Nitrates will NOT Leave

[Scottyhorse]

I have a 25 gallon medium planted tank. Fast growing stems plants mostly. My stock is not finished though I am thinking of trading some fish out to have a light bio load and bump up my schools.
I have an Aqeuon 30 Quiet Flow Filter. Stock includes:
2 German Rams
5 Cory Cats
2 Platy's
2 Guppies
2 Neon Tetras
2 Pristella Tetras
4 Gold Barbs
I am thinking of getting rid of the Gold Barbs, maybe the guppies too.

I did a 75% water change last night, tested the water, and the nitrates are somewhere between 40-180, it's really too hard to tell those apart!

Any ideas why my nitrates are so high?

 

[armymp327]

nitrates are too high because you are overstocked.

also have you tested your tap water for nitrates? nitrates tend to rise in some peoples water during spring because of the water run-off from many farms that use alot of nitrate based ferts

 

[Scottyhorse]

No nitrates in tap. I don't agree I am overstocked either. My original plan was the Rams, 15 total schooling fish, and the cories. Yes, I've added a couple extra fish, but that shouldn't have such a huge impact on the tank. I have talked to lot's of experienced fish keepers on here, they said that should be fine if I keep up on water changes, which I do 50% per week.

 

[Zimmanski]

No nitrates in tap. I don't agree I am overstocked either. My original plan was the Rams, 15 total schooling fish, and the cories. Yes, I've added a couple extra fish, but that shouldn't have such a huge impact on the tank. I have talked to lot's of experienced fish keepers on here, they said that should be fine if I keep up on water changes, which I do 50% per week.

My thought is if there are no nitrates in your tank then it must be the result of your stock, and with 50% weekly WCs then I think that may be proof enough of overstocking. I'm not trying to be critical at all here, but some of the fish you have do have a higher bioload than others their size and if you wanted a ram pair with a schooling fish why not do that? If you really want your nitrates down and won't rehome some fish then try live plants. Something like wisteria or anarcharis, they consume nitrate pretty well

 

[HN1]

What do you feed and how often?

 

[Cynic]

You're way over stocked whether you agree or not

 

[Coyne]

I know AQAdvisor isnt the be-all-end-all of stocking law, but its not a bad guideline. I punched in the info you provided just to see what came up. I wasnt sure what kind of Corys you had, so I just put in Albinos. Your profile also mentions some shrimp and snails in that tank, but I wasnt sure how up-to-date it was so I didnt add them in.

AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

If you do have shrimp and or snails in there, it may be worth it to add them in as well and see what it comes up with.

 

[Convict2161]

Didn't read the whole thread so my apologies if this was mentioned.

I have a very very overstocked 75 gallon African cichlid tank and my nitrates are in check. I can go 2 weeks before things get out of hand and even then it's not crazy.

You may be overstocked but we can still help get your nitrates down and keep them down. A few things.

What's your filtration like? How often do you feed and how much? What's your water change schedule like and at what % weekly are you changing.

What test kit are you using? API? Have you taken your water to your LFS to have it checked to compare?

I run 2 aqua clear 110's on my 75 gallon and do 25% weekly water changes and once a month I do a 50%+. That seems to be the trick for my tank. I feed once a day, NLS sinking pellets and watch to see how much they get and how much settles to the the ground. Once the ground crew comes out I'm good.

I use purigen, sponges, poly fill, and bio max in both filters.

 

[Cactuspixie]

I'd either change the water twice weekly or add purigen to your filter. Or both