did not cycle your tank throughly and now have too many fish, causing them to die.
Keep doing 20% or more water changes 2-3 times a day. If you did not cycle your tank then you will most likely loose them all, maybe some will live.
Ammonia is the deadliest thing to fish and right behind is NitrItes. Keep doing water changes, and I would suggest going to fish forums and have them help you, because they have experts on there and they know what they are talking about.
p.s. I have heard though that the beneficial bacteria live on things in the water, they do not live in the water. I have heard of doing 90% water changes but nothing more.
Good luck, and go to yahoo and type in fish forums and register with a fish site that you like and ppl will have more info there for you and help you lots more.

Answer 5

The only quick way is water changes. Normally nitrites should never build up. Either you didn't cycle your tank, added fish too quick, over fed, over stocked, or under filtered. In a normal bacteria proccess the nitrites into nitrates. (fish +food -> ammonia ->nitrite ->nitrates)

Answer 6

You can buy commercial products to help with the cycling of new tanks, but the best thing you can do for them now is 25% water changes every other day and add salt for freshwater fish. The salt will slow down the absorption of the nitrates, and it may help while your tank adjusts. Add it into the tank once at a dose of one tablespoon for every 5 gallons of water, and then add it to the water you put in when doing your water change.
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Answer 7

change the water, take the fish out, cycle the tank and use a nitrate eliminating filter,and use plants

Answer 8

The only thing I ever heard of to fix this is to do a partial (about 30% I think), water change and use distilled water to replace it.

Hope that helps!

Answer 9

feed the fish bloodworm