Hello everyone! So my 10 gallon tank has been running for little over a month now and i have 3 balloon molly's and 2 red 2 black phantom tetras. They have been in the tank for two days now and i had my water tested at a petland and they said i have high amounts of nitrite. They said to do frequent water changes, so i have been. Now one of my balloon molly's isnt looking too good, hes kinda just resting up against the heater and the back of the tank. Can i get some expert advice on what i could do to make my tank have less nitrite and possible save my fish. Thanks for any comments!
Need Some Help Plzzz!
- Thread starter Nikki77D
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Your problem is that your tank (well, technically your filter) isn't what we call 'cycled'; that means it dosan't have a colony of good bacteria living in it yet.
Fish produce ammonia, which one family of bacteria eat and turn into nitrite, then another family eat the nitrite and turn it into nitrate.
Both ammonia and nitrite a very toxic to fish, and will make them sick, or even kill them.
You really need test kits for both those toxins, so you can monitor the water yourself (as you really need to be able to test the water every day); until then, change nearly all the water, every day; drain the tank right down, leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright (don't forget to switch your heater and filter off first!) before refilling with temperature matched, dechlorinated water.
Fish produce ammonia, which one family of bacteria eat and turn into nitrite, then another family eat the nitrite and turn it into nitrate.
Both ammonia and nitrite a very toxic to fish, and will make them sick, or even kill them.
You really need test kits for both those toxins, so you can monitor the water yourself (as you really need to be able to test the water every day); until then, change nearly all the water, every day; drain the tank right down, leaving just enough water for the fish to swim upright (don't forget to switch your heater and filter off first!) before refilling with temperature matched, dechlorinated water.
You need only the Aquasafe, which is the dechlorinator. The Cycle is supposed to contain some of the good bacteria, but most people have found it doesn't do much good, although it won't do any harm either, so you might as well use it if you have it.
When you had zero readings, for both ammonia and nitrite, for a week, without having to do a water change, then your filter wil be cycled.
It's impossible to give a time span; all set ups vary a little bit. It'll probably be a month to six weeks though. Make sure you don't overclean your filter in this time; just a gentle squeeze in some old tank water (never clean your filter in tap water, even when it's cycled, as you'll kill off your good bacteria) to get rid of the 'mulm'.
It's impossible to give a time span; all set ups vary a little bit. It'll probably be a month to six weeks though. Make sure you don't overclean your filter in this time; just a gentle squeeze in some old tank water (never clean your filter in tap water, even when it's cycled, as you'll kill off your good bacteria) to get rid of the 'mulm'.
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