Issue with my freshwater 10gal tank, plz help

Question
We've had our freshwater 10gal tank up and running for about 2-3 months, we origionally had about 4-5 fish (danios, glofish, pleco).My fiance decided to add more fish to the tank and she added to many (about 8-9) at one time. Are ammonia level went sky high, but we got it under control with bacteria. Now the Nitrite level is between a 0.5-10.0! We've added salt, done partial water changes, added Nitraban (per someone at Petco), but our fish keep on dying everyday, were now down to about 4-5 fish again, & we're not sure what to do about the Nitrite level, the ammonia level is still fine.Please help, we feel bad that we keep losing our fish.

Dave

Answer
Because your tank is new and the addition of new fish, including the water changes and ammonia spike, the tank has started to re-cycle. This means the tank is trying to neutralize itself and until it does your nitrite levels are going to be a problem. While you have been doing water change I think you need to do a larger water change as this will help neutralize everything. For example, do about a 50% water change. You can get a product called Stress Coat and add this to the tank as this will help re-coat the fish and reduce stress on them, but DO NOT overtreat with this treatment or the water will become cloudy. Do your water change, add the stress coat, and wait a day or two. Test again and see if anything has dropped. If the nitrite levels are still high do about a 30% water change, adding back 1/3 of a dose of the Stress Coat. Then wait about one week and see how things are. Nitrites can be very tricky and difficult to minimize in freshwater tanks so it may take alittle time. Once the levels are lower this means the tank is beginning to regain its natural rhythm. As for the fish, honestly it depends on how stressed they are as to if they will survive. Just make sure to declorinate the water. When doing your water change, try not to over-stress the fish from the movement. Good luck. I hope it begins to lower. Let me know if you run into any problems or have any more questions.