# Nitrites are skyrocketing...



## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

My nitrite level is over 5 ppm, off the scale by my API test master kit. 
My levels of amonia and nitrates are not even measurable. Not too long ago amonia was high and nitrates and nitrites were undetectable. I've been testing every day since i bought the darn kit to learn the chemistry of keeping an aquarium better as i keep having fish die on me. I have had the tank roughly 6 weeks and by now i would think the tank would've cycled. I've been doing a couple water changes a week sometimes more when the water is too cloudy. When i do a water change i empty out roughly 5 gallons and put roughly 5 gallons back in. I have a 37 gallon tank that probably has about 35 gallons of H20 on it. At what point is too many water changes bad? I don't want to remove the "good bacteria" and have to re-cycle the tank from scratch from a biological perspective. 

A few more bits of info.

2 bristlenose plecos:animated_fish_swimm
12 neon tetra
2 african dwarf frogs
1 longfin danio

37 top fin kit setup
I keep the lights on about from 8 am to 9 pm (maybe too much)
h20 temp is always at 73-74 which seems best given the species of fish from my research
3 plants
14" piece of driftwood
smooth gravel substrate


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

The good bacteria is mainly on the deco, walls, gravel and filter. You can change more water than what you are doing without any harm. Once the nitrites start going down you should see the nitrates rising. then the readings should be ammonia 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates try to keep below 20 with water changes. Cycling without fish can take up to 6 to 8 weeksik without water changes, doing a fish in cycle with water changes to help the fish can take longer, and can still harm the fish.


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

You should never start cycling with as many fish as you have. Start with two or three very tough fish (mollies, guppies, female bettas, danois) and make no water chages for one month. Check your parameters at the end of the month and they should be good. During this month, feed very little and remove as soon as possible any dead fish or leftover food (spikes the ammonia). Do filtration and aeriation during this month.


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## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

i should've clarified i did not start with this many fish. i went the first several weeks with no more than 4 fish. Then i recently added the pleco's and went to town on adding fish which i figured was pushing it, but thought it had cycled since amonia nitrate and nitrites were all at 0 when i had the h20 tested at the lfs


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

When a tank cycles you go through an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike. When nitrites drops to zero you should be showing nitrates. When you started adding the plecos and such it made it go into the spikes a lot faster. Plecos are a heavy waste producer.


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## Mark13 (Oct 21, 2010)

fishman81 said:


> i should've clarified i did not start with this many fish. i went the first several weeks with no more than 4 fish. Then i recently added the pleco's and went to town on adding fish which i figured was pushing it, but thought it had cycled since amonia nitrate and nitrites were all at 0 when i had the h20 tested at the lfs


Once a tank cycles, it is for that number of fish and at their sizes at the moment, If you add fish, or your fish grow quickly, your tank needs time to partially re-cycle, or to make adjustments to the existing cycle. Change more water at a time, 20 to 30%, once or twice a week for a few weeks if it is cloudy. Add an airstone, does not need to be blasting though. Put the airstone at the opposite end of the tank from your filter intake pipe. Bubbles in the intake will slow down your filters outflow.

I add too many fish too quickly, also.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

fishman81 said:


> i should've clarified i did not start with this many fish. i went the first several weeks with no more than 4 fish. Then i recently added the pleco's and went to town on adding fish which i figured was pushing it, but thought it had cycled since amonia nitrate and nitrites were all at 0 when i had the h20 tested at the lfs


The lfs store lets someone down yet again. I hope this was the point you got your own testing supplies. They probably used strips when it showed zero.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

IMHO stop adding food until nitrItes drop down.


my .02


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## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

Thanks for everyone's help, i obviously didn't have a clear perception of time frame on cycling since i didn't start off measuring levels to begin with, and i overestimated how many fish is safe to add at one time. I feel like i got done w/a doctor's appointment in the sense I should've known to do the basics.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

I'd be doing up to a 50% water change every day to keep the levels low enough for the fish when cycling with fish. In general I think that many water changes tend to be a bit stressful on the fish but not so much as high ammonia or nitrites.


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## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

I'm still testing everyday, results are similar. I did stop using a ph Down product the lfs store sold me as i read somewhere they contain phoshorous materials that have negative side effects. I installed an Rena air pump (Rena 300) and a black colored airstone about 4" wide and installed it on the opposite side of the Filter intake as to not disturb the filtering. I will do a large h20 change tonite and continue testing. 

Any advice on whether or not a RO filter is worth the $?


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

fishman81 said:


> I'm still testing everyday, results are similar. I did stop using a ph Down product the lfs store sold me as i read somewhere they contain phoshorous materials that have negative side effects. I installed an Rena air pump (Rena 300) and a black colored airstone about 4" wide and installed it on the opposite side of the Filter intake as to not disturb the filtering. I will do a large h20 change tonite and continue testing.
> 
> Any advice on whether or not a RO filter is worth the $?


IME RO/DI (unit or water) is never needed for a Fw planted aquarium.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

fishman81 said:


> Any advice on whether or not a RO filter is worth the $?


In general, probably no. In targeting specific water parameters (ie Discus community), invaluable. It helps you get to a specific goal more naturally.


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

Very important for SW reef tanks but not usually something you need for FW. If you are trying to breed fish or have fish with very specific requirements maybe. Generally what makes for a healthy FW tank is Ammonia and nitrites to be 0, nitrates low and a ph that stays stable (not swinging up and down rapidly), you don't need RO for that.


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## fishman81 (Jan 12, 2011)

good news is my tank is now getting closer to perfect on h20 conditions

amonia is 0
nitrites are in the .25-.50 ppm range the best i can tell (they were at over 5ppm)
nitrates are just barely starting to be noticed, in between 0 and 5ppm


i thank everyone for their good advice, after many large h20 changes and now going back to regular water change i think things are becoming stable. i did add an airstone w/ a RENA air pump, used nutrafin w/large h20 changes(biological additive to help w/cycling). I did have a couple of my tetra die off on me though but i suppose it was my own dumb *** fault!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Good. Sounds like things are settling down. Keep watching it and keep your feeding levels down. Once it gets to 0, do another 50% water change and dont add anymore fish for a week or two.


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