I'm new to this forum so i'd like to start with a hello to everyone. That being said, my tank is 120 gallon 48"x24"x24". I set it up, filled it with water. Ran about 5 days before i went to lfs to get some live plants. The lfs owner there talked me out of a fishless cycle and into a fish cycle. I guess being impatient, i was vunerable enough to get sucked right in. So i put, a 6 inch poly(birchir), 2 inch nandus nandus, and a 4-5 inch gar characin in the tank. The advise was like 12 inches of fish to cycle. The nitrites are crazy high, and i know why. I also know that now i have to do daily water changes which i didnt want to do.
The main issues i guess are, even with a 50% water change the nitrites are still up. Fish were fine the first day but now the gar characin and nandus nandus look like they're hurting. The poly is the only one that is fine. Using seachem prime and stability. Testing ammonias, nitrate, nitrite, chlorine, hardness, and ph. I feel horrible for the two fish. Is there anything else i can do to help this. The nandus nandus looks as though he might tough it out, the poly doesnt look like he's going anywhere for a long time, and the gar characin looks as though he is all messed up. He flaps as though he is floating but cant pick his nose up. I know the nitritesare toxic but are they permenently damaging. Please no one freak out on me, i only put them in there because i was told they were hardy fish and can take the nitrite spikes "no problem".
The main issues i guess are, even with a 50% water change the nitrites are still up. Fish were fine the first day but now the gar characin and nandus nandus look like they're hurting. The poly is the only one that is fine. Using seachem prime and stability. Testing ammonias, nitrate, nitrite, chlorine, hardness, and ph. I feel horrible for the two fish. Is there anything else i can do to help this. The nandus nandus looks as though he might tough it out, the poly doesnt look like he's going anywhere for a long time, and the gar characin looks as though he is all messed up. He flaps as though he is floating but cant pick his nose up. I know the nitritesare toxic but are they permenently damaging. Please no one freak out on me, i only put them in there because i was told they were hardy fish and can take the nitrite spikes "no problem".