Nitrate Levels WAY too high!! Help!!

[starmagz]

Hello.

I have a female Reeves turtle and a couple of Neon Tetras in a 45-gallon tank with two large filters, a bubbler, a heater, a thermometer, fake plants, pebble substrate, and places to hide.

The rest of the Neon Tetras died within 24 hours. (I know, I know) I used one of the test strips to test the parameters and all is well except the nitrate. The nitrate levels were said to be 250 mg/l !!! Over the course of 2 days, I have done (overall) probably a 50% water change. I cleaned one of my large filters as well. I then used another strip and it looks like it says 100 mg/l. I've had my turtle for approximately 2 years (with the tank running that long) and I got the Neon Tetras yesterday night.

I know strips aren't very accurate, but being in Japan, we don't have much of a choice. Please help! The two Neons that remain seem to be doing fine. They're swimming around and seem to be eating at algae.

What do I do? Thank you!

 

[Fresh2o]

I would continue to perform water changes daily until you bring it down to 10-20 ppm (not sure how the strip results convert mg/l to ppm).
What is your normal water change routine (% removed/replaced per week)?

 

[coralbandit]

% of water changed is the % the nitrate will be reduced..
So with 100 still in tank you need to remove 75% to get down to 25..
If not done all at once then you will need to perform 2 water changes at 50% to get same results..100 -50 =50 …. 50 -25 = 25.... While 100 -75= 25...
The math is pretty simple really...

 

[starmagz]

I've been doing about 10 or 15 percent water changes twice a day every day pretty much since that first post. The two fish are still alive and the strips still say around 100 which is not very good. The fish don't seem to be declining but I am concerned with something.

The Neon Tetras are hanging around the bottom of the tank. I haven't been able to feed them at all since they're not exactly coming to the surface and when they do come up, they don't see the food I put in. I dropped in an algae wafer which is meant for plecos and they were literally right on top of it but didn't see it. What can I do to ensure they eat that won't stress them out? There is algae on the glass of the tank and probably some leftover particles in the substrate from my turtle's food, though I try to remove the crumbs in the substrate.

Thank you!

 

[Fresh2o]

Water changes at 10-15% are only going to reduce the nitrate at best by that amount. However, you need to factor in the amount of waste the turtle and pleco are producing.
What was your routine before the first post?

 

[starmagz]

Oh. I don't have a pleco. I just have pleco algae pellets that I thought might work. But I understand your point.

Before the first post, my routine was 50% water change twice a month and clean the two filters once a month. Once a month, I would also clean all the decorations inside the tank and scrub away algae on the glass.