Is my tank okay?

[FichFry]

Alright!? this is what I have, a friend gave me her 9in Oscar and 1 danios
I went out on 10/1/04 and purchased a 55 gal long tank to put him in, while
in the store I purchased:

2 Barbs
2 Guramis
1 Pleco
2 Cichlids

I also purchased a Aqua-Tech 30-60 filter. A few days later more like 7 days
"what is that smell" . So I go back and purchase another
Aqua-Tech 30-60 filter thought it would help ("NOT"). I'm now into about
15 days and ready to give up, one more source search on the inter net
and what do I find "TFF". Thank God!!!!

As of today 10/29/04 these are my readings:

Ammonia 0, Nitrate 20, Nitrite 0.5, PH 8.0

Not sure if they are the best, I'm still doing water changes, feeding 2x a day.
Please add help where needed.
Thanks, Sondra

 

[kev_kb]

Did you add all those fish at the same time? If so that is most likely the problem, you haven't given the tank time to fully cycle. I would feed once a day and keep water changing to keep the Nitrite level low. If this is a brand new tank it can take around a month to cycle so your doing ok. If you can add some filter media or substrate from an established tank to speed things along a bit.

Also I think Danios and Barbs should be kept in groups, but you'll need to post which species you have for someone else to help you on that.