nitrite and nitrate high

i did a water change couple of days ago and thats wen i notice my fish just staying on the gravel. i checked my levels and my nitite and nitrate r ver high(nitrite is 3 and nitrate is 80) ammonia is fine wat do i do? ive already lost one. i dont know wat to do. should i do a water change how much and should i do it more than one?

Try salt

25% every day

Did you wash your filter in tap water or anything? Did you replace the filter cartridge?

Salt would just make it worse, I don't know why everyone assumes salt will fix everything. There are many fish and inverts that salt will harm.

Thats what i used when it happend to me and it worked.

I have african cichlids and it dident kill them but i dont know what you got.

mollies tetras platys and pleco. okay water change and wen should i stop? and i hav a water conditioner that detoxifies nitrite and nitrates should i use that wen i do my water change or should i use stress coat?

Don't use salt with the tetras. If its prime use it.

Have you done anything with your filter recently.
I thought your tank was fully cycled?

Do the water changes till the #'s are within the safe range then you can drop back to 10% every other day till your tank is stabilized then you can go back tot the reg weekly wc's

yep its prime and i have not changed my filter or cleaned, yes i did wait till it fully cycled. idk why its started to do this and i did a water change maybe 2 days ago, but it wasnt not long ago. thx i really dont know wat im doing wat would make my nitrite and nitrate go high.

Did you recently add a bunch of fish?

nope, the only thing i did was my water change wen the fish that died in my tank but thats it. i havent put anything else in it. im waiting to get a small fish tank before i will add more fish.

Hmmm strange. Sometimes tanks just get out of whack though. Do the water change regiment I gave you and you should be fine. If the numbers stay bad up the volume you change each time.

You can add some extra prime on the non wc days that would be fine. That's why I love prime its not a bad thing if you add some extra. I use it when my back goes out on me and I can't do my water changes that week.

Fern wrote:

Hmmm strange. Sometimes tanks just get out of whack though. Do the water change regiment I gave you and you should be fine. If the numbers stay bad up the volume you change each time.

You can add some extra prime on the non wc days that would be fine. That's why I love prime its not a bad thing if you add some extra. I use it when my back goes out on me and I can't do my water changes that week.

good stuff

Why thank you alan, I try

Nitra zorb, Ammonia chips, Marineland White Diamond ammonia neutralizing crystals, Seachem De-Nitrate.....ect when used per the instructions in a filter that is set up to use packet type media or has a media cannister for loose material, will reduce ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

I never liked using those, when they get used up its quick and you end up with a bad spike. Plus they could starve some of the existing bacteria, you want a little touch of ammonia and whatnot in there so that the bacterial colony's grow to accommodate the bio load.

Fern....you gotta do what ever floats your boat.....................When you have a spike that is killing fish and doing water changes isn't working the resins are life savers............Being that there aren't many anaerobic bacteria in an aquarium to naturally reduce nitrates the nitrate level slowly rises.....The resins can be used with water changes to get the high nitrate to lower levels quicker.........It is good if tank maintenance and water changes will keep nitrate below 20 to 40, but it does not always work out............One should check for nitrate at least once a month.....Ammonia and nitrite are easier to control than nitrate, where in lies the problem......Your beneficial bacterial colonies are nitrate factories!

True, but I would hold off and see if the water changes do the trick or not.