Nitrites/Nitrates

[Kitty4rmalbq]

I have a 10 gal standard aquarium with 2 Angels; both are about 1.5"- I have one platy who I'm giving to a friend as he's too aggressive with my Golden angel and has taken nips out of its fins, and I have a 4" long Pleco I inherited. I have had this tank set up for around a month and a half now and around 2 weeks with all of these fish in it and have had consistently high nitrite levels- even when my ammonia and nitrate levels were at less than 20ppm. My nitrite levels have (in the last week) spiked up to around 10.0 ppm, they were previously around 3.0. and nitrates were around 40ppm (according to the test kit I have at the moment) I am going tomorrow evening and aquiring another test kit in the hopes the kit I have is just 'wrong'. My fish are showing no signs of distress or irritation other than the conflict between the platy and the golden, which is being taken care of this evening. Any advice please? I'm relatively new to the fish world and started with angels because it's what my mother raised and bred and is constant advice for- but she's unsure of nitrites without the presence of ammonia and after the nitrite/nitrate cycles should have ended and reccomended I ask someone more experienced in general freshwater tank keeping. We use undergravel filtration for a 10gal aquarium, and I haven't yet purchased any live plants due to the fact we are planning on upgrading to a 25 gal before we do that. We anticipated having the 10 gal set up for at least 3 months before we started our 25 gal.

Thanks!!

 

[sombunya]

10 gallon is a small tank. Easy to change water.

If your Nitrites are at 10 ppm then do a 80% water change, using de-chlorinated water, of course. I advise using PRIME. Follow the directions on the bottle. And make sure the temperature is similar so you don't shock them.

Then do 50% water changes every day at least, until your Nitrites are at or below .5 ppm. Your fish are swimming in sewage.

 

[sombunya]

And me personally? I would lose the undergravel filter and get something like an Aquaclear 50. Yes, a 50 for a 10 gallon tank.

 

[Kitty4rmalbq]

Thank you so much for the advice- I wasn't quite sure how to approach the whole thing, and it was a tad overwhelming. Do you really reccomend a 50 for a 10? lol my husband and I had to smile when we saw that- It's something we'll probably invest in shortly- I plan on doing the 80% change later tonight and I'll keep you posted on how things turn out! Thanks again- You're a lifesaver...really- ask the poor angels.

 

[Matt Nace]

An Aqua clear 50 would be a heck of a lot of current for a 10. Great filter for say a 29 gallon. I have an aquaclear 20 on my 10 and I still have to turn it down slightly. It used to blow the sand all over it had that much current.

Minimal feeding and daily water changes until your NitrItes are in the safer levels. Do not clean your filter at this time.