Loaches Online Forum

Ok,

So still figuring out this whole fish ownership thing out. I have changed the water 40-50% twice now, with a week between changes. My ammonia levels are now in the safe zone (yay!), but nitrite and nitrate are still up there. Any suggestions? This was caused by overfeeding (the fish salesperson recommended waaay more food than these two golden dojos actually needed). Feeding is cut back, water is changed, dojos acting normally...do I need to put some chemical removers in there, or just let the filter + bacteria handle it? Thanks for any advice!

Water changes, proper feeding amounts, plants, and not overstocking the tank are the best ways to deal with nitrates. If you have any nitrite, your tank is not fully cycled and should not have fish in it yet. Look up "fishless cycle" on this web site.

Yes, the chemical you need is dihydrogen monoxide.
Horrid stuff, can be deadly.
http://www.dhmo.org/
All right, enough jokes.

Keep up the water changes so the NO2 stays under 1 ppm.
Add a little bit of salt (sodium chloride) to the water. This will minimize the amount of nitrite that crosses the gills.
The recipe is 1 teaspoon of salt per 20 gallons. This is a very low dose, just fine for salt sensitive fish and plants.
When you do water changes dose the new water to keep the level stable. If you do a 10 gallon water change then add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
When the nitrite is no longer present, then quit adding salt. Regular water changes will gradually remove it.

Thanks for the info all!