Nitrite problem, please take a look and help me out!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
What kind of bacteria starter did you use? Because not all of them work and you added a bunch of fish very quickly which could have caused the issue. I really think you are going to have a hard time with nirites in that tank while it is stocked with all of those fish. Perhaps give it a couple weeks with the extra bio filtration in that ac 110 but those fish are growing every day so you may need to add a canister to keep up or these nitrite spikes may keep appearing.
 
just give it some time.

throw out that api stuff and grab some prime. the aloe in api will rot in the tank like any other organic waste and can be part of your problem (not the whole problem, just part).

the salt + heat trick works, keep doing it for a week after the ick goes away to make sure it's gone, but if any of your other fish start acting odd, stop it.

don't put any meds in that will kill your bio... don't put any meds in at all for that matter. if you ever need to use meds, remove the sick fish to a separate "hospital" tank and treat them in that for now on. you can probably pick up a 10gal for nothing on craigslist for a hospital tank and use some media from your established filter for the hospital's filter when needed.
 
So i turned up my temp to 86 now, and my thermometer is reading 86 as well. I am about to go to publix to get some non iodized salt. Do i add the salt every water change, once a week or what?
 
this is the method i followed...

http://thegab.org/Illness-and-Treatment/treating-ich-with-salt.html

Treatment: Salt (sodium chloride or NaCl) is a much gentler medication than Ich medications commonly sold in pet stores. Some commercial parasite medications can push a sick fish over the edge. Salt will not harm your filter bacteria, it’s cheap and will not harm humans coming into contact with it; however, not all fish tolerate salt. We recommend it only for cold water fish like Goldfish and Koi. Tropical fish are best treated with a malachite/formalin combination like Rid Ich or Quick Cure. Salt may also kill some plants, so you will need to remove any live plants into another container and disinfect them (Potassium Permanginate works well for disinfecting plants). The salt must be fully dissolved in tank water before adding it to the tank. Most any salt will work fine. Rock salt or pickling salt work great and are cheap. Avoid using salt that contains yellow prussiate of soda
It is very easy to treat Ich with salt. You’ll need a concentration of 0.3% salt (3 teaspoons per gallon) to eradicate the Ich. To reach 0.3% salt you would add 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon of water to your tank 3 times, each 12 hours apart. Predissolve the salt in tank water and then add slowly to a high water flow area.
It is important to keep track of the salt going into your tank because salt does not evaporate and is not removed with activated carbon. It is removed only with water changes. To keep the salt at the desired level, when you do a partial water change, you must salt the new water to the same concentration as the tank water. For example, if you remove 10 gallons of water you will need to add 30 teaspoons of salt to the change water to keep the tank at 0.3%.
While treating Ich, you will need to vacuum the entire bottom of the tank each day to remove any cysts that have fallen off. This will reduce the amount of tomites swimming in the tank and will help to clear the Ich faster. Heating the tank to 78-80*F will speed up the Ich life cycle and boost the fish’s immune system response. At that temperature Ich has a life cycle of 3-5 days. Typically, your fish will look like it is getting better then another wave of spots will appear. Each cycle is usually worse than the one before. But if you keep up the water changes and salt ich will clear within a week. Maintain salt at 0.3% for 7 days after the last cyst drops off the fish. This will ensure that the Ich is indeed gone. If your tank temperature is lower, the life cycle can extend into weeks so you will need to adjust your temperature or your treatment regime accordingly.
Be sure to keep your water quality excellent during this time. Ich will stress your fish so you need to ensure optimum water quality. As trophonts leave the host, they leave behind small exit wounds. That coupled with the stress suffered by the fish can give bacteria and fungi an unfair advantage, so it is important to watch out for any signs of secondary infection shortly after a bad case of ich.
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Few thoughts on how this thread has gone.
If a guy is going to dismiss advice, why ask?
Add me to the ones that told you your tank has not fully cycled.
Your dechlor choice will still take chlorine/chloramines and detoxify it for your emerging bacteria to process. Most all of the available products do.
Got sick fish, I`m not surprised.
The shocks that go with a “with fish cycle” is the loaded gun a guy plays with when doing it this way.
Adding additional bio media won`t do much, if anything at all to help. Your nitrite munchers are still in the process of establishing themselves.
Again, I agree with those that have advised time and WC is the answer to your nitrite level.
Obvious, your bacterial additive did less than a stellar job trying to “instant” cycle your tank.
Just a gut feeling, but I think your tank is doomed.
Honestly hope you prove me wrong on that, but with all the things your throwing into the tank and playing with temperatures, well…..
I really do hope you make it through this mess, without a complete die off or fish that have been so thrashed they will never fully recover.
Good Luck, your going to need it.
 
Been using API stress coat for many years myself and during cycling tanks without any ill affect, so I would personally continue to use stress coat but yes the tank is not cycled.
Know anyone with a tank or a pet store to give you some mulm from their tank. Normally solves most cycle issues. Get a used sponge from a buddy (their tank has to be cycled!) or something (ceramic rings, matrix, whatever they use) and put it in your filter.
Just my 2 cents
 
KaiserSousay;5051649; said:
Few thoughts on how this thread has gone.
If a guy is going to dismiss advice, why ask?
Add me to the ones that told you your tank has not fully cycled.
Your dechlor choice will still take chlorine/chloramines and detoxify it for your emerging bacteria to process. Most all of the available products do.
Got sick fish, I`m not surprised.
The shocks that go with a “with fish cycle” is the loaded gun a guy plays with when doing it this way.
Adding additional bio media won`t do much, if anything at all to help. Your nitrite munchers are still in the process of establishing themselves.
Again, I agree with those that have advised time and WC is the answer to your nitrite level.
Obvious, your bacterial additive did less than a stellar job trying to “instant” cycle your tank.
Just a gut feeling, but I think your tank is doomed.
Honestly hope you prove me wrong on that, but with all the things your throwing into the tank and playing with temperatures, well…..
I really do hope you make it through this mess, without a complete die off or fish that have been so thrashed they will never fully recover.
Good Luck, your going to need it.
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No need to troll the thread now that i have got all of my answers, not only that but what contribution do you bring by saying all of this?

We live, and we learn from our mistakes, i at least was honest and posted it here unlike others who just face it by themselves because they dont want to be flamed by people like you.

Take your opinions and your internet tough guy look and take it somewhere else.
 
Hmmmm, I take it all back...
Your not just a poor fish keeper, just a jerk.
 
wtf dude, cut him some slack. he's obviously new and having some beginner troubles that most of us went through at some point in time. at least he's here trying to solve the problem. comments like yours make people not want to be here or share their experiences. so, take a :chillpill: or gtfo.
 
i just noticed that the link i gave you for the salt treatment reads,

Heating the tank to 78-80*F will speed up the Ich life cycle
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that article was written for goldfish and koi (cold water fish that don't tolerate heat as well) but for tropical fish, you can safely raise it to 85* or slightly higher.
 
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