Rubik's_Anonymous

Ok, so I am in the process of regulating my water with chemicals. According to PetSmart, I have to add some stuff because the nitrite level is too high.

I came home and added the stuff, but I noticed one of my fish had ick. Unfortunately, I did not add medicine to the water because I am trying to regulate it, and it will be tested again in three days. That meant I had to let the fish go.
Now, I am scared because is there a high chance of my other fish getting ick? When I go back in 3 days is there a medicine that can clean the water of the Ick?

Thanks guys

AlyeskaGirl

A good way to clear ICH is to raise the temp to 82-84 for 2 weeks.

50% water changes daily will help keep the Nitrites down while adding Prime for water conditioner. It detoxis ammonia, while keeping nitrites and nitrates down while cycling with fish.

MeGustaUnaPez926

It sounds like the tank isn't cycled. I don't think adding chemicals is to great of an idea, what are you using? I would raise the temperature like Christine said, and perform daily 40-50% water changes to get rid of the nitrites. Are you sure you aren't getting them confused with nitrates?

Lucy

Rather than using chemicals, I'd suggest doing 50% daily water changes until your tank is finished cycling. Use Prime as your water conditioner to detox any ammonia for 24 hours between changes.

For Ich, along with raising the temp (do it slowly, a couple of degrees an hour) for 2 weeks increase aeration to make up for the lack of oxygen in the warmer water. Do a thorough gravel vac to pick up all the ich spores.

Good luck

Rubik's_Anonymous

As for the tank being cycled, im not sure what you mean, but I set it up when I got it, added the water, added what I needed, and let it cycle though the filter for one week before adding a couple fish. Also, it is NITRITES.

The Nitrite level is over 10
the nitrate level is fine, at 3.0

MeGustaUnaPez926

Okay, heres a link about cycling the tank- running the filter will not do it.
http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm
You are right, your nitrate level is fine, but if you have any nitrites at all, thats a problem. As others have suggested, do water changes consistently until you have ideal readings- 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes, and below 20 nitrAtes.

Rubik's_Anonymous

What about my fish though? Won't they be all stressed if I do all this?

Thanks!

Rubik's_Anonymous

There are the readings for the aquarium btw

Ammonia - .2
NitrIte - +10
NitrAte - 3.0
pH - 6.2
alkalinity - 80
Hardness - 150
chlorine / chloramine - 0
Temperature - 78

Everything seems fine except the nitrITES. That's what I was told

Anybody want to confirm this?

AlyeskaGirl

You need to have 0 nitrites and 0 ammonia with nitrates less then 20 to have a cycled tank. Which means healthy water for your fish. Right now you have high nitrites which is toxic to your fish, so you need to be doing 50% water changes daily to bring it down to zero. And you have nitrates 20 or less. To maintain nitrates you do weekly water changes of 25% followed by gravel vac to get out uneatten food and fish waste in the gravel bed.

jdhef

Luckily, you have a ph lower than 7 so the ammonia in the tank is actually turned into ammonium, which is far less toxic to fish than ammonia. But the nitrites are very toxic. Your only recourse is to do daily 50% water changes until ammonia and nitrites are zero.

You should really read the link that was supplied in that previous post. The nitrogen cycle is probably the most important think to know about in fishkeeping. I would also recommend that you get your own test kit to keep track of your water parameters. I highly recommend the API Master Test Kit for Freshwater. It is more expensive than strips, but far more accurate (and lasts a lot longer, so it is really cheaper in the long run)

MeGustaUnaPez926

As long as you have any ammonia (or in this case ammonium) and any nitrites, the tank is not cycled, and therefore not good. As John said, the test kit is really going to help you and is totally worth the money. Also, when you do water changes, you should put in some Prime to de-toxi-dize the ammonia.