tom28

Hey all,

so i had bad luck with my first run with starting my tank. I didnt clean it enough, had a case of ick and fin rot and possibly everything that could discourage me, but im trying again. i cycled the take for a while until the nitrite levels were 0 then i made the darring move of adding fish. i added 4 red platies earlier today. already i can see that the nitrite level is slowly verging on the more colourful side of the .025ppm instead of the 0. what should i do? it is my intention to do everything in my power to make sure that these little fishy dont die.

thanks, tom

Amanda

How did you cycle the tank?
Was all the levels at 0, except nitrate?
Nitrate should be between 10 - 20 PPM, while ammonia & nitrite should be 0.
A water change will lower nitrite levels.

Lucy

Your title says nitrAtes but you only gave a nitrIte reading.
What are the readings for ammonia nitrItes and nitrAtes?

Any other readings than 0 for ammonia, 0 nitrItes with some nitrAtes means your tank isn't cycled.
50% daily water changes and use Prime as your water conditioner to detox any ammonia until the tank is cycled.

tom28

sorry about that my nitrite level are just above 0. but before i put the fish in, now its raised. i cycled it by using some raw shrimp and let it decompose in the tank...please say thats ok..but to get rid of the nitrite levels do more water changes?

TropicalGrimmish

I see your "info" says your water temp is 82 degrees that to warm for your tetras, tetras prefer water temp at about 78-79ish.that might be a small part of your problem.

tom28

...ya my poor tetras died in the first run, ive only got the 4 platies now and thanks ill change that asap

Dozey

Hi Tom and welcome to FishLore,

Cycling with shrimp is ok. If you are sure your tank was properly cycled (meaning – ammonia and nitrites were 0 and nitrates were between 5-20ppm) prior to adding fish my thoughts are that you added too many fish to your 20 gallon tank at one time.

When ever you add new fish the cycle does need to catch up to the new bio load. In your 20 gallon tank I would recommend adding no more then two fish at a time.

Do water changes until your nitrites fall back to zero. If your tank was cycled this shouldn’t take much time at all. It’s just a “mini-cycle” while your tank catches up to the new load.

If you are NOT sure that your tank was fully cycled, then disregard my advice.

tom28

im almost positive that it was cycled fully, so ill try to do some water changes until the nitrites fall to 0 again. thanks everyone. appreciate it. ill let you know how it goes

tom28

hey my nitrite levels have gone back to 0 already, just needed a few water changes. thanks for the help everyone

Lucy

Sounds good.