Nitirite Problem

[mark7616]

i bought my tank just over 2 weeks ago and left it running for a week then i hit a problem as i didnt know it couldnt be done i put all my fish in at once everything was fine for a few days but my nitrite the rocketed to 5ppm so i did a water change and used some amquel and it went done to 0ppm but the nex day i was at 0.25ppm so i continued with the amquel for a few days and it was still sat at 0.25ppm and i couldnt shift it then yesterday it went up to 0.5ppm so i did a water change but this morning it is still at 0.5ppm does anyone have any ideas of what i can do to get it low again my readings are ammonia 0 nitrite 0.5ppm nitrate about 3-5 ppm and ph 6.6.

 

[mark7616]

im not sure if this could be the reason but i was watching my tank and i saw a very tiny black mollie so my mollie has had fry but there was only one it swam in to the filter so i got it out but i dont have anywhere to put it so as it was in the tank it got eaten by another mollie i cant seem to find anymore this one you could tell just by looking at it that it was a mollie so not sure how old it could of been. Could this be a reason my nitrite is up also the male mollie will not stop chasing the black mollie around the tank all night and day he has been doing this!

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

The reason your nitrIte is up is that the tank hasn't cycled. The only way to get it down is to do daily water changes (about 25%). A cycle with fish usually takes 6-8 weeks and is stressful for the fish expect to lose a few. Once the cycle is complete ammonia and nitrIte will be 0.

Mollies will have a batch of fry every month. Do you only have one female ? If you do the male will harass her possibly to death. All livebearers should be in groups of 1 male to 2 or more females so the females can get a rest. Have a read of the pinned topics in the livebearer section.

How big is the tank and what other fish are in there?

Emma

 

[mark7616]

so do i have to do water changes for the next 3 1/2 weeks everyday is that right? i have 2 female mollies but he just kept chasing the black one. So in order to deal with my nitrite problem i have to do water changes everyday for about another 3 weeks is that right? As i have never had any ammonia that is always 0 and my nitrate is low between 3-5.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Yes, you need to be doing daily water changes to keep the ntirite as low as possible. As long as you don't have any scaleless fish, i would also add 1 tablespoon of aquarium salt for every 5 gals. Salt reduces the toxicity of nitrite so that should help.

 

[mark7616]

so for how long do i do the water changes should i add some more cycle and some of the stuff to de-chlorinate the water if so how often.

 

[tttnjfttt]

cycle is a total waste of money, it does absolutely nothimng. Everytime you do a water change you need to add more dechlorinator.

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

Keep up with the water changes and cut back on feeding. Fish are fine for 2 weeks without food so if you feed every other day until its cycled they will be fine. Do you have any live plants in the tank as they can help to speed up the cycle.

Emma

 

[pokagon55]

With the ph at 6.6 the bacteria will grow very slow. So it will take a long while before your tank is cycled all the way. You might want to invest in bio-spira as that will in deed cycle your tank with in a week or two.
As far as cycle is concerned, this stuff works but it works very slowly as it doesn't have as many bacterial strains as do other products. If you like I can send you a study done on this and other products like the bio-spira.