Is My Water Safe ?

[longy1989]

hello i have recently started up my tank 2 weeks ago and the other day i put my first two fish in 2 rosy barbs . i came to my tank yesturday to find one had died , and the other is swimming at the top seemingly gasping for air , i had the test strips during the two weeks of setting up but i belive them to be rubbish so i went and bought the api master kit , these are my results ph 7.6 ammonia 0.25ppm nitrite 2.0ppm and nitrate 5.0ppm would these water parameters cause my fish to die or could it be something else ? im not sure what to do really im trying to save the second rosy barb from his mates fate 
 
thanks ryan 

 

[stanleo]

Ammonia and Nitrite are poisonous to fish. The tank was not cycled. Hopefully someone will give you the link to the beginner's resource page on this forum. Its a great tool and it will tell you how to cycle your tank.

 

[Shelster]

Check out this link http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

Do a 90% water change with dechlorinated temperature matched water, your filter isn't cycled therefore your fish are dying from being poisoned by their own waste.

You will need to do lots of these water changes until your bacteria start to grow to convert ammonia into nitrite (still toxic) then nitrate - not as bad.

Read through the link - it will explain all

Ah stanleo beat me to it

 

[the_lock_man]

Yes those parameters would cause the fish to die. Nitrite binds itself to the haemoglobin, preventing oxygen from doing so, effectively suffocating the fish, hence why the surviving barb is gssping at the surface.

Shelster pointed you in the right direction, linkwise. The article you want is called fish-in cycling.

 

[longy1989]

thanks for the assistance everyone , think i will go with the fishless cycle from now on thanks again 

 

[longy1989]

when the article talks about adding new water to the tank thats as close to the temp of the tank as possible , am i able to use warm water ? or just let a bucket of water sit untill it get to around room temp ? 

 

[stanleo]

You could let it sit if you want the water in your tank to just be room temp but that can take a while. You could heat up some of the water and add to the cold until you get the desired temp.