Newbie with HIGH Nitrites - HELP!

[FishyMama]

Hi there,
We are going on about a month with our new 10 gallon tank.
After reading posts and stickies on here, I think we may be borderline overstocked.....

I know my main issue right now is high nitrites, but I have read a lot of different suggestions on what to do about it and am not sure my best next step.
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Tank info:
10 gallon
Has a filter and light (no heater)
Temp is good
3 live plants, one (swim through) rock feature
medium gravel
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2 fancy guppies
2 tuxedo guppies
4 small tetra (they told me those count as more like 1/2" each in figuring stocking capacity)
2 small cory leopard catfish
2 african dwarf frogs (LFS told me frogs don't count in stocking capacity)
2 teeny snails appeared this week from the plants I am sure..
and down to 1 balloon belly molly (lost one last night and one this morning - so sad, these are my favorites in our tank...)
the one left alive, a dalmation named penny, was the first to show signs and is swimming perpendicular in the water, bottom feeding... I fear she is next. One of the tuxedo fish and one of the catfish are also not looking great.

My family are vegetarians, we were unsure of fish-keeping in the first place but my 2 year old daughter is in LOVE with tanks everywhere we go, and was gifted this tank for her birthday.

We set up the tank 4 days before our first fish, but did get most of them at once. (another bad idea I have since read)
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Anyway, I believe our problem began in that we went away for 5 days, had a friend feed them and I think they were getting overfed. I came home to a cloudy tank and stressed fish

I did a 30% water change last night at 7pm. I used the grave cleaner to remove some waste and remove 30% of the water. The nitrites look a bit lower this morning, but they are still off the charts high. The LFS said don't do another change for at least 2-3 days, and only do 20%...is that right?

Should I try aquarium salt?
I am not sure how to stop feeding them when they look so hungry and what about feeding the frogs?
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Stats:
Using Quick Dip test strips

Ammonia tested last night at LFS was at zero
NitrAte is at about 20, maybe a touch darker, but not at 40
NitrIte is iff the charts high. The darkest on the comparison chart is 10.0/ppm and I would say my strip is t least 3-4x darker then that (so maybe 40-50/ppm)?
Harness is between 75-150 in color (between soft and hard)
Chlorine is at 0
Alkalinity is about 60 (between low and moderate
PH was right at 7.2
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Thanks in advance for the help. Really appreciate any advice you can offer.
Hoping to prevent any more tragedies asap!

 

[TAL]

Your bacteria colonies haven't caught up to the nitrite being produced by the ammonia eating bacteria that produce nitrites.

They do make some products to cancel the toxicity of nitrites.

I would probably just do some water changes....like 20% each day until that nitrite eating bacteria takes hold.

Be prepared to see some fishy casualties.

You made the same mistakes a lot of us all made when we started keeping tanks.

Welcome to the group.

PS...don;t keep less fish. Buy bigger tanks.....MTS baby!

 

[TAL]

Aquarium salt will do nothing for you....

Feed the fish once a day. If you have been feeding regularly...feed every other day for a spell. Healthy fish will do just fine

Grab yourself an API liquid test kit. Don;t worry so much about testing hardness, alkalinity and pH right now... Chlorine should have been eliminated when you conditioned the new tank water - so no need to test that either.

 

[TAL]

Aqadvisor will tell you you overstocked and I would say...yes..you did.

Those dwarf frods are blind as bats. Try feeding food directly to them with the help of a turkey baster. Some peopel have luck hand feding them.

They are cute but not worth the trouble to me.

I think I need a new avatar. Don;t you? Did you see avatar the movie....blech....and glad I watched it at home. Lonnnnnng movie.

Fish are always hungry. You don;t have to always feed them. They do fine and less food means less bad chemicals to build up in the water.

 

[riseabovethesun]

I definitely agree with TAL you should get a liquid test kit, especially because the strip tests are not as accurate and see if there is a change at all and then work from there. I know someone around here (or maybe another forum) used the strips and got a 40ppm nitrate, used the liquid and got a 20ppm nitrate, which is a pretty big difference.

And you don't necessarily need to use a turkey baster for the frogs, I have two and AS soon as I put blood worms in the tank they are out of their hiding and after it. They have a great sense of smell. However feeding them flakes, no go. I think that's another thing people don't see their fish/invertebrate/etc eating so they'll drop a bit more food, maybe try some type of other food that isn't flake, with my luck the blood worms create far less of a mess in the tank.

 

[OrangeCones]

The LFS said don't do another change for at least 2-3 days, and only do 20%...is that right?

What they are advising is not what I would do. It is important to make sure the new water is the same temperature as the tank's water, and is dechloriniated before being added to the tank.

Should I try aquarium salt?

Until your nitrites are at zero, I would recommend using aquarium salt. It helps prevent brown blood disease. This link helps explain how dangerous high nitrites are. Depending on the plants you have, they may not tolorate much salt long-term, but most can handle it for the short run.

IS1390 Brown Blood Disease

What brand of dechlorinator do you use? Some can detoxify nitrite in an emergency (which this is).

 

[TAL]

Salt will help as OC said and an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure but be careful and only go half dose if you choose to do it. Those cories are sensitive to the salt. And always dissolve it in water before putting it in.

Personally, I would skip it but OC knows her stuff so give it some thought if she really thinks this is a clear and present danger.

 

[lauraf]

If this tank is showing nitrites then it didn't get properly cycled - I read that fish were added four days after the tank was set up - so listen to OC that this is an emergency situation for the fish. We need to help FishyMama get the tank cycled with fish already in it.
First, sorry, FishyMama - welcome! And it's a bit of a mess that you are in. Hope you don't mind that you are getting the info-overload from us - we really just want to get your tank happy and healthy so your family can see that this is a wonderful hobby and not filled with death and distress.
Second - any possibility to take the cories or other fish back to the lfs while your tank's bacteria gets properly established and salt is being added? This would be a great idea.
Third, as you are now going to have to finish 'cycling' your tank with fish in it, daily water changes are a must. As is buying a liquid test kit to test for the three majors: ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Right now, if I am reading your levels correctly, you are in the nitrite spike which will subside as the bacteria colony that eat the nitrites establishes itself enough to convert them efficiently to nitrates.
Fourth, you do need to have a heater in your tank.
Fifth, if you aren't already using a product called Seachem Prime, then please start. It is an excellent dechlor, binder of ammonia and chloramine, and stress-reducer for fish.
Anyway, please keep posting and fingers crossed we can get your tank safely through this situation without the loss of too many fish. *Reiterating that taking some fish back to the lfs would be a good idea*