Help! High nitrate levels, little knowledge.

Hi there,

I’m new to owning fish so have very little experience.

I followed the shop instructions by starting off with 6 neon tetras, then a week later added 4 more then a week after that added a 5 more fish of varying species.

I went to do my weekly 1/3 water change and found the nitrate levels to be high (see attatched photo) I then did another test 24 hours later and found the results to be slightly lower.

I’m not sure about the cycles ect but worrying about the health of the fish so feel it warranted a post for some expertise.

I did notice the quick sinking food we got for the 2 x panda Kory fish is getting caught in the biorb media and dissolving which as I understand can cause issues.

Any recommendations as to what I need to do? I used the syphon to clean the gravel as best as I could.

Thanks in advance! Let me know if I’m missing any info.

That’s high nitrite not nitrate - do a big water change asap as nitrite at that level can be fatal for fish.

Was it three weeks since you first added fish and did you do any fish less cycling before adding fish?

Wills said:

That’s high nitrite not nitrate - do a big water change asap as nitrite at that level can be fatal for fish.

Was it three weeks since you first added fish and did you do any fish less cycling before adding fish?

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Thanks for the quick reply, sorry I missed that when reading!

It’s 3 weeks since the first fish went in, only 48hours after the water was added with the conditioner into the tank at the instruction of the local shop I got the tank and fish from.

What causes the nitrite levels to be that high?

Thanks!

I always change 75% water per week, and most suggest at least 50% (except fish shops for some reason )
I would do a large daily water change until your nitrite consistently reads zero. You should also feed your fish sparingly and no more than twice a week until this happens. For more info on what is probably going on you can read about it here
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

seangee said:

I always change 75% water per week, and most suggest at least 50% (except fish shops for some reason )
I would do a large daily water change until your nitrite consistently reads zero. You should also feed your fish sparingly and no more than twice a week until this happens. For more info on what is probably going on you can read about it here
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycle-your-tank-a-complete-guide-for-beginners.475055/

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Thanks for the info, it seems as though I’ve been given some pretty in accurate info from the shop about getting the tank ready for fish.

It looks as though I should get some the bacteria also to try and reduce the levels.

Just hope the fish will be ok, they all seem relatively happy swimming around but who knows.

I'm afraid you've learned the hard way that shop workers are not the best people for advice. Most of them are trained only in how to make a sale, not in fish care.


The way forward is by testing every day and doing a large water change every time nitrite reads above zero. Strips don't test for ammonia, and that would also have been high, though by now it should be dropping. Once nitrite stays at zero without needing water changes, then you can start doing weekly 50% water changes.
Something you can do to help is to get some live plants. Elodea is available in most shops, and the stems can be left floating. It won't look pretty but it will help your fish.
Fish excrete ammonia and a colony of bacteria grows which 'eats' this ammonia and turns it into nitrite. With your nitrite level, you have a good number of these bacteria now. Another colony of bacteria grows which 'eats' nitrite and turns it into nitrate. These bacteria can't start to grow until the first ones make some nitrite.
Plants use ammonia as fertiliser and they don't turn it into nitrite. If you got plants, they would take up some, if not all, the ammonia the fish are excreting, reducing the amount of nitrite being made. Nitrite won't build up as high between daily water changes.

Essjay said:

I'm afraid you've learned the hard way that shop workers are not the best people for advice. Most of them are trained only in how to make a sale, not in fish care.


The way forward is by testing every day and doing a large water change every time nitrite reads above zero. Strips don't test for ammonia, and that would also have been high, though by now it should be dropping. Once nitrite stays at zero without needing water changes, then you can start doing weekly 50% water changes.
Something you can do to help is to get some live plants. Elodea is available in most shops, and the stems can be left floating. It won't look pretty but it will help your fish.
Fish excrete ammonia and a colony of bacteria grows which 'eats' this ammonia and turns it into nitrite. With your nitrite level, you have a good number of these bacteria now. Another colony of bacteria grows which 'eats' nitrite and turns it into nitrate. These bacteria can't start to grow until the first ones make some nitrite.
Plants use ammonia as fertiliser and they don't turn it into nitrite. If you got plants, they would take up some, if not all, the ammonia the fish are excreting, reducing the amount of nitrite being made. Nitrite won't build up as high between daily water changes.

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Thank you, does this mean getting a bacteria such as safe start won’t help? Or is that the bacteria I need to reduce the nitrite levels?

Tetra Safe Start should help as it contains the correct species of both ammonia and nitrite eaters. It won't be instant, though it will be quicker than without.

Essjay said:

Tetra Safe Start should help as it contains the correct species of both ammonia and nitrite eaters. It won't be instant, though it will be quicker than without.

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Thanks for the info, I did a big water change today using the tap safe and start safe products. Should I use the start safe every day for these changes until the readings are correct?

The dose rate of Tetra Safe Start is on the bottle, but unless the bottle holds way more than the tank size needs you may as well add the whole lot at the beginning. The more bacteria you put in the tank, the better and overdosing won't do any harm.

What size tank do you have? I only ask as cories need to be in larger groups so you either need to add more once you've properly cycled the tank or return them to the store if the tank is too small.

I think most members here have at some point been given incorrect info my the local store but there's a wealth of knowledge here.

Lcc86 said:

What size tank do you have? I only ask as cories need to be in larger groups so you either need to add more once you've properly cycled the tank or return them to the store if the tank is too small.

I think most members here have at some point been given incorrect info my the local store but there's a wealth of knowledge here.

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It’s a 30l biorb tank, I’ve got 2 of them at the moment but wasn’t sure on a safe limit as I’ve got 10 neon tetras, a Siamese fighter and a couple of fish that I honestly can’t remember the name of . Pretty annoying, as a new fish owner you’d like to have trust that people who sell the animals would know what they are doing but unfortunately not.

I hate to tell you this on top of everything else but a 30 litre tank is too small for neon tetras. And possibly the unnamed fish as well.

A betta is fine in this size, but alone as they are solitary fish. You may find that he'll either react to the neons by attacking them, or the neons will discover he has tasty fins.

Cories are not a good choice for biorbs because they have those rocks on the bottom of the tank, which are actually the biomedium in a biorb - that's where the bacteria grow. Cories need a fine smooth substrate as they feed by tanking a mouthful of substrate, sifting the food out and expelling the substrate through their gills, and they can only do this with sand. Food can get caught between particles of gravel, and especially those biorb rocks, and it rots. Cories still try to get at the food, the substrate scrapes against their 'faces' (more so if it's got sharp edges) and resulting cuts can be infected by the bacteria in the rotting food.



I don't know what would be best going forwards. The biorb is really only suitable for the betta, meaning you should really rehome all the other fish. One option would be another tank - a rectangular tank at least 60 cm long would be ideal for neons and cories. But I am aware that you may not have room and it does mean more expense




Before I forget - if you post a photo on the name-forgotten fish, we can ID them for you

Actually, you are doing a fish is cycle. There are two articles her which can help with your problem. You did not show an ammonia test result and this is important.
Read this first: https/www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-i.433769/
Read this second: https/www.fishforums.net/threads/rescuing-a-fish-in-cycle-gone-wild-part-il.433778/

When you finish reading, you should have a better understanding of what is going on in your tank and what you need to do.