Help A Friend...a Newbie With Zebra Danios

HI everyone!
I am posting on behalf of a friend who is new to this and has been following the lfs advice which we all know is just about selling fish! I have been keeping fish for about 3 years but my tank got old tank syndrome so I clearly have forgotten my staff hence me here asking the experts! Here goes:

She has a 32 litre tank (footprint is 50cm by 25cm and 28cm high), had the tank about 5 weeks, think fish been in there 4 weeks. She has 3 danio fish. She was using strips and going to the lfs to test the water. She has since bought the liquid test for nitrites. The lfs told her to leave her tank for a week then bring water in to test . So she did this then got the danios. She was then told to come back in a week for 3 Rosie barbs) and to use API quick start. She did that and they said the nitrates were to high. She is then been testing the nitrites which have stayed high. When she used strips for nitrates they measured 2 - can that be right?? And doing 10% changes every other day and feeding every other day. The strips didn't test ammonia so she couldn't give me that. Here is the nitrite test:




I know there is missing info but any help/guidance you can give would be much appreciated! I said to reduce feeding to every other day but I did a fishless cycle so am confused when it comes to this quick start stuff! Worried she'll lose her fish!

 

Just remembered she is using pure balls as well as API quick start...

 

Those nitrites are very high....Are the fish sitting near the bottom, looking like they feel ill?
Ammonia burns the gills, and makes breathing rapid, gasping for air. gulping at the top. Nitrites make them feel sick and tired, sitting at the bottom, looking ill in my experience. . and higher than normal Nitrate shows in the fish hanging on the top. Danios should be very active, playing Tag, chasing each other around decorations, and generally pigging out at meals.

I suggest a series of water 25% changes, a few hours apart to bring it down below 1ppm (preferably about .5 if there are fish in the tank)and use Prime as water conditioner daily. The reason that I say multiple small water changes, rather than one large one, is that it give more control over the parameters, and you want to leave some nitrate to continue cycling. This will protect the fish while the cycle progresses. Also, Stability is a superior Cycling product, if she can get it- it's designed to work with Prime, and can shorten the time, I'm told. I can't speak from experience there, as I used it during a minicycle on a crashed tank after a filter broke down...but it only took me a weeek to get back to normal after high ammonia and nitrites. You add it daily for 1 week.

 

Those nitrites are very high....Are the fish sitting near the bottom, looking like they feel ill?
Ammonia burns the gills, and makes breathing rapid, gasping for air. gulping at the top. Nitrites make them feel sick and tired, sitting at the bottom, looking ill in my experience. . and higher than normal Nitrate shows in the fish hanging on the top. Danios should be very active, playing Tag, chasing each other around decorations, and generally pigging out at meals.

I suggest a series of water 25% changes, a few hours apart to bring it down below 1ppm (preferably about .5 if there are fish in the tank)and use Prime as water conditioner daily. The reason that I say multiple small water changes, rather than one large one, is that it give more control over the parameters, and you want to leave some nitrate to continue cycling. This will protect the fish while the cycle progresses. Also, Stability is a superior Cycling product, if she can get it- it's designed to work with Prime, and can shorten the time, I'm told. I can't speak from experience there, as I used it during a minicycle on a crashed tank after a filter broke down...but it only took me a weeek to get back to normal after high ammonia and nitrites. You add it daily for 1 week.

Thanks for the quick reply! I will get that information over to her asap! Those fish must be in distress! This advice is really helpful

 

I'm a bit confused. You mention nitrates and nitrites but only give nitrite results. I think your title said danios but you mentioned Rosie barbs?

Either way the nitrite is too high.
I'd go with a 50% water change to start then another 50% a few hours later. If they're reading 2ppm a 50% will bring down to 1ppm (still too high) so the other 50% will bring down to .5ppm which is manageable with prime daily. From there I'd do 30% every other day unless it goes above .5ppm then do 50% again.

25% Is too little in this scenario and the fish will still suffer.

 

I'm a bit confused. You mention nitrates and nitrites but only give nitrite results. I think your title said danios but you mentioned Rosie barbs?

Either way the nitrite is too high.
I'd go with a 50% water change to start then another 50% a few hours later. If they're reading 2ppm a 50% will bring down to 1ppm (still too high) so the other 50% will bring down to .5ppm which is manageable with prime daily. From there I'd do 30% every other day unless it goes above .5ppm then do 50% again.

25% Is too little in this scenario and the fish will still suffer.

Thanks for your help and sorry I confused you! To clarify...The nitrites is as in the picture. So about 2ppm. She also tested NitrAtes with strips and said that also was 2ppm at the time.

She does have 3 Danio already BUT also wanted to get Rosie barb in addition. So that is when the fish store told her to wait 1 week then go back. They tested her water and said the Nitrites were too high to take the Rosie barb.

I will make sure she gets the Nitrites down to .5 at the most. Thank you

 

Thanks for your help and sorry I confused you! To clarify...The nitrites is as in the picture. So about 2ppm. She also tested NitrAtes with strips and said that also was 2ppm at the time.

She does have 3 Danio already BUT also wanted to get Rosie barb in addition. So that is when the fish store told her to wait 1 week then go back. They tested her water and said the Nitrites were too high to take the Rosie barb.

I will make sure she gets the Nitrites down to .5 at the most. Thank you

Thanks for clarifying! That makes more sense. Is it possible she meant 20ppm nitrate? They usually go in increments of 5 or 10. Never saw a kit with anything under 5. I'd suggest getting the apI liquid master test kit off amazon for about $20. Then they will know all of their levels. Do you know what size their tank is in gallons? I'm on mobile so I don't have quick access to the site converter

 

Thanks for clarifying! That makes more sense. Is it possible she meant 20ppm nitrate? They usually go in increments of 5 or 10. Never saw a kit with anything under 5. I'd suggest getting the apI liquid master test kit off amazon for about $20. Then they will know all of their levels. Do you know what size their tank is in gallons? I'm on mobile so I don't have quick access to the site converter

That makes sense about the nitrate - just dug out my test kit after many months! Will advise her to invest in one too.

Her tank is about 7 gallons I think

 

That makes sense about the nitrate - just dug out my test kit after many months! Will advise her to invest in one too.

Her tank is about 7 gallons I think

Her tank is rather small for the danios let alone the barbs. Having a small tank can cause tons of water quality issues, stress/disease, stunting, as well as many other issues. I'd advise your friend not to get anymore fish in that tank unless she upgrades. Zebra danios are extremely active swimmers and need a minimum school size of 6-9 with 11+ being the best number range. Because of this, they require a 20 gallon long minimum (I am unsure the litre conversion). I believe most barbs need 20-29g minimums as well. And if your friend wanted both, I'd assume she'd need a tank near the 40 gallon range, but I'm only a beginner at stocking, so please double check with the people in the stocking forum on the barbs/both.

Her tank right now is really only large enough for a single betta, shrimp or snails. Her current stock is causing a build up of fish waste which is causing the high ammonia & nitrite.