Addition of fish=high nitrite. Help!

**bean26** · 03-17-2013, 08:53 AM

Hi,

Ok I recently added 3 ember tetras to my tank and will be adding more over time.
The problem is my OH had just put two rams in his tank and the nitrites were too high, so I agreed to put them in mine until his tank was better.

But now my nitrites are horribly high, I assume because of the recent additions. I haven't idea how to lower this, I've done a water change every day since it happened, approx 3 days ago and no change.

Any ideas on a solution, or am I doing the right thing but it takes a while? I don't want my lovely fish to die!

**coarb34** · 03-17-2013, 09:37 AM

test the water conditions for nitate readings and then do a water change, have you read on how to do a fish in cycle, the links are in the cycling forum

**bean26** · 03-17-2013, 09:54 AM

Hi, yes I read that - it says to continue doing water changes, I guess I wanted some re-assurance that I was doing the right thing lol.

Nitrite is currently between 0.25 and 0.50ppm
Nitrate is current 10ppm.

Before I added the new fish my levels were perfect!

**Cliff** · 03-17-2013, 01:43 PM

As already mentioned, you are doing the right thing with the water changes

You also have to base the number and amount of water changes to bring the nitrites levels to no higher than 0.25ppm. As your could be at 0.5ppm right now, I would suggest a 50% water change

**bean26** · 03-17-2013, 04:00 PM

Ok I've done another water change, 50%. How long will it take to get an accurate reading?

**Cliff** · 03-17-2013, 04:23 PM

I like to wait about 20 minutes to a hour after a water change

**bean26** · 03-17-2013, 05:03 PM

If possible, my nitrites have risen :(

**coarb34** · 03-17-2013, 07:12 PM

as cliff says try keeping it 0.25 or below, first do test then take it from there, i know there is a lot of info to take in at first, when in doubt rather ask, there are alot of people on this forum with much more experience than me.All of us has made our mistakes before we got to where we are now in fish keeping, i still make rookie mistakes from time to time. and welcome to the forum

**Honey Badger 1** · 03-17-2013, 07:48 PM

If your water parameters were 0ppm for ammonia and nitrite and low nitrate until you added new fish your tank is going through a mini-cycle. As others here have already posted keep testing and doing enough water changes to keep the ammonia/nitrite levels around .25ppm. The good news is we call it a mini-cycle because it doesn't usually last to long, you just need to keep an eye on the parameters and be diligent with the water changes to give the already established bacteria time to catch up with the added bio-load.

**bean26** · 03-17-2013, 08:50 PM

Everytime I do a change the fish seem happier, but after a few hours they all get closer and closer to the surface again! (Bar the cory's and gourami...)

Well, I shall keep trying with the changes and hope for the best! Thank you so much for the support, I'm sure ill be back all panicky in a few days should the levels not go down.