2007-03-09 10:59:56 · 7 answers · asked by midi_junkie 3 in Pets ➔ Fish
20% water changes daily, two days in a row. Then take a day off. If needed a 3rd one after skipping a day. High Nitrates means you have not been cleaning the tank. Use a gravel vac to do the water change. If the tank is only a few weeks old, I'd say the Nitrites are high because it hasn't cycled yet. Another reason could be over population. What is in there?
What filter do you have? When was the last time you replaced the media?
Don't do large water changes. It is far better and safer to do several small ones.
2007-03-09 11:41:46 · answer #1 · answered by something_fishy 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
You could add some live plants. Over time they will reduce 'nitrates'. Some easy to grow ones are java fern, anubias and green myriophyllum. For the short term do a 25 % water change with gravel vac. You could feed your fish a little less while the nitrites and nitrates are high. Feeding them less on the short term wont effect them too much. But after 3 to 4 days you should feed them a normal amount. (a normal amount is whatever the fish can eat in 2- 5 minutes without food falling to the tank bottom to decay.)
2007-03-10 00:01:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some of my favorite things to do:
do a 20-25% water change. I would not advise to do any more, as you will be removing the good bacteria that helps to reduce the nitrates and nitrites.
I also use Prime, by Seachem. Prime quickly detoxfies everything from ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, etc. It does not harm the fish either.
You will also want to use a bacteria starter such as stability from Seachem. (i like seachem, they are little expensive, but they work great) This will help to get your biological filter started.
You may also be overfeeding your fish. Try reducing the amount of food...don't worry, you won't starve them. I personally, feed my fish once a day, and occasionally give them a treat of brine shrimp.
Your levels may also be high depending on how many fish you have. a general rule of thumb is to allow one gallon per every one inch of the maximum length of the fish. For example, if you have a female fancy guppy. They can grow to be up to 3-4 inches. this means that you would need to allow at least 3 gallons per female guppy. So if you have a 10 gallon tank, you can safely hold up to only about 3 or 4 female guppies.
I think thats it...good luck.
2007-03-09 19:52:48 · answer #3 · answered by tigerlilly2255 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do a 50% water change and vac the gravel. I think you can get drops but they won't remove the nitrites and nitrates they will just detoxify them a little. Test the water daily and change 25% of water daily if necessary to keep the levels down. They will probably remain a little high for a couple of weeks. Just try to keep them as low as possible.
You don't say how long your tank has been established, but those levels should come down within a few weeks and stay down. Just make sure you feed the fish no more than they will eat in 2-3 minutes and change 25% of the water and vac gravel once a week and you should be fine.
Good Luck
2007-03-09 19:13:47 · answer #4 · answered by Fish Lover 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
50 -75% water changes. Change water more often.
2007-03-09 20:04:54 · answer #5 · answered by Sunday P 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
By changing your water and adding conditioner
2007-03-09 19:06:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
you need to go the the pet store and get some drops.
2007-03-09 19:04:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋