help on my nitrites and nitrates

[justine]

i posted the other day about my fish dying and yesterday i tested my water readings and my ammonia was a little high, and my nitrites were
5. nitrates are 40. so i did my partial water change like yous said removing 5 gallons, (since i have only a 30 gallon tank) i added my ammonia clear. now i just came home from work and my
ammonia is gone at 0, my nitrites are 5 and my nitrates are 40. nothing changed and now another damsel is swimming upside down ready to die. and the water looks a tad bit cloudy. what did i do wrong??? and why is my readings out of wack?????
how do i fix them?????????????????? my temp is about 78-80 degrees and my spec grav. is 1.025 and the salt is good! please help me.
justine

 

[pitons]

A couple of questions:
1) How long has your tank been set up?
2) What are you using for circulation?
3) Describe the equipment and process you are using for water changes.

 

[justine]

thank you for responding!!!!!!!
my tank has been set up since december,(the beginning) it cycled until about the 3rd or 4th week in january. i then introduced some fish to get the tank established.
i have a under ground gravel system with 2 power heads. and my filter is a second nature wet/ dry filter.
i changed my water with distilled water, i mixed it and let it set, airated it and then added it this morning. from there everything got worse!!!!!
suggestions?????

 

[stupid_naso]

I used to have UGF too, I took it out like two weeks ago. Many believe that UGF can cause nitrate build up. I just don't want to take that risk, so I took it out. Other than making my tank looks better, taking it out has not improved my water quality singificantly.
sebae_the_clown

 

[justine]

i cycled my tank with with black mollies, the lfs said to use these and gradually convert them to saltwater, cuz they are cheap if i loose them, well i did after 2 weeks then i got damsels.
what is substrate???????
i will lower my water temp to 72 degrees. how do i lower the sg to 1.022???? just add fresh water????
and i woke up today and another damsel is dead and the water is very cloudy still. all i have left is 2 damsels, 1 shrimp, 1 urchin, 1 hawk fish and 1 anemoie.

 

[beth]

Don't lower your specific gravity, your salinity or your water temperature. You added too many fish at once to a new, SMALL tank, and now you are experiencing the results.
Do 50% water changes until the situation clears.

 

[jamesp]

Substrate is what you have on the bottom of your tank. Crushed Corel, Live Sand, etc.

 

[justine]

okay thanks, i have crushed coral at the bottom of my tank. my water cleared up now, but the last 2 fish are still not doing well, everything else is though. i will do another water change this weekend. and then should i just wait till everything clears up. i will test all my water levels later and let you know what they are.

 

[bt_1999_66]

Justine,
Was this all new equipment...? Tank, Wet/Dry etc...

 

[justine]

no i had this set up when i had a fresh water tank. the crushed coral and under ground filter is new but the wet dry filter is not.

 

[justine]

my current reading as of 7:00pm are 8ph, .25 ammonia, 1 nitrites, and 5 nitrates.