Good Nitrates High Nitrites

[arabballin]

im new to fish keeping and i was doing a fishless cycle for a while but my sister "superised" me with some mollies and they have been doing very well. I stopped adding ammonia of course and have been slightly over feeding the fish so that they would keep the ammonia levels up. i checked my stats today and something i think is strange came up. Here is my readings,

Ammonia 0
NitrIte 5.0 ppm
NitrAtes Somewhere between 5 and 10 ppm

Now from what i understand that much nitrAte is supposed to eliminate the nitrIte.
Can anyone explain this if im missing something?
What should i do?
would a water change be appropriate and if so how big of a water change?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You really need to read up on this pinned article, it will explain to you how the water chemistry works in your tank and as well as how cycling works;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

Ammonia-nitrite-nitrate. Nitrates are an end product of this process and are part of how the bacterial ecosystem works, nitrates are generally harmless unless in exceptionally high quantities (40 or more).
Nitrites and ammonia are both toxic to fish- you are lucky your fish are still alive with nitrite levels that high. You should do an imediate 60% water change with dechlorinator/water conditioner. You should completely avoid overfeeding the fish, because now you have them you cannot allow the ammonia or nitrite levels to get too high as otherwise you'll kill them- you can also make the fish very sick from overfeeding them as well (illness like dropsy, swimbladder disorder and constipation are often brought about by overfeeding the fish).

 

[Glod]

Have you tested your tap water ? It's not uncommon for nitrate to be present in tap water. If you are adding that to your tank that explains the readings.
Your tank is still cycling, you want to make sure you keep up on the water changes so your fish do not suffer, daily if necessary to bring those levels down to something more tolerable for the fish. Don't overfeed the fish, that will cause a greater increase in nitrites.
Basically since you have stopped ading ammonia and are keeping the fish you have abandoned the fishless cycle and need to proceed with a fish cycle. This means you need to keep the ammonia / nitrite levels under control with reular water changes.
Once you Ammonia and Nitrite are consistently reading 0 you can consider adding more fish. Unlike with a fishless cycle you will need to add fish slowly, 1 or 2 fish,, a week or two apart to let the filter catch up with the increased bio load.
As for size of water changes, small regular water changes are better than irregular large changes. Around 20% is a reasonable amount to change in one session.

 

[arabballin]

I checked my tap water and there is no nitrates in it.
I did the 60% water change and then a two 20% percent changes and my readings came up the same except with slightly higher nitRATES. (10 ppm or so) I think this is a good thing right?
But the stupid nitRITES wont come down. there still at the same level and ammonia is at 0
i tested my ph just to see and it was around and its around 7.6

The fish look very happy by the way there constantly playing with each other and swimming through my decor.

But How do i bring down this nitRITES?

 

[Glod]

If you changed 60% and 20% twice then you should be showing almost no nitrItes or nitrAtes... that's nearly a complete water change.
Are you sure you are following the instructions on the test kit to the letter ? What kind of test kit are you using ?

 

[arabballin]

im following everything to the letter. im using a master test kit from aquarium pharmectuicals inc (most people just know it as API) i dont know what the deal is these nitrites are still ridiculous

 

[k.o.d]

You have to have patience and allow the cycle to work itself through

The water changes will help dilute the nitrites but until the bacterial colony has established itself, then the nitrites will be high

Look at it this way, you are 50% through the cycle

Steve

 

[suggs]

i have used the api master kit on a marine setup, i found them to be very unreliable tests, always worth getting a secon opinion. take a sample to your local shop and ask them to test it.

if you have done such a big water change and your nitrite reading is the same then something isnt right, one answer is that they are off the scale on your test kit and wont show a drop to they have come down low enough to read against a lower level on the ppm chart.

 

[arabballin]

FINALLY!!!
I just tested and the nirtites are now below 1 ppm. i was so happy to finally see a differnent color in that test tube. The only thing is my nitrates dropped a little from almost 10 ppm to 5 ppm, but i guess considering how much water ive been changing that i should have nothing to complain about.

 

[Irf]

FINALLY!!!
I just tested and the nirtites are now below 1 ppm. i was so happy to finally see a differnent color in that test tube. The only thing is my nitrates dropped a little from almost 10 ppm to 5 ppm, but i guess considering how much water ive been changing that i should have nothing to complain about.

I'm not sure if you've understood what people have written above, or the link to cycling. What did you mean by "The only thing is my nitrates dropped a little...."? That's what is supposed to happen - that is what you want! The main purpose of water changes is to remove nitrates from the aquarium.

Glad it seems to have all settled down now!

Irf.

 

[arabballin]

The reason i said that was one the nitrItes is what i wanted to drop and two i thought a reading of at least 10 nitrAtes is what i wanted to maintain because i thought nitrates were benficial. I just read over all that again and its not beneficial i guess it just shows me that the bacteria in the tank is doing good job cleaning by turning all the nitrites and ammonia into something less harmful.
Sorry for the mix, i forgot what i read a little.

 

[Irf]

No problem - it's easy to get confused when you're new to all this. My wife couldn't believe how much reading I was doing on the topic when I first started considering taking up the hobby. Even now, my house is littered with books and mags, and the internet is getting constant use for this and other forums!!!

Best of luck....

Irf.