Fish-in Cycle Completed But High Nitrates

[Squall]

Finally I have completed my fish-in cycle with a few glitches (ich infestation in the 3rd week or so that cost the lives of a few fishes ). I take this moment to thank this forum in giving great and helpful information.

My cycle completed last Saturday and took about 6 weeks. But my nitrates are a bit high right now. It's reading between 20-40 ppm (tough to distinguish from the color chart, I'm using API master kit). It was like that for 3 days now. Ammo is 0ppm, Nitrites is 0ppm, ph around 7.6 and temp is at 78F.

I have a 60 gallon (4') tank with 2 filters, 1 Marineland penguin 350 and 1 AC70. I am currently overstocked right now, I have 2-3" blood parrots, 2-3" red gold severums, a 3 inch geo brasiliensis, a 1.5 inch green terror, 1-2" albino BN pleco, 1-2" rubberlip pleco and 1-3" yellow prince tiger pleco. I will weed out this stocking list depending on the behaviour and aggression of the fishes and have a long term plan of upgrading to a 125 gallon tank in the next 6 months or so. I will also be scheduling weekly 50% PWCs to keep my levels in check.

I have done a 50% PWC this morning to bring the Nitrate level to half of its value right now. My question is what does make the Nitrate level so high? The fishes are still small and I feed sparingly once a day so I think the bioload is still good for now. What can I do to keep it down? Thanks in advance and AA is the best!

 

[librarygirl]

The overstocking is probably doing it; nitrates will increase quicker than they would in a properly stocked tank. At least you're cycled though! Water changes are the only thing that will keep nitrates reduced. If they are rising quickly you may need to increase your water changes (50% 2-3 times a week for example). Nitrates are less toxic than ammonia and nitrite but it's still good to keep them as low as you can (<40 is usually recommended, <20 is ideal).

 

[Wy Renegade]

The overstocking is probably doing it; nitrates will increase quicker than they would in a properly stocked tank. At least you're cycled though! Water changes are the only thing that will keep nitrates reduced. If they are rising quickly you may need to increase your water changes (50% 2-3 times a week for example). Nitrates are less toxic than ammonia and nitrite but it's still good to keep them as low as you can (<40 is usually recommended, <20 is ideal).

Correct, in an unplanted tank. Plants will also help reduce the nitrates, as will most algae ~ which may or may not be a good thing depending on your aquarium.

 

[Squall]

Thanks guys. I am not a fan of live plants, because honestly I think I won't be a good aquatic gardener . But if I do decide on adding plants, which one do you think I could start with and what changes I need to do in my tank?

For now I will watch my water parameters everyday and do 50% PWCs to keep the Nitrates in check. I'll probably also do less feeding like every other day or less food given everyday. What do you think?