Tested Levels Again Most Are Bad

[BIGT]

in my new tank i have fish dying. at first everything was good just ammonia was high i had the tank about a week or more. now the water is getting cloudy again so i read the levels 1 more time few minutes ago. this is what i got:
nitrate: 20-30
nitrite:3.0-5.0
hardness:75
chlorine:0
total alkalinity:0 (says its low)
ph:6.2 (says acidic)

i dont want all my fish to end up dying i only have 1 tank dont have another one. i been using different chemicals such as ammonia control, water freshner, benificial bacteria, some aq. salt for freshwater fish hoping it would stop them from dying. (used it 2 days ago just got worse today) and i use fertilizer for my live plants once a week like it says. can i please get some help i really enjoy watching the fish and would hate to give it all up just because of all these problems im having.

 

[wolfwolf]

Firstly you should do water changes unil your nitrite is around .25ppm. Your fish will appreciate it. Second it looks like you are using paper test strips. Everyone on the forum will yell at you. Please buy liquid based test kits. They are supposedly more accurate.


what size tank do you have? what filter? what fish? how many? Exactly what chemicals are you putting in your tank?

i would recommend getting Seachem Prime. It is an excellent declorinator that will also help with ammonia.

 

[ellena]

Instead of dumping all those chemicals in your tank, you need to be doing regular (more than once a day) water changes. Have you read the thread about cycling? HERE You are in a fish in cycle. Basically, the fish produce waste which is processed into ammonia then nitrites, then nitrates by various types of bacteria living in the filter. In a new filter, these bacteria need to establish. While they are doing this, levels will get high and the only way to keep them down is by water changes. Keep them to 0.25ppm as this is a level that will provide some food for the growing bacteria, but not harm your fish.
Alternatively, if you have the option of taking the fish back, you could do a fishless cycle where you use ammonia to mimic fish waste and allow the bacteria to build up without harming any fish. HERE