Nitrite Through The Roof!!!!!

[Boudreaux1975]

Ok, here's my dilemma. I have a 55 gal that has been up and running for about 2 months now, and last night I went to check my parameters, and every thing was perfect, except the Nitrite level, which was in the danger zone (10.0). Is there an easy way to lower this? Or what should I do? I don't want to lose any fish over this. All of my other tanks read 0.0 on nitrites. And I can't understand why my 55 is so high. Thanks in advance!

B

 

[BlueIce]

Do a 50% water change.
check again tomorrow...do another 50%...keep it up until the problem is solved.

 

[WILDER]

You will need to do a water change what is your nitrate reading.

 

[clutterydrawer]

water changes are your friend

are you sure it's 10.0? you must have some well hardcore fsh if they're still alive, most start showing signs of illness once it gets to 0.5.

 

[Boudreaux1975]

I'm going to go check it again, and give a better reading. I'll also post all of my parameters here. But I'm pretty sure it said 10.0, 'cause it was in the danger zone.

B

 

[Boudreaux1975]

Nitrate 40 ppm
Nitrite 10.0
GH 150 ppm
KH 0 ppm
PH 6.8

Hope this helps some. I'm going to do a water change this evening, so if any one has any suggestions, I'll check back here in a few. Thanks in advance

B

 

[WILDER]

What fish do you keep.

 

[Boudreaux1975]

Right now, there's 14 Zebras, 2 male Guppys, 4 Plecos, and 3 small Bug-Eyed Goldfish in there. Want to put Plattys, Swordtails, and more Guppys in the future though.

B

Oh yea, and it's planted with live plants. No plastic plants, no wood, and one rock type orniment in it.

 

[WILDER]

Goldfish are big waste producers, I think you might have to consider getting rid of the goldfish or have the tank just for them, as it's 10gal per goldfish then that's not really great it's just a rule.

 

[Boudreaux1975]

So could they be a reason for the nitrite level bein' so high?

 

[WILDER]

How big are the plecs and goldfish.

 

[Boudreaux1975]

Well the plecos r about 2 inches each. There's 4 of them, and the gold fish are.... Well they're round lol, about 2 inches each, and there's 3 of them. They're not really that big. But I have a tank just for them if u think I should take them out.

 

[WILDER]

How big is the tank if you can take the goldfish out, I would do a big water change to fetch the nitrite down, then carry on doing smallers water changes daily.

 

[Boudreaux1975]

well the tank they'll go in is a 29 gal. almost perfect for the 1 fish per 10 gallon rule. I'm gonna take 'em out now. And I'll do 25% water change for the next few days or so, since it's a 55 gal, it'll be a little harder for me to do a 50% all at once. Thank you for your help, and I'll let ya know how it all goes.

B

 

[WILDER]

Good luck.