Nitrite Up

thewebpop

Hey Jay, I removed (sent to a friends pond) my Gold Fish from my tank last week (I had way too many according to the Forums advise)

This is a 20 gal tank by the way:
I did some landscaping over the last several days (which stirred up alot of waste) today my readings are showing:
Nitrite at 1.5
Nitrate at 20
PH at 7.0-7.2
Ammonia at .25

I added the salt you recommended in the above post. Do you think my rise in nitrate and nitrite was due to the tank overload by the gold fish and all the waste?

I had transferred neon tetras and sarpae tetras into the tank after removing gold fish. (guess I need to get them out of this nitrite?)

Should I do daily water changes at this point?
Any other help welcome!!!!
later, Pops

Jay

Hi Pops!

You still have a lot of fish stuck in the middle of the tank cycle. I guess it is your call...do you have a place to keep them for a week?

From the looks of your numbers you are starting to spike nitrites and nitrate is up indicating the process is progressing well. You should be through it soon.

Yes, for sure, do a water change and vacuum the waste out of the gravel.

Regards,
Jay

thewebpop

Thanks Jay,
It sure would be better if us Newbies would read and learn then build our tanks but from the looks of the post "There are many of us that "Just jump in" then get into trouble" Thanks for being there for us and our poor fish that pay the price for our screw-ups.

Fish have been relocated to safer conditions.
Thanks again!
Later, Pop's

ahill3780

No one is perfect. The vast majority of all aquarists start off without any prior research - even though many may deny it, except me of course, I knew everything from birth (catch my drift, [wink wink]). Everybody makes mistakes, but the smart ones learn from those mistakes.

As I am sure Jay will agree, it isn't the newbies found in forums who come and ask questions when unsure that are most harmful to fish, its the newbies out there who don't ask questions and don't care to learn that kill the most, because they do not care one way or the other about it. Their fishtanks are more like animated picture frames than a living ecosystem they chose to be responsible for. Those are the people that get me...

You guys' willingness to come and learn and ask questions is the best quality of husbandry that the 'new guy' can have, and in my opinion is more admirable than anything people like Jay and I can instill through the sharing of knowledge.

Keep up the good work and you will be rewarded in both self satisfaction, and a beautiful, thriving tank!

Jay

It's a Zen thing for me.

I can have and give back at the same time.

or is that Love?

thewebpop

I THINK IT IS ADDICTION AND POSSIBLY A CONTROL FACTOR...
WE CAN NOT CONTROL OUR MISERABLE LITTLE LIVES SO WE TRY TO CONTROL ANOTHER'S

PS: Big Thanks to you too AHILL (Sorry I do not know your first name)
Later, Pop's ( My name is also Jay, so I will just leave it at Pop's )