My black moor richie passed away earlier today, and I don't know what caused it. Now my common is going down the same path. He is acting similar to richie when he was sick. He is only staying in one corner of the tank and barely moving. I came up a while ago and saw him not moving at all, not even breathing, and then he started back up again when I tapped the glass. The nitrites where really high before Richie died, and I added some detoxifiers to the tank. What could be wrong with my fish? Please, I don't want him to die too!

Danielle I am sorry to hear about you losing your fish.

Can you answer all the questions at the top of the page? This will help us. You mentioned your nitrites were very high, this could be what caused it. Post back with your info, and do an immediate water change to the tank.

Ammonia is .25
Nitrate is around 20
filtration is topfin 60
i use Prime, cycle, and stress zyme, and also salt
now all of them are on the bottom, acting dead but not
nitrite is 10
ph is about 7.5
55 gal running about 4 weeks or more
more often than weekly, about 25% water changes
3 fish, under 2 inches

The lfs lady said changing water will only make it worse cause it's still cycling. She says just use detoxifiers. My mom won't probly let me change it cause she worships the word of the lfs.

Right - firstly don't listen to your LFS person. Do a waterchange straight away - 50%. Add 0.1% salt to your tank also - they've got no buffers against your high nitrites.

Do this now and see how you go. While you're cycling (adding a whole lot of chemicals while necessary at times, doesn't replace the benefit of waterchanges).

Hope this helps and post back soon.

PS - if you're mum won't let you do a waterchange, then there's not a lot more you can do i'm afraid - but hopefully she won't mind

Any news on your fish, Danielle?

Yep. My fish are doing a heck of a lot better. I did a water change and bought some Biospira, and I expected my fish to be dead the next morning, but they were swimming around happily! My mom says I can get more fish once the tank levels out more (nitrites are still high but detoxified, so fish are fine), and I'm doing some planning!

Danielle, your fish were really lucky and must also have strong constitutions. (apart from your black moor, poor thing, rip)

Nitrites of 10 will kill fish within hours, I can only imagine that some of the nitrites were detoxified, but not all of them. To detoxify readings of 10 I would use double or triple the recommended dose (my own opinion).

As a general rule, I don't change the water either when I'm cycling, except when my ammonia reads over 3 and nitrites over 2.

You must make up your own mind but I won't accept ammonia/nitrite levels higher than I mentioned. I prefer not to do water changes during cycling and use Prime daily to detoxify, but there is a limit to what these chemicals can do and sometimes it's necessary to do water changes.

Good luck with your remaining fish, be extra vigilant because even though they weren't showing any signs of poisoning you can bet the nitrites didn't do them any good.

Danielle, that is really good news that your fish are doing better!

To conteract the effects of nitrite poisoning somewhat, you can add a low percentage of salt to the tank. Any rock, aquarium or solar salt will do. Add 1 tsp per 1 gl of water - 55 tsp in your case. That brings you up to 0.1% solution. Dissolve the salt first in a container with tank water, then add it to the tank.
The salt helps the fish somewhat with the nitrites present....

My nitrites are reeeaaaly high now, and my fish is acting a little weird. Nothing serious, just swimming a little funny, sorta jerky. My common, that is. Should I do a water change even though they're detoxified, or should I just wait it out?

Hi Danielle, if it were me? I'd do a 30% waterchange using dechlorinator and adding back the 1 teaspoon of salt per gallon (matching both temperature and ph). It should help give a bit of relief to your little guy.

If your nitrites are really high then your tank is in the final legs of cycling (a horrible time huh?) but that's good news

See how you go and they'll probably perk up a bit also

Hope this helps

Great news! My nitrites are going down! Not much, but the color indicator on the test is noticably lighter! Almost done cycling!

That's great news

How's your fish doing today? Better?

Well, they're still doing fine, thank goodness. Haven't tested yet today, so I'll get back to you on nitrite level. I'll keep you guys updated!

That is great news.... here's to their continued improvement

Nitrites are down too... 10! I know, no improvement, it seems, but it actually matches the test kit now. Before, it was even darker, and obviously higher. How long does it take for all the nitrite to change once those good nitrite to nitrate biobugs have grown? It's taking a few days.

Yeah it will be a while. Having the nitrites at 1 or 10 is very bad, you will need to get them lower.

I know, I know, but I've tried everything. I did water changes every day, used Biospira, used a bunch of detoxifiers like a triple dose of Prime. I don't know if there's anything else I can do but just wait it out.

Anyways, I'll be sure to keep you guys posted, and thanx for all the support!

Hi Danielle - hang in there. The length of time it takes will vary based on a few things ie. filters, size etc.... but you're on the final legs now so that's a plus

Look forward to hearing your reading's at 0!

Getting there...it's at three today! Ooh, can't wait!

Yippee! Today it's down to 1! Only another day or two...

Isn't that great news Danielle

Almost there....

I'll keep you guys posted. If it's down to 0 by tomorrow, I may get a pleco this weekend!

Grrrr. It's still at .5. Getting impatient! Oh well. I can still get a pleco if it's good tomorrow. Fingers crossed!