Help! 2 Deaths And Now A Nitrite Spike!

[guppymonster]

I have a 10g and had 9 male guppies who were all doing fine (not all stocked at once but gradually over time) there hasn't been any fin nipping or bullying as far as I've seen. The water parameters were great, ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrates 40 then 20, ph stable. Frequent water changes, surface water fine. Then one guppy started spending its time alone at the top of the tank, hanging around the filter, rapid breathing but then seemed to perk up, next day found him dead. On inspection nothing looked out of the ordinary (I did a water change night before) this was Monday. I checked the water, all fine. Tuesday night another guppy did the same little routine, yesterday morning I couldn't even find him in the tank, he reappeared he seemed better. I checked the water last night and the nitrites had crept up to 0.25 so I did a water change, this morning guppy dead and nitrite off the charts. My tank was fully cycled (after 2 months) what's happening?

 

[techen]

The dead fish can cause a nitrite spike and then force you to have a minicycle. I suggest daily water changes until you come out of it. Keep checking your water daily, any sign of nitrite do a water change.

 

[guppymonster]

Thank you for replying. One of the other guppies seems to be following suit now and my qt tank isn't ready after a filter malfunction, is there anything I can do to prevent more deaths other than the water changes?

 

[techen]

Sadly not, if the bacteria has been throw off then your best bet is to get rid of the nitrite as best as possible. Do you not have a friend or lfs you can grab a spare mature filter or something?

 

[guppymonster]

I'm going down to my lfs as soon as I finish work and have done a water change, should it be a fairly big water change or lots of mini water changes?

 

[techen]

If theres tons of nitrite water changes until it goes then 50% a day.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I'm going down to my lfs as soon as I finish work and have done a water change, should it be a fairly big water change or lots of mini water changes?

If theres tons of nitrite water changes until it goes then 50% a day.

If I found any sort of positive nitrite reading, I would be doing an "emergency water change" of ~95% ASAP.

 

[guppymonster]

Yesterday it was about 0.25 today the test tube went dark purple soon as I tested just how it did when I was cycling it. Can adding a pinch of salt help the fish? I know even if some survive they may not live as long but I want to do all I can

So 95% it is then.. Thanks

 

[paradiddle]

if the drops turn purple before youve even shaken it, your nitrite are way way way way way too high if you have fish, if you were doing a fishless cycle it wouldnt be an issue.
you NEED to water change 50%, leave it 30 mins, water change 50% and repeat until your nitrite falls down to 0-0.25ppm

 

[guppymonster]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I will do just that, I wish it was a cycle I wouldn't feel so rubbish about the poor fish, and everything was going so well