White Spot + High Nitrite

[overawy]

Hi Folks,

I've currently been treating my tank for White spot (Used 2nd dose on Saturday), but have just tested the water levels today and the Nitrite is quite high.

Water : 0ppm Ammonia, 0.5ppm-1ppm Nitrite, 20ppm Nitrate, 7.6pH

I Currently have 8 Neon Tetra, 5 Zebra Danio, 2 Queen Loach (I lost 2 over the weekend )

The tetras currently still have some white spot on them, what I would like to know is:

Is the main priority to get the Ammonia and Nitrite back down to 0 and then start the white spot treatment again?
How many water changes is ok in a 24hr period?
What has killed off my bacteria to cause the Nitrite spike? any ideas?

Any help appreciated

Lee

 

[cowboy507]

It is safe to do a 10-20% water change every 2 hours, if needed, but once your levels are down to .25ppm (ammonia and nitrite ) or below then you can do them less frequent.
I dont know much about white spot, but im sure that some others might.
Did you change water and forget to add dechlorinator? if you did then this could have killed some nitrite bacteria
If you are doing constant water changes then the nitrite will stay in check, but the chemicals that you add for the white spot will be pointless and you will probably have to restart the treatment. Make sure to take out your carbon filter, if you have one, while you are treating. If you dont then the carbon will suck up most the chemicals that you have added.

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with cowboy regarding the carbon. Make sure that your filter doesn't have any carbon in it, and if it does then remove it. Carbon is used for removing chemicals from the tank such as medications and the carbon is usually used at the end of a course of treatment to remove the last traces of the medication.

If you have levels of 1ppm for nitrite then a 20% change wont be beneficial enough. You need to be doing at LEAST 50% water changes. I'd recommend you do a large water change of roughly 75-80% making sure you add dechlor and match the temperature as close as you can. Then wait an hour, re-test and if the level is still a bit high then do another water change of around 40-50%

Getting the nitrite levels down is more important than treating the illness as its likely the high nitrite levels are causing the illness as the levels will be stressing the fish which lowers their immune system. Once you have the nitrite levels under control, then persist with the treatment.

Andy

 

[overawy]

I've done 2 25% water changes today and the loaches seem more active still haven't eaten yet tho

This is how they looked earlier

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCZqKl9hx40

http/i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad283/overawy/Tank%20Issues/SANY0009.jpg

 

[OldMan47]

If you manage to cure the ich and the fish die of nitrite poisoning it really won't matter.

Unless you have your nitrites under 0.25 ppm, do another, large this time, water change then use your medication to continue the treatment. I am sure that some ich treatments are harsh enough to cause some damage to the bacteria in your filter, but what is done is done. You can always do a fish-in cycle once the ich is cured by appropriate treatment and proper control of the nitrites while doing it.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with Andy and OM47. Giving medication while the nitrite(NO2) is above 0.25ppm is like locking a person in a closed garage with the car exhaust running and then handing them in some medicine for the headache.

The nitrite(NO2) is turning their red blood cells to mush and they are in a fight for their life. The reasons for small percentage water changes are quite minor compared to nitrite poisoning. Large water changes, as advised by Andy above, to get the poison close to zero ppm, followed by good ich treatment (as detailed in OM47's link in his signature) is the way to go.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[overawy]

Thanks for the help folks.

Nitrite is now down to 0ppm

I'm using Interpet White Spot. Could I dose the tank then on day 4 (before I add the next dose) do a water change? would this be beneficial?

 

[OldMan47]

Keep, tabs on the nitrite. If it stays controlled, concentrate on the ich treatment and getting that right. When I was younger I used to try to cut the treatment short to "spare" the fish the exposure to the medication for too long. The end result was I often lost half the fish in a tank to ich. These days I seldom see an infestation and when I do it gets the full treatment and a bit extra for good measure. I never see a relapse and all of the fish survive. I really doubt that my ability to measure the chemicals has improved. What has improved is my thinking about treating ich. It is not all gone just because you no longer see symptoms, keep treating as long as they recommend at least.