I have a 55 gal tank and have had some fish die..?

Question

I have taken many suggestions on what to do with new tank syndrome including water changes, etc. It seems to have helped since I test stripped the water and the levels all came back ok with the exception of the nitrites. Any reason why the nitrite level would still be high considering everything else came back ok? I only have 6 fish in the tank ( worm, 2 mollies, 2 platys and a corey) and cannot figure out why it's still at such a toxic level. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Hi, I believe I gave you the advice one of many others that did on the new tank syndrome, aka the nitrogen cycle process. Please do a few things here.

1. Ditch those test strips. Their accuracy is very questionable compared to a liquid reagent tester.

2. Do NOT add the liquid chemicals the other poster mentioned. Thier advice is good up until that point. Those chemicals will move the ammonia and nitrite into an ionized state. What this means is that it is still present in the water, but not in a lethal form. Your testing readings are going to be totally unreliable if you use this chemical.

3. Keep some patience on nitrites. Mine took a little longer then I expected to clear as well. The problem I feel is probably that the nitrite levels hadn't reached a stage to trigger a colony growth of Nitrobaciters, that is your bacteria which oxidizes nitrite. The key to keep in mind here is your bacteria will grow and thrive only as much as thier fuel source is present. Now there is a constant good supply of nitrite in the water, your bacteria colony to process it is still growing. Because ammonia is needed to make nitrite, Nitrobaciter stage comes later then Nitrosomma stage and takes longer to course though because of the dependacy on the Nitrosomma to produce what is needed for Nitrobaciter to grow.

You should, if seeing toxic/lethal levels growing in the tank, employ partial water changes of 10-20% to combat this. You will be lowering the fuel source for the Nitrobaciters doing so, but at a lethal level you need to take immediate action. Just be patient. Give it another 2 weeks or so, and continue to do your monitoring. I think you are doing everything you can at this point and I think it's great you are keeping an eye on your water chemistry for the health of your fish :)

JV

Answer 2

You don't mention what your recent test results are. From your previous question, you've just experinced the deaths of quite a few fish in your tank, and this would have caused the release of more ammonia in your tank. The bacteria you've got and any water changes you may have done would have removed some of this ammonia, and some has been converted to nitrite. As Jon has correctly said, you probably don't yet have enough of the correct bacteria to complete the conversion to nitrate. And I also agree with him that chemicals aren't the way to go - they can bind to nitrate and ammonia to make them less toxic, but they still "read" on your water tests. This leads people to believe they're getting a "false positive" when in fact some ammonia and nitrite can actually be present - something you don't realize till even more fish start to die. At least without the chemicals, you know what the actual levels of the nitrogen compounds really are in time to do a water change.

Jdecorse is also correct in how the nitrite affects your fish, but has gotten pretty technical with the explanation. Basically what happens with nitrite is that it bonds to oxygen receptors in the fish's bloodstream, so they don't get as much oxygen as they need. That's why you see them at the top of the water gasping for air, even though you may be runnng a filter and/or airstones in the tank. The addition of aquarium salt (which IS a chlorine salt, it's the Cl in NaCl) relieves nitrite poisoning because when salt is added to the water, it breaks up into the component ions (Na+ and Cl-) and the chloride ion binds to the sites where nitrite is taken up, preventing as much from entering the bloodstream. This is the rest of the article that jd used: http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/nitritepoison.htm
This one is a little easier for a layperson to understand: http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/salt.shtml

And the best remedy IS a water change (or series of changes) to lower the level so it's below 0.5. If you're showing neglible or 0 ammonia, much more nitrite can't be produced - you just need to lower the level of what is present to a level that's tolerated by your fish. Beyond that, it's just waiting for the bacteria that converts the nitrite to nitrate to develop.

These links will give you more info on the cycling process, if no one's given them yet in your previous questions: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php - see the graph of the process shown in this link

Answer 3

Your tank has almost cycled. It takes a little longer for the bacteria that eat nitrite to establish. Any time nitrite gets over 1 ppm change half the water. Don't clean out your filter just yet, you want to keep all the bacteria available. Try feeding the fish once every other day. When nitrAte shows up then you will know the bacteria are at least beginning to establish themselves because that is their waste product. This process can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 7. You can add a teaspoon of salt per gallon to help the fish get over the nitrite hump. After the tank has cycled change water but do not replace the salt. It isn't necessary in a fresh water tank unless you use it to cure disease or to reduce stress during the cycling process. Be patient my friend you are almost there. Just keep getting your hands wet and changing the water when its foul, it will all be over in a week or so.

Answer 4

Firstly, there are good test strips out there and some are accurate for as much as they need to be.

Nitrites come from the conversion of nitrite to nitrate by nitrifying bacteria in the water. Attempting to do large water changes will help but force the bacteria to start to cycle all over again.

Nitrites are the backlash of ammonia in a tank. Chances are the ammonia spiked and now come the nitrites. They will remain high for a couple of days. Smaller water changes will help. If you choose to add salt chlorine salt is the only salt that should be used. Regular aquarium salt will not help bring down the nitrites. (one half ounce of salt per gallon of water will prevent methemoglobin from building up in the fish) Reduce or eliminate feeding for a few days. Don't worry your fish will be fine. Increase aeration. Drop the tank water by 1/2 - 1 inch to add much needed dissolved oxygen to the tank to help stress levels in the fish. NO new fish. test daily for nitrites and ammonia.

Your nitrites should be dropping soon.

Answer 5

Nitrites rise after ammonia does. The addition of one half ounce of salt per gallon of water will prevent methemoglobin from building up. Chlorine salt is preferable, however any aquarium salt is better than no salt at all. Aeration should be increased to provide ample oxygen saturation in the water. Feedings should be reduced and no new fish should be added until the tank until the nitrite levels have fallen to zero.

Answer 6

Your tank is only half-cycled. You'll need to stop feeding your fish until you can balance it out (fish can go several days without food) and do daily 1/3 water changes until the bacteria breaks your nitrite into nitrates. Nitrites will still kill fish. Good luck to ya.

Answer 7

First, tri-colour sharks, additionally ordinary as bala sharks, are no longer a stable starter fish. they can't tolerate the extreme ammonia levels of a sparkling tank. 2nd, no you do no longer might desire to empty the tank and start up over. If the sharks have been unwell they might have acted unusual or had seen indications of ailment. Plus any ailment might die off interior 3-5 days with no host. As for the gooey stuff in the corner, only take a sparkling fabric used in straight forward terms to your tank and wipe it out of there. desire this information is clever and stable success.

Answer 8

Well, be a little patient it takes almost 45-60 days for the nitrogen cycle to complete. Do partial water changes 20 % minimum and 50 % maximum. Also you can use product like AMO-NIL, AMOLOCK etc for instant releif for your fishes. Probably you have added fish a little sooner, but these products will reduce the amonnia and it form almost instantly.

Remeber, do not add any new fish and also reduce the feeding frequency and quantity for some time.

Answer 9

I think your tank is still workin on it. I think the bacteria converted the ammoni to nitrite that is why they are high.

Answer 10

When you first get a new tank you should put fish water in then let is sit for about a week or so then add your new fish. It will help redouce all the toxins inside the tanks the glass, filters, etc.

Fish can also die from no only water but to many things that come inside the tank. The glass, glue to hold it all together, and other stuff. Good luck!