Super high nitrates with casualties

my 10 gal aquarium has a nitrite of 5 and nitrate of 160 I'm freaking out what should I do???? I have been doing 50% water changes daily will this get things under control and I had my first casualtie last night my red tail shark passed on to the great fish bowl in the sky :;a2 I'm going to miss him but all my other fish aren't showing any really odd signs they are all active and still eating. please help!

 

wow, that's extremly high. keep up the water changes and I should be fine. Nitrites should be below 1 and nitrates below 40 at the very highest

 

Wow, I've never heard of a Nitrate level of 160 ppm with 50% daily water changes. (What tests / test kit are you using?) Definitely keep performing those water changes until Nitrite = 0, and Nitrate should generally not be higher than 40 ppm, but I'd personally strive for Nitrate level no higher than 20 ppm.

 

I have an aquarium pharmaceutacles master freshwater test kit. and I'm doing my best

 

AP test kit is the best that I know of. Looks like your Nitrate is indeed this high. Just be patient with those water changes. It should pay off. Best of luck.

 

thanks I'm doing my best

 

On that nitrate test, are you beating the tar out of bottle number 2 before doing the test? The chemicals in that bottle settle out and do not give accurate results unless thoroughly shaken, including a few good whacks on the solid object of your choice.

 

I have been shaking the bajeezes out of it but ill try hitting it a few times on the old desk

 

If you've been shaking it pretty well, I am sure you are getting good results...just checking!

 

well there not good results but hey are accurate lol :-\

 

Good point. I stand corrected!

 

ok ive been doing 50% water changes for a few days now but my nitrite is still at 5 however my nitrate is down to 20 yay should I be seeing the nitrite drop soon if I keep up these daily water changes?

 

can I use anything to help get it down also? I have prime and an Ammonia neutralizer that also helps with nitrites.

 

just keep what your doing daily

 

Have you done any test on the replacement water ?