Treat High Nitrite Or Fungus ?

[dzsigmond217]

My fish tank nitrite levels are very high and I have started taking measures to correct that. My fish also have mouth, tail and fin rot. I have purchased medicine for that but am unsure if I should give it to them until the nitrite levels are lowered first. I don't want to over stress the fish. I've lost a few fish but the fin & tail rot is in its early stages. I believe the other fish actually died from the nitrite being so high. Does anyone know whether I should wait to give the fungus meds til the nitrite has cleared up? Thanks for any replies!!
Dianne

 

[5teady_2012]

I would of thought treating the disease was more important, but then again, maybe your nitrite levels are what is causing it, tough one this, maybe someone with more knowledge could help you as treating the disease first may not be best

Or maybe there is a way both can be treated at once, maybe by doing a bigger than normal waterchange then treating or summat.

 

[rdd1952]

How high is the actual nitrite reading and what is your ammonia reading? I would say you probably need to lower the nitrite andtreat at the same time. That will require some extra medication sice you will be removing some of it each time you do a water change to lower the nitrite. My suggestion would be to start with a 50% water change ASAP and then continue them every 4 to 6 hours until you get the nitite below .25 ppm. Then just do 25% WCs as needed to keep the level there until the tank finally cycles.

 

[dzsigmond217]

Thanks for info! My nitrite levels are at around 3.0 ppm..they were at 5.0 (very high!!) I'll keep doing small water changes until I get it a little better and then I will treat with Fungus meds. If anyone else has any advice feel free to let me know!

 

[chicklette]

Keep the tank extremely clean. This is very important when treating fin rot.

Also keep up with the water changes and treat them both the same; water changes + medication. Be sure to take the carbon as it removes medication.

You can also add some aquarium salt if you don’t have any salt sensitive fish.

 

[rdd1952]

Thanks for info! My nitrite levels are at around 3.0 ppm..they were at 5.0 (very high!!) I'll keep doing small water changes until I get it a little better and then I will treat with Fungus meds. If anyone else has any advice feel free to let me know!

With the nitrite that high, smll water changes won't help. You HAVE to get it below .5 at a max and preferable below .25. Doing 20% WCs every day will take you 7 days just to get it down to .5 ppm and that's not counting the additionl nitrite that is being produced. You need to do 2 50% WCs ASAP. Do one, which will lower you to about 1.5 ppm and then 3 or 4 hours later do another. That still will leave you at about .75. I would do a 3rd in another 6 to 8 hours or so. Right now, the nitrite is much more harmful to your fish than the disease which was brought on by the poor water quality. Nitrite causes (most likely already has) long term damage even if the fish survive it.

Edit: The aquarium salt is a good addition as it will help neutralize the nitrite.

 

[WILDER]

Don't touch the sponges or gravel like you have been doing.
Mouth fungus false name, flexibactor columnaris you need to treat if is a bad strain it can soon rot the mouth away.
Stop making new threads keep to the same one or it gets confusing.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

How high is the actual nitrite reading and what is your ammonia reading? I would say you probably need to lower the nitrite andtreat at the same time. That will require some extra medication sice you will be removing some of it each time you do a water change to lower the nitrite. My suggestion would be to start with a 50% water change ASAP and then continue them every 4 to 6 hours until you get the nitite below .25 ppm. Then just do 25% WCs as needed to keep the level there until the tank finally cycles.

spot on, need to treat both the symptoms and the cause or you are fighting a lossing battle.

with nitrite readings like that the medication won't work on fungus anyway, it'll just come back.

big big water changes until you get the nitrite down then add medication.

 

[dzsigmond217]

Thanks to all for the info! I will do as recommended and continue water changes until nitrite level comes down and then medicate. The reasons for the high nitrite levels could be any of the following: My nitrite level is spiking because my tank is still cycling, I was over feeding them and/or I overstocked the tank. Unfortunately I am new to tropical fiah and actually listened to a PetSmart employee who roughly stated "The only thing you have to worry about before you buy your fish is that your tank has been up and running for atleast 5 days, you have a filter and a heater and that you buy fish from the same type of grouping, such as community, semi- aggressive or aggressive.." Never mentioned anything about cycling your tank or even testing it. *sigh* Glad you all are here to help! Oh, and sorry about the new thread Tweety..am new to using forums and was unsure how to go about it. I think I have a handle on it now. Again any more advice feel free to let me know. So far no new dead fish, thank God!
Dianne

 

[WILDER]

Good luck.

 

[dzsigmond217]

So by now I have done 2 45% water changes on my tank and my levels are as follows:

Ammonia - .5 (stress)
Nitrate - 20 (safe)
Nitrite - between .25 & .5 (stress [was originally5.0 or higher!])
Hardness - very soft (am unsure as to what level this should be at?)
Alkalinity - 300 (too high!)
pH - 7.0

I am going to do another water change in now. its been around 3 hours since my last one.
Should I be doing anything about the ammonia level, hardness level & alkalinity levels now or after I get my nitrite level down to zero? The guide that came with the testing kits recommended using something like Prime (which I have been adding to the water changes to lower both the nitrite and ammonia levels), a hardness adjusting product for the soft water level (which I don't own yet), and a pH in/decreaser to adjust both the pH & alkalinity levels (which I also don't own yet). Should I go out and purchase these items now or wait until the tank cycles on its own. I do have fish in the tank and would like to do this right with as little stress as I can on them. Any suggestions?
Dianne

 

[rdd1952]

Your numbers are looking better. Keep up the WCs to try to keep the ammonia and nitrite below .25 ppm. It is a little odd that you have soft water but such a high alkalinity. Usually, but not always, if you have high buffering, you will have hard water or soft water has little to no buffering.

As for the adjusters, run as fast as you can away from them. They are one of the worst things you can put in your tank. First, most fish can easily adapt to your pH/KH/GH provided they are stable. Your pH is fine at 7.0 and the GH (hardness) and KH (alkalinty or buffering capacity) are fine. If you get into a situation that you need to adjust them, it is better to do it with natural means such as adding driftwood or running peat in your filter to lower pH or adding some crushed coral to your filter or some limestone-based rocks to the tank to raise the pH. Here is a link to a good article about the relationship between pH, GH and KH.

 

[dzsigmond217]

My nitrite level is finally at 0. I'm breathing a sigh of relief. My tank has 2 pieces of driftwood in it. 1 is very large and one is small. If I am to understand correctly my fish will be ok with soft water and high alkalinity as long as the other levels are stable? I would definitely rather go the natural way to clear up the GH & KH levels over a quick chemical fix. I'll check all levels tomorrow and see where their at. My fish seem much more active and alert now which makes me happy. I saw my upside down catfish for the first time in 2 days..I thought he was dead! That rocks!
Dianne

 

[rdd1952]

Are you using strips to measure your GH & KH? They can be very inaccurate. If you are, I would suggest a good liquid kit next time although you may not want to spend the money on Gh & KH kits as they really aren't terribly important unless you are trying to fogure out a problem in your tank. Actually, the high buffering is good as it will help keep your pH very stable.

 

[dzsigmond217]

I purchased the strips first. One was for Ammonia only, the other was for Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness, Alkalinity & pH. I agree that the tests seem to not be very accurate so I bought an individual liquid dropper test kit for the nitrite (since my biggest problem at the time was the Nitrite). I will be buying the other test kits a few at a time until I have them all! just tested my levels again:

nitrate - 20
nitrite - 0
hardness - 25 (was 0 last night)
Alkalinity - 0 (!?!?!?!WHAT?!?!was 300 last night!)
pH - 7.0

OK. I guess it is definitely those whacky test strips.
Gonna go out and buy some of the other test kits today!
Fishee's seem very happy still. very alert and active.
Also, am starting the fungus meds today since the nitrite level is at 0!
Good deal!
Thanks for all advice!
Dianne