Nitrite levels

[hermitpermit]

my peppered corydoras ( originally 3 ) are dying 2 are now dead the the other is not looking so good and neither are my guppies. i was told it was nitrite levels and to change a third of the water each day and to test the water every day as well. the problem is the nitrite level is not going down im confused but if anyone has any tips because im kind of worried now that im going to lose all my fish so please help anyone. thanks again

 

[LoveMyOscar]

...

 

[CBXGhosty]

Are you sure it is the nitrites and not nitrates?

 

[hermitpermit]

its a 60 gallon tank with
5 neon tetras
1 peppered cory
and 6 guppies

i have bben told to do 1 third water change every day and to test it every day
and it is nitrite

 

[angel_eyes0857]

i had high nitrite in my tank WHILE i had fish in it...
keep up with the water testing... do like 50%-65% changes every day... or a couple 30% water changes twice a day. don't test your water every day, youl'll run out of water testing stuff lol.. do those straight, every day, for 1-2 weeks... then test your water. my nitrite was like, 1.6+ ... awful. but i managed to keep up with the water changes, went through cloudy spell, and then tested about 2 weeks later and it was still at about 0.3... i lowered the water changes, and actually i just tested my water a couple days ago and my nitrite is at 0.
you'll get through it.. unfortunately nitrite can kill fish... i was lucky to only lose one but theres not much you can do about spikes like that.
good luck

angel

 

[kent]

maybe u didnt cycle the tank or too quick to put many fishes on it...

 

[hermitpermit]

thanks everyone i'll keep it up and it hopefully will go down

 

[GP]

do daily 40% water changes. after the 3rd day you will notice changes.

 

[hermitpermit]

its at 0.5 now it should be all good soon

 

[Goblin]

Next time do a fishless cycle and the nitrites will be zero even after you put all the fish in.

 

[J_acon]

Goblin, you got African Cichlids with tropicals fish?

Are they living fine? IF so i would get some for my tropical tank too

 

[skimpy]

I agree you must do enough water changes to get the nitrites down but not too many to stop the nitrates building up.

Raised ammonia leads to raised nitrites and although a slower process eventually leads to raised nitrates. If your tank is quite new be carefull not to do so many water changes that the nitrates don't get chance to build, or else you will spike again next time you add new fish. Try not to add too many new fish in one go.

Have a look at here. Nitrogen cycle I found this really helpful at understanding the nitrogen cycle and why nitrites take so long to come back down.

Good Luck, Hope your fish are OK.