DD DDD wrote:
I tested my pond water. I have Nitrite at 10.0 Nitrate at 40 and ph at
7.4 and alkalinity at 120 hardness at 120 Ammonia at 0.50. I am bringing
a water sample to my pet store. He checks it free. But Im worried. The
fish seem ok. But the small baby 1 inch fish are dying. I thought it was
lack of oxygen because I dont have the waterfall installed yet. The fish
seem happy. Last night they seem to gulp at the surface for air. But
then in the morning they are hiding under a built flat rock on top of a
pillar. I did a 20% water change after the reading. Im worried The water
is toxic. The pond is 3 weeks old. Thank you

Nitrite keeps fish from carrying oxygen in their blood - that's why your
fish are gulping at the surface or hiding. You can either use Pond
Prime or AmQuel+ to detoxify ammonia and nitrite. Another helpful
treatment for nitrite toxicity is to use a small amount of salt and the
Cl- ion will counter the toxicity somewhat. You need 6x the nitrite
concentration for it to work, so use 1/2 cup per 250 gallons of water.
This low concentration will not hurt your plants or anything else.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com