# High Nitrites and Nitrates



## Petar (Dec 2, 2010)

Hey Everyone!

So I have put fish in my cycled tank and the Nitrites/Nitrates have sky rocketed. I did a 50% water change last night and checked again thsi morning, no change for the Nitrites/Nitrates.

Any suggestions on what I could do next would be much appreciated. I read somewhere that doing a large water change frequently is bad. (ie: doing another 50% tonight) 

I'm am heading to big als after work to see if they have something that could atleast lower the toxiticity of the Nitrites/Nitrates for the fish to prevent them from being hurt. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i'm new to this and don't need to lose any fish or plants that i have in the aquarium.

Aquarium details:
==============
- Freshwater
- 46 Gallon Bow Front
- Rena XP3 Canister Filter
- 30w light (Sun)
- 300w Rena Inline heater
- Seachem Flourite (Black)
- Driftwood picked up from Big Als
- Grand Vals picked up from Big Als


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## Kajendra (Dec 12, 2010)

How did you cycle?
How are you testing the aquarium? With the test strips (paper) or the liquid?
How many fish did you add?


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

There are lots of products on the market that will provide some temporary relief by absorbing Ammonia, Nitrite and even Nitrate.
http://www.petsandponds.com/en/aquarium-supplies/c5812/c151229/index.html
--
Paul


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## Petar (Dec 2, 2010)

Kajendra said:


> How did you cycle?
> How are you testing the aquarium? With the test strips (paper) or the liquid?
> How many fish did you add?


Hi Kajendra,

I cycled with plants only. Adding clean ammonia for over 4 weeks and keeping an eye on Ammonia levels.

I test with the API liquid test kit.

I have added 6 Neon Tetras and 3 Blueberry Tetras (which i realize was a mistake.)


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## Petar (Dec 2, 2010)

Y2KGT said:


> There are lots of products on the market that will provide some temporary relief by absorbing Ammonia, Nitrite and even Nitrate.
> http://www.petsandponds.com/en/aquarium-supplies/c5812/c151229/index.html
> --
> Paul


Thanks Paul!


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## vinjo (Dec 8, 2010)

That's a small bioload for your 46 gallon tank. 9 small fish shouldn't create too much of a dent, especially with an xp3 filter.

I'm going with the assumption you have an accurate chemical reading. I would suggest testing your water source, to confirm it's fine. Generally tap water (I'm North York) is perfectly fine, but sometimes someone has screwy pipes.

I probably wouldn't fret as 46 gallons is a large amount of water for those fish and you're well under overstocking levels. Your cycle should catch up in no time.

It's common for Nitrate/Nitrite levels to raise quickly at first when fish are introduced to a system - as the bacteria are not accustomed to the new heavier load. Your cycle should catch up in no time.

Just keep doing water changes weekly (Probably not more than twice a week... unless you do smaller more frequent changes (e.g.:5-10%)and monitor the fish for signs of stress and sickness. 

I would suggest no more than 30% water change at a time(stick between 25%-30%), unless fish seem to be extremely stressed.


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## Petar (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks Vinjo!


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Adding those fish shouldn't even make a dent in a cycled tank. I think your tank was never really cycled in the first place. So now it's finally starting to cycle.
I would make a daily %20 water changes just to keep the toxicity low. That will probably means it will take your tank much longer to fully cycle. But at least it won't kill the fish or make them suffer.
Buy Seachem Prime, and double dose or even tripple dose with every water change. Prime, aside from being a dechlorinator has the side effect of locking small amounts of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate make your water less toxic to fish.

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## Kajendra (Dec 12, 2010)

I'd have to agree with Zebrapl3co...
This is a small bioload like everyone said, it shouldn't really affect your fish that much, unless maybe you added the water in the bag or something but I doubt this would last very long and things should be okay 

Maybe you didn't test the other parameters beforehand or something?
Don't feel bad though, things should get back to normal very soon 

You can even find the products Y2KGT mentioned at a Walmart in the fish section as I had to make a midnight run a while back and saw them 

Good luck with the tank


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Zebrapl3co said:


> Buy Seachem Prime, and double dose or even tripple dose with every water change. Prime, aside from being a dechlorinator has the side effect of locking small amounts of ammonia/nitrite/nitrate make your water less toxic to fish.


Or use Seachem Stability, which is designed to cycle your tank. Prime is good in a pinch though!


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## Petar (Dec 2, 2010)

Thank you all for your advice and support!

I'm happy to say that the Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates are all reading zero's on the API Master freshwater kit for the past 3 days. 

Furthermore, no casualties!!!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Good to hear Petar!


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## Kajendra (Dec 12, 2010)

Yay 

I noticed that they have some Neon Tetra's at Big Al's North York for 2 for $2.
They have tax too though but yeah. If you want to populate your tank more would be cool


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## Petar (Dec 2, 2010)

Thanks for the heads up!


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## 1200assassin (Jan 14, 2011)

Dont forget that everytime you increase your bioload past what the bacteria can handle you tank will do a mini-cycle until enough bacteria has been created to handle the load. This is because you do not have enough bacteria present to handle the amount of amonia, nitrates or nitrites. I have had a 70g tank re-cycle itself after a few months of being totally stable because I added to many new fish. Damn BA's sale. Add some floating plants which help with nitrates and nitrites and keep a close eye on your levels until everything is back to normal. Another possibility is that something is killing the existing bacteria. Clorine is a big cause of this. Good luck.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Petar the best thing I have found for keeping nitrate/nitrates in check is to dose with Amquel+ you can get it in Big Als.

Also duckweed is a floating plant that actually eats nitrate/nitrites, and I have LOADS of it. Its a nuisance plant to some but as I keep shrimps it keeps all of my tanks balanced.

IF you want any I can give you a nice baggie full (free) I have lots and need to thin it out anyway.


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