How long for no2 to lower

Sorry if this has been asked before.

I had 37 gallon tank for 3 months and ammonia one day went up to 3.0, so I started doing partial water changes and cleaning everyday. Now the ammonia is low but Nitrite is3.0 (which I understand is a part of the bacterial cycle).

But how long before the nitrite begin to go down and is there anything I can do to speed things up, because I lost a few fish.

I use the topfin bacterial supplement each water change. The ammonia went up one day because of a dead fish that got caught inside decoration and it took 2 days until I found it.

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

As you are using bacterial additives it is difficult to answer your questions.

Those additives are causing your tank to not cycle.

I would instead throw away the additives and replace them with Seachem Prime or with Kordon AmQuel with NovAqua. Both products are high quality water conditioners that help protect fish from waste buildup between water changes.

I also recommend large daily water changes, no less than 50% to help save your fish. And to do this for the next couple of weeks until your tank has a stable cycle.

It would be most helpful if you wouldn't mind to provide complete aquarium info. It will give the members a good understanding of your tank. At the top of this page click the My Settings button and select Edit Aquarium Info. Provide as much detail as possible. Things like tank size, stocking, filtration, chemicals or additives used, etc. Then you will not need to answer so many questions.

 

Personally I would of thought if the tank was cycled before the fish died all you would have had to do is a large water change for a couple of days and treat the left over ammonia with Prime or Amquel+ to make the tank safe. I wouldn’t think that the cycle would of crashed so bad that you would have had to start all over.

Personally I would toss out the bacteria additive and just do a few large water changes a couple of days in a row and treat with Prime or Amquel+ to lower the ammonia and nitrites back down to zero. Remember you can’t test for 24 hours after adding Prime or Amquel+ because it will cause you to have some real funky readings.

 

A lot of people new to fish keeping follow manufacture instructions on changing out the filter media. If you have been changing your filter media as the manufacture suggests, you will be throwing out the majority of your beneficial bacteria each time, and it will be hard for you to establish a cycled tank. If this has been happening, start just rinsing your filter media in a container filled with tank water and re use the media. Don't rinse it once a week or anything like that, just rinse it if it gets really gunked up or starts to affect the water flow of your filter.

I agree with the others for discontinuing the use of the bottled bacteria. You will have far better luck if you just let the natural bacteria of your tank colonize your filter media. It will take a little time but large daily water changes with Prime or Amquel+ will help protect your fish from accumulating toxins between your daily water changes until your tank cycles.

 

Thanks for info, I will give it a try!

 

What test kit are you using? I don't recognize a reading of "3" for nitrite with a good kit. I would recommend the API master kit.