Insane API readings

[Speed]

Need advice on levels before I go crazy here.
75 gallon community freshwater tank, a few small assorted live plants, weekly wc's of 25-30%. Use Prime conditioner weekly & test with API kit. Tank has been running with fish for nearly 7 months, light 8 hrs a day. Feed twice a day, not excessively I dont believe. Anyhow, just checked levels before I done my wkly change & I dont understand whats going on, makes no sense to me. Ammonia 4.0ppm, nitrite 0, nitrate .. Idk - off the charts, well above 160ppm. Was thinking 50 or even 90 %wc but why is ammonia & nitrate so high but 0 nitrate. Tap water is 20ppm nitrate btw.

 

[Speed]

I just done a 90 % WC, im going to keep an eye on levels throughout week, and cut back on feeding and hope this fixes it. Water was clear, all fished seemed fine but levels weren't. Odd levels with 7 month old tank with at least 20% wc.

 

[treemanone2003]

API doesn't have the best rating for a lot of hobbyists. There are others that swear by them. But, what does your community consist of, What's your filtration, what's your water out of the tap, on city or well water, do you age it, etc ?

 

[Rodeo one]

What other brand of test kit is more reliable ?

 

[Speed]

API doesn't have the best rating for a lot of hobbyists. There are others that swear by them. But, what does your community consist of, What's your filtration, what's your water out of the tap, on city or well water, do you age it, etc ?

Filtration is 2 HOB both rated for 55g I believe, water is tap water, no aging it, just adding Prime Conditioner & adding water. Never had any issues (or this extreme anyway). Currently holding 2 plecos, 2 giant danios, 2 smaller danios, , 2 yellow skirt tetras, 4 Cory cats, 1 African dwarf frog, and 4 small clown loaches. Sound like a lot but it looks extremely under stocked but also know some will get big. Not sure why ammonia & Nitrate is so high with 0 nitrites.

 

[Speed]

What other brand of test kit is more reliable ?

I also have the paper test trips but find them absolute junk & never use. API seems to be accurate & easy to read

 

[treemanone2003]

What other brand of test kit is more reliable ?

It is my understanding that some folks highly rate Seachem, but I have no experience personally. And the same goes for Salifert. I've also heard that RedSea is great but I think they're only SW.

 

[treemanone2003]

From the sounds of it, it doesn't seem like too heavy of a bioload in there. Check the expiration of the bottles and also test your tap. You may find that is the problem.

 

[Speed]

From the sounds of it, it doesn't seem like too heavy of a bioload in there. Check the expiration of the bottles and also test your tap. You may find that is the problem.

Bottles expire in 2018. Have 2 other tanks (20 &40g) & good readings. Levels from tap- ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20ppm. Im stumped on what wld cause those reading so high except a 0 on nitrite, but done a 90-95% wc to get it under control & will watch the feedings. our landlord pays the water bill & hes asking questions already if i have a water leak ?. He'd die if he knew we had a fish tank, ecs 3 of them. One of them kinda landlords. Well ty for the help.

 

[jlk]

Need advice on levels before I go crazy here.
75 gallon community freshwater tank, a few small assorted live plants, weekly wc's of 25-30%. Use Prime conditioner weekly & test with API kit. Tank has been running with fish for nearly 7 months, light 8 hrs a day. Feed twice a day, not excessively I dont believe. Anyhow, just checked levels before I done my wkly change & I dont understand whats going on, makes no sense to me. Ammonia 4.0ppm, nitrite 0, nitrate .. Idk - off the charts, well above 160ppm. Was thinking 50 or even 90 %wc but why is ammonia & nitrate so high but 0 nitrate. Tap water is 20ppm nitrate btw.

Did you by chance test the ph prior to the big wc? Have you been maintaining your filters regularly?

In your pic, the ammonia appears to be 1-2ppm and nitrates appear very red but pictures can be deceiving based upon the device they are viewed from.

It's likely that with a very minimal wc schedule that your nitrates climbed to extreme levels and your ph/kh/gh levels crashed resulting in a spike in ammonia. This is why nitrite read zero. It may take a little while for your nitrifying bacteria to recover but they should fairly quickly. Increasing your wcs to no less than 50% weekly should help keeps thing stable for awhile (higher amounts may be necessary-base it off of your tests) but you will likely see your nitrate levels start to creep up more quickly as your fish continue to grow. I would keep tabs on your parameters in this tank and continue to increase your wc schedule accordingly to maintain tank stability and health.

 

[Speed]

Filters are cleaned regularly but an on going battle not wanting to get rid of the good bacteria. I swish them around in old fishwater but not sure what to do with the gunk build up around them. Starting to see an Algae bloom on inside of glass, even with 2 plecos. I didnt test the ph lvls because .. Honestly dont know what to do about it. Ph is always very high even through the tap water, and dont know how to control ph or all the constant swings the ph can do. My nitrates were beet red, off the charts, and my ammonia was 4.0 with 0 nitrites.

 

[Speed]

Also, just a thought & I know many of you will disagree but its always worked for me before, but a couple days ago, i did take the long filtration tubes that goes into the water to suck it up, pulled them off, soaked them in bleach water & scrubbed with toothbrush to remove all the nasty looking build up inside, algae & idk what all. Everything was rinsed thoroughly and dried and put back to work. Not sure if that could of affected anything with my levels, but a thought.

 

[jlk]

Scrubbing out the intake tubes is fine but I would personally skip the bleach next time. Tap water is fine. I scrub out the intakes, housings, etc typically once a month because quite a bit of debris builds up inside of them.

In respect to algae problems, plecos are not going to solve them. What type of lighting do you have and how long do you run the lights?

Even a minimal light period combined with excessive nitrate (and likely phosphate levels) are more than sufficient to create an algae headache. Water changes, reducing photo periods and possibly considering Excel or peroxide to spot treat should help to bring things under control (depending on the algae type). Hope this helps!

 

[Speed]

Yes, thank you, been much help. Im using a dual LED light strip with a timer set on 8 hour intervals. Normally will turn on the blue moon lights at night for a couple hours b4 bed to relax and enjoy watching the fish. Ive never scrubbed out my filter housing even though it desperately needs it, because i was afraid of losing the beneficial bacteria. Now I know i got more to clean ?. . Wait thats a ? lol.

 

[Speed]

Just thought id throw in the algae thing while Im at it. It is all over the outside filter housing, on top of the glass lids, the top of the lights, had to scrub it off the walls behind the tank. Comes off pretty easy, some type of light brown flaky stuff. Inside the tank is different. Looking closely at the tank, you can see green "spots" all over the inside glass. Not so much the decor. I have a cleaning wand and put excessive force scrubbing one spot at a time & very little is coming off. For now, i added some type of algae control treatment until nxt wc where i can get in there more and do lots of scrubbing. Hard to keep tanks away from windows in my house?. Im exhausted. 3 tanks will be the death of me.

 

[treemanone2003]

Did you by chance test the ph prior to the big wc? Have you been maintaining your filters regularly?

In your pic, the ammonia appears to be 1-2ppm and nitrates appear very red but pictures can be deceiving based upon the device they are viewed from.

It's likely that with a very minimal wc schedule that your nitrates climbed to extreme levels and your ph/kh/gh levels crashed resulting in a spike in ammonia. This is why nitrite read zero. It may take a little while for your nitrifying bacteria to recover but they should fairly quickly. Increasing your wcs to no less than 50% weekly should help keeps thing stable for awhile (higher amounts may be necessary-base it off of your tests) but you will likely see your nitrate levels start to creep up more quickly as your fish continue to grow. I would keep tabs on your parameters in this tank and continue to increase your wc schedule accordingly to maintain tank stability and health.

+1 here. I was trying to rule out any small culprit but this was my next thought. Limiting WC's is not the ideal thing as BB is not "in" the water itself, but at the same time it sort of is. I can understand the landlord thing as well, lol. Mine doesn't question the water bill since I told him I will be putting in a tank. I also have as part of my ins policy, a special rider to cover water damage from a tank leak. As well, I work outside for my job and I do plenty of laundry and take lots of showers. He just doesn't know I have 5 tanks ??. I do 50% WC's on the 40 and 20 daily and 80% every other day on the others.

 

[Pandicorn]

Bah, I hear ya! My API kit is fine, works for my 45, but my 10? Oh no, apparently I've had 8ppm ammonia for about a month now. ...


Cycling 45 Gallon. ???

 

[Speed]

+1 here. I was trying to rule out any small culprit but this was my next thought. Limiting WC's is not the ideal thing as BB is not "in" the water itself, but at the same time it sort of is. I can understand the landlord thing as well, lol. Mine doesn't question the water bill since I told him I will be putting in a tank. I also have as part of my ins policy, a special rider to cover water damage from a tank leak. As well, I work outside for my job and I do plenty of laundry and take lots of showers. He just doesn't know I have 5 tanks ??. I do 50% WC's on the 40 and 20 daily and 80% every other day on the others.

I think may be on to something. Even though I do a 20-30 % wc a week, not sure thats "minimal". But come to think of it, even though the tank is 7 months old, ive kept a lot of fish, but ive also lost quite a few fish too & I finally got the tank cycled I believe but never done the big 90 %wc initially. Got it cycled & started doing regular changes. Im obviously new & learning a great deal still, but I would say youll are correct & this cld be the root of the problem.

 

[treemanone2003]

I don't think many will disagree about WC's. Actually I know a lot won't. I've done full 100% on my $150 a piece fish in QT and have had no problems at all. They love it really. Easiest way to think about it is like taking a shower. How many times have your worn clothes in there ? I bet none. The BB. Is in your filter and some may be stuck to the sides of the glass, but that's a highly debatable opinion that I have no proof of. Spelling from experience, I know water changes are key. Both large volume and often. I mean just look at these in my QT.

 

[Speed]

Just got ready for my 2nd tanks weekly WC. Done readings b4 hand & the problem is the same in both tanks ?. Ammonia 8ppm, nitrites 0, and nitrates... Blood red - off the charts. Going to to do a 90 % wc on it as i done the 75g last night. Im doing weekly 25-30% wc. Possibly over feeding or too much cleaning ?. This is absolutely overwhelming. Tank has been running for 6-7 mos. this one happens to be 40g cold water goldfish, 75 gal community tropical with same results. I wake up testing and reading online google all day & watching videos till bedtime. This cant be that hard to have a dern fish. Over 1/2 a yr with weekly wc's & this is the result ??. All 3 tanks prolly 5k dollars into this & I still dont know what the heck is going on. No nitrites any any tanks but all else is off the charts. So dern confused. 3 fishtanks with all accessories - $200. Jk but getting to that point.