Nitrite Levels

[millar]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

 

[simon10]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

 

[millar]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

no we clean it with the water from tank, and i have just lost a sword tails since doing 60% water change this morning

i have forgot to say i have already tested the water from the tap and this is ok.

 

[millar]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

no we clean it with the water from tank, and i have just lost a sword tails since doing 60% water change this morning

i have forgot to say i have already tested the water from the tap and this is ok.

 

[simon10]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

no we clean it with the water from tank, and i have just lost a sword tails since doing 60% water change this morning

i have forgot to say i have already tested the water from the tap and this is ok.

do you have an API master test kit? if so do the tests and see what you ammonia leel is and ost the result on here

 

[millar]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

no we clean it with the water from tank, and i have just lost a sword tails since doing 60% water change this morning

i have forgot to say i have already tested the water from the tap and this is ok.

do you have an API master test kit? if so do the tests and see what you ammonia leel is and ost the result on here

i have an api ammonia kit and the level was 0, i tested the water this morning before doing water change.

 

[simon10]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

no we clean it with the water from tank, and i have just lost a sword tails since doing 60% water change this morning

i have forgot to say i have already tested the water from the tap and this is ok.

do you have an API master test kit? if so do the tests and see what you ammonia leel is and ost the result on here

i have an api ammonia kit and the level was 0, i tested the water this morning before doing water change.

ok it seems like the nitrite isnt being converted into nitrate, is your filter working ok?

 

[millar]

hi, i am a newby on here and help needed.

my daughter's 27l tank is about 3mths old now, with 14 fish, 1 angel, 2 sword tails, 1 male fighter, 5 zebras and 5 tetras, we have lost 1 angel and 3 zebra in the pass 3 days

we have 3 live plants, gravel filter and heater, temp @ 27 c.

The problems is keeping the nitrite levels down they are over 5, we have been doing betwen 25% to90 % water changes for the pass 2 wks and nothing is helping.

We added the live plants this week, cut down on feeding and have even not feed the fish for 1 day per week.
please can someone advised

thanks in advance

when you clean you filter, how do you go about it? do you clean it in the fish water?

no we clean it with the water from tank, and i have just lost a sword tails since doing 60% water change this morning

i have forgot to say i have already tested the water from the tap and this is ok.

do you have an API master test kit? if so do the tests and see what you ammonia leel is and ost the result on here

i have an api ammonia kit and the level was 0, i tested the water this morning before doing water change.

ok it seems like the nitrite isnt being converted into nitrate, is your filter working ok?

ok now for the stupid question, how will i know? the water is clear, nothing growing in side of the tank..

 

[martinking]

Well I dont know much but I would say that was alot of fish for a 27Litre Tank...

I have just been told I shouldn't have an Angel in anything less than a 100 litre tank! Never mind a 27 litre

 

[simon10]

Well I dont know much but I would say that was alot of fish for a 27Litre Tank...

I have just been told I shouldn't have an Angel in anything less than a 100 litre tank! Never mind a 27 litre

yh i thought that, angel fish grow really big! maybe he has oerstocked his tank

 

[millar]

Well I dont know much but I would say that was alot of fish for a 27Litre Tank...

I have just been told I shouldn't have an Angel in anything less than a 100 litre tank! Never mind a 27 litre

yh i thought that, angel fish grow really big! maybe he has oerstocked his tank

the biggest fish in the tank is the fighter, and he is only around and 11/2 inches, the angel is about 1 inch.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi there Mr.Dad and welcome to the forums!

Yes, sorry to say, you are terribly overstocked there, probably more than double the stocking capacity of that tank even for an experienced aquarist. You are going to need to find new homes for these fish and/or consider a tank size upgrade.

Above info is correct, minimum tanks for angels would be about 28-30 US gallons (106-120L or so) for a single pair and for this and any other tank with angels the tank height needs to be a min of 17-18" because of their large fin height.
Zebras and some tetra species might also be having trouble with the lack of horizontal swimming room.

You sound to be taking the right direction for the most urgent aspect of your problem: whenever either ammonia or nitrite(NO2) is above 0.25ppm the fish are suffering what could become permanent gill and nerve damage. Water changes (with conditioner and rough temperature matching) are essential (water changes are you being a manual filter to aid your normal filter which will be way under capacity for this fish load.) It could also be that your N-Bac population (nitrite to nitrate processing bacteria) as suffered a setback somehow making things considerably worse.

Can't remember, I think some if not all of your tests were API, and they (the tests) do indeed need to be liquid-based for you to make good decisions. You can repeat a water change as soon as an hour after a previous one if you have not accomplished close to zero levels. Often when things are bad, this type of action is needed at first. We assume your tap water has zero ammonia and zero nitrate(NO3), so let us know otherwise. If your tap water is good its impossible that water changes will not help get stats back to a good place I believe.

You then have to be a detective of sorts, figuring out the percentage and frequency of water changes that will allow you to find no more than 0.25ppm in either toxic level when you can next return to the tank for a potential water change. Meanwhile of course you will be working out the overall problem of returning fish or moving to a much bigger tank.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[arobinson1984]

Sorry to hear about your fish losses, but please ensure you dont put another angel fish in the tank, they need a tank of at least 100 litres, they may seem small at 1inch now but given a few months they soon start to grow and often can grow to around 8 inches.

You tank sounds like it is overstocked.

Is the ammonia test the only one you have?? As a fishkeeper you need to have tests for PH, Ammonia, NitrITE & NitrATE, the API freshwater master test kit caters for all these tests so most people here would recommend getting one of them because without the 4 test results, it is hard to diagnose what is wrong with your tank.

Andy