Nitrite Readings & couple more Q's

[kimbowee]

Ok, I will start with my stats first. 20 US gal tank. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 5, Nitrates 20. I have 4 guppies, 4 Mollies & 1 Bristlenose. One of my guppies got its fin stuck in my filter & had a torn fin so I started to add Melafix to the tank. I am still doing a daily 30% water change. Before adding Melafix my Nitirites were 0. I haven't added any new fish, will Melafix cause my Nitrites to go up?

Also, can I put Nylon over the end of my filter to keep this from happening. I found 2 fry in the filter yesterday & added them back to the tank. These are the only fry I have found and don't another tank I can put them in right now but they have tons of hiding spots. Right now they are hiding under a piece of bogwood.

Also, should I ever cle3an the floss insert from my filter or just the one that usually has carbon? How often do people change there carbon filter? The lfs told me every 2-4 weeks. Currently it doesn't have any carbon in it so I could medicate.

Thanks bunches!

 

[WILDER]

With that nitrite reading i would do a gravel vac and water change, yes you can put tights over the filter, filter floss you clean that weekly in old tank water, carbon you change every 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[kimbowee]

Thanks again Wilder. Is it ok to do gravel vac with the fry in the tank? I am scared I will vaccuum them up. I have been doing gravel vacs every other day with the higher nitrite readings.

 

[WILDER]

Just stir the gravel up and catch some of the waste in a net , or let the filter get it,how many fry are in the tank, are you feeding that liquid stuff for fry as that can mess with your water stats.

 

[kimbowee]

So far I am up to 7 fry I have found. The guppy that I think the fry are from still looks pregnant but has thinned out a little. I can still see a pretty good gravid spot. She is swimming around alot & eating so I am not sure if she is done or not yet.

I have been mixing First bites & crumbled flakes for the fry. I added a tank divider in there for now & gave the fry about 1/4 of the tank. The only other option I have at the moment is a 2 gal tank but it has no filter or heater.

I am trying to stir up the gravel for now to make sure I dont vaccuum up any fry.

Thanks again for all your help.