Help Nitride sky high, one dead already !!

[LoveMyFishys]

Please help me !

My tank has rissen sky high in nitride levels in 2 days !! Have lost a Angel fish (my smallest one) and am petrified i am going to loose the others !

I test it every 2-3 days as we had problems with the tank for the same reasons when we set it up !!

I use bacterlife on the tank as we were advised it should help but i am at my wits end ! Please help me before any more die.

 

[LoveMyFishys]

sorry computer is playing up, disn't mean to post twice !

 

[Angry_Platy]

Is the tank cycled?

What other fish do you have in there?

 

[LoveMyFishys]

cycled? seeing as i don't know what that means i would say not

We have 4 neons
1 angel
1 placo
1 cory
4 guppy
2 molly (these 2 might be the wrong way round)
1 like a placo but tiny
1 betta
2 female betta

it's hexagonal tank, 2ft tall by about 1ft long and 1 ft deep thats at a guess

 

[black angel]

hi lovemyfishys
i take it you havent had this tank running long?
the main problem for your size of tank is that it is overstocked.
the filter hasnt had enough time to mature yet, can you say what the ph, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels are?
ammonia is the first problem as the filter cant deal with it yet and so it builds up fast with the large amount of fish you have, then the ammonia is turned to nitrite by the bacteria growing on the filter, this is also toxic to the fish. you will need to do more water changes to keep this level down. when the filter is more mature this is turned to nitrate which is why water changes each week are important to keep your fish well.

 

[LoveMyFishys]

We have a new tank on order, but the company have been messing us around for ages so we are looking for a bigger tank if anyone is selling.

Am going to do a water change this afternoon as am at work now, but am i right in thinking that if you can keep amonia levels down then nitride wont be too much in appearence? anything you can suggest in buying to help me combate this as am at my wits end !

 

[The-Wolf]

i posted in the other topic you started
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=58688

 

[LoveMyFishys]

Thanks All, have taken down everything you have said about water changes.

So can i buy anything to help with the amonia levels or even how to measure them ??

 

[skimpy]

HiLoveMyFishes

cycled? seeing as i don't know what that means i would say not

I would suggest that you read the topics at the top of the beginners section so that you can find out what cycling is, especially if you are going to get another tank.

Here and Here are good places to start.

I would also suggest you get yourself test kits. A good place to start is with PH, Ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte - API have got a master kit cotaining all four tests and it is cheaper to buy as a set, than individually.

While you are cycling it is very important to keep ammonia and NitrIte down to below 1.0ppm or less if possible.

You say your nitrItes are sky high, what are your actual readings, what do you mean by sky high. You will need to do water changes as wolf has suggested, you are overstocked so will need to be even more careful than some, and you do sound like you are cycling.

Read up and come back with actual figures, you will find people can give a lot more accurate help that way. What is needed most of the time

Am going to do a water change this afternoon as am at work now, but am i right in thinking that if you can keep amonia levels down then nitride wont be too much in appearence? anything you can suggest in buying to help me combate this as am at my wits end !

Unfortunately you can't cheat cycling - you need to go through it to get a mature stable tank

Good Luck

 

[isu_guy]

You can buy something to help seed the bacteria in your tank. I have TLC "Tender Living Care". It isn't a chemical but just bacteria. You can't cheat cycling but you can give it a little head start by introducing bacteria from something like this or if you were to get some bacteria from an established filter it would do the same thing.

I didn't check the links provided, but i'm sure that one of them was about cycling, if they weren't - do a search on here or google for "aquarium cycling" and you'll get tons of info.

Good luck to you.