water params good/bad?

[sarahellen10]

can any one help me? im a newbie to the site. i just want to check im doing things right, ive recently set up my first ever aquarium i have 2silver sharks, 1 male guppy, 2female guppy, 2 guppy fry, 1balloon molly, 1albino catfish, another catfish peppery in colour, 4 neon tetras and 2 otto's. my water params are as follows ph 7.6, high range ph 7.8, ammonia 0ppm (mg/l), nitrite 5.0ppm (mg/l) and nitrate 0ppm (mg/l) are these ok? ive have had 5 dead fish since setting up my tank. i worked out the reason for the first 4 as it was a new tank and the water was not set up correctly but i cant work out why may latest one died today.
can any one give me some advice it would be appreciated!

 

[DaveW]

THE NITRITE SHOULD BE ZERO. YOU NEED TO DO DAILY WATER CHANGES UNTIL THE NITRITE IS UNDER CONTROL. IF YOU DON'T THERE IS A REAL CHANCE THAT YOU WILL LOSS MORE FISH!

 

[playfulalliecat]

It's probably nitrite poisoning. You need to do a 10% water change. You're in the middle of the initial tank cycle and ammonia and nitrites are very bad for your fish. You need to check water parameters daily if not more often and do small 10% water changes to bring them down.

How big is your tank? I am from the US so US gallons helps. Depending on size you may be overstocked and that will cause more problems with cycling with fish. When your nitrite drops to 0 and your nitrate shows a reading, then your tank will be cycled and you won't have to change water as much and should be able to reduce water testing as well.

HTH!!!

 

[sarahellen10]

its a 70litre tank not sure on gallons! i thaught that it should be zero, i have changed about 40% of the water today. Would water change every 2days be ok? ive also baught something called nitrazorb which is supposed to reduce the nitrite levels??

 

[modernhamlet]

can any one help me? im a newbie to the site. i just want to check im doing things right, ive recently set up my first ever aquarium i have 2silver sharks, 1 male guppy, 2female guppy, 2 guppy fry, 1balloon molly, 1albino catfish, another catfish peppery in colour, 4 neon tetras and 2 otto's. my water params are as follows ph 7.6, high range ph 7.8, ammonia 0ppm (mg/l), nitrite 5.0ppm (mg/l) and nitrate 0ppm (mg/l) are these ok? ive have had 5 dead fish since setting up my tank. i worked out the reason for the first 4 as it was a new tank and the water was not set up correctly but i cant work out why may latest one died today.
can any one give me some advice it would be appreciated!

[snapback]883019[/snapback]​

You have to get your very high nitrite levels down as fast as possible.I would do a massive water change of at least 50% with dechlorinated tapwater at the same temperature as your tank water. This can be somewhat stressful to fish, but nothing like 5ppm of nitrites. Daily water changes of 10-15% after that are the best way to get nitrites below 1ppm (but preferrably lower) and keep them there while the tank cycles.

Please read this post here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

It contains very important information about cycling and "new tank syndrome", which I'm afraid you are currently experiencing.

Keep us updated... we're happy to help!

Edit: 70L = 15g UK = 18g US. With that tank, you should immediately return the 2 silver sharks. They grow up to 14"! That will also take some of the pressure off of the other fish during the cycle. Nitrazorb will help, but will render your water tests inaccurate. I normally don't tell people to use it, but in your case, it might help in the short term. You still have to keep up the daily water changes.

 

[sarahellen10]

thanks for the advice i'll test my water again tonight and do a 10% water change in the morning.
i'll let you kno how thing go! fingers crossed
oh yeah almost forgot, my lfs said that the silver sharks would be fine and wouldnt grow much more??

 

[sarahellen10]

Well i've changed 10% of the water again today. i tested the water before changing it and the nitrite is now between 2.0 and 5.0 (was inbetween on the colours). so looks like it could be getting a bit better. i will check the water again in the morning and do another 10% change fish seem to look a bit happier.
any one got any suggestions how long i should change 10% of the water for? or do i just do it untill the nitrite is at 0?

 

[Blade118]

70l is about 18 gallons

 

[sarahellen10]

any advice on how long i should be changing water for please, please, please?

 

[Annastasia]

any advice on how long i should be changing water for please, please, please?

[snapback]884028[/snapback]​

Keep doing daily water changes while your tank is cycling to keep the nitrite low enough for the fish to live. If it is done cycling, and you still have nitrite...then yes, do until it's at zero.

I agree though, you probably need to get rid of the Silver Sharks...I wouldn't always trust your fish store, as some of them don't know all the much about fish, unfortunatly.

 

[sarahellen10]

good news! as i changed the water this morning i was going to wait untill 2morrow to test it, but impatient as i am i have tested it for nitrite and it has now dropped to 0.25! i will do another part water change in the morning and check the results of that 2morrow evening.
don't know how long the cycle takes but ive had my tank set up fo about 3weeks now. is that still in the cycling stage??

 

[rdd1952]

You will need to continue daily water changes until you are getting a 0 reading on nitrite and ammonia for at least 5 days running. As suggested earlier, you definitely need to return the sharks as they will get way too big for your tank.

 

[sarahellen10]

Thanks for the advice people!!

 

[sarahellen10]

good news people the nitrite is now down to zero

 

[yvez9]

good job
keep monitoring it for a few days and make sure it stays at 0
a 3 week is cycle is very good, mine took mlike 6 weeks to complete!

and as the others mentionned, return the balas!!

good luck with the tank!