long established tank, never had any real problem with maintaining correct levels, must have some kind of serious bacteria bloom, (unconfirmed) red cap gets a nasty ulcer that two cycles each of two different meds didn't help. was advised to add salt...fish is improving. water levels are holding stable 4-5 days into water change and then BAM.........they go bug nuts. i'm now adding 1/2 tsp baking soda per day to 28 gal tank trying to bring alkalinity up from 120 (up from 90 with addition of 1st tsp.) pH is still on the low side of 6.8. did 30% water change because nitrates were inching upwards of 90. after change pH is still on low side of 6.8, alkalinity is hovering around 120, nitrates are down to 50. added 2nd tsp., am waiting one hour to retest..........is there anything else i can or should be doing about the nitrates? i was always under the impression that elevated nitrates were the "big evil". true or false?

Hi there, new in town, love the site and also new to the goldfish game,however, been struggling with my tank today and have been reading that it's nitrItes that are hugely evil, from the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals pamphlet in my nitrIte test kit: "...will prevent fish from normal respiration...even trace levels can stress fish, surpress immune system..."

Regarding nitrAte: "...high nitrAte can contribute to algal blooms and poor water quality contributing to the likelihood of fish disease..."

So I get the vibe that high NitrAte not as deadly as nitrIte - neither are good, but perhaps high NitrIte is more emergency situation...as
my nirtrIte level jumped to 2.0!! Advice ideas?Anyone? I'm going to do a 50% h2o change right now.

I'm 33 days into a 10 gallon with 1 of each: shubunkin, ryokin, fancy. Ammonia is at 4.0 and am using AmQuel+, water changes, Stressyme and I have a Marineland Filter for up to 15 gallons, not a wheel, the other kind, water fall type.
Also using SuperChlor Plus for water conditioning a well as filtered water from PUR tap filter.

Thanks!


S~

Woops -
Also, been feeding then bloodworm, shrimp and pellets, alternating between them, 2x a day - haven't fed them in 2 days while fighting ammonia and nitrIte.
I HATE that - but I read that could help in a situation like this.

Thanks,

S~