Nitrate Trouble

[jeeptree]

Ok Guys sorry about not updating you earlier I was having password problems "stupid caps" lol. anyway

I did a huge water change I would say more then 50% I also moved my angel out of the 55 and put him in my 20 tall after a close look he was showing signs of stress( Theres a Da moment for ya). Anyway the levels are looking much better, I may add more water changes to my calendar (one weekends and one mid week)

 

[krap101]

Sorry for being late, but does anyone else think the fish would be dead with nitrates at 160?

Anyways.. with anything showing up at 160.. My first thought would be dead fish somewhere.. Next thought is when you cleaned up the gravel, you stirred up some decaying food down there, and that's why the level is quite high. If you haven't already, please do a fish count

 

[jeeptree]

yeah everyone is there. Im not missing any fish. I took everything out of my take but the fish so I would have seen them. I will stop and get a liquid tests for ammonia and nitrites tomorrow. I have them for every thing else so whats two more. Oh and at 160 that was the first thing I though other then what the F is going on. lol
my question is how are the levels getting this high in a week and is there anything I can do outside of water changes?

 

[krap101]

If your tank really is at 160 (that is really really high.. obviously) the most likely source is your tap..

Aside from water changes, you probably want some sort of stem plant like anarcharis, hornwort or some hygro. They suck up nitrates.

Oh, and 50 ammonia would kill within minutes, so maybe your tank is actually okay (don't remember anything dying in your tanks, but I'm getting confused between the two posters ><)

 

[spoonman]

Overfeeding usually is a big contributer too. Fish will always act hungry. Dont give in to those little suckers! I find a good gravel vac and consistant water changes keep everything in line.

 

[icedone]

I might have over looked it if you said or someone suggested already but how ofter do you clean your filter out and run your filter without anything in it,no carbon,padding,filters and try testing in a couple days.I am not into freshwater but my salt had trates at 80ppm (3yrs old) and I tried that and my trates dropped to 4ppm and have not raised in 2 months.The sponges and filters are a big trate trap.

 

[jeeptree]

although I just changed all my filtration I have never just ran the filter with out anything in it ( sponges, carbon n such) I may do this. I did how ever do a good cleaning (with a new toothbrush) inside the filter n intake about 2 months ago. as far as plants I have anarcharis in there from the start and within the last month they have really started growing to the point where I have to cut them in half ever week And iv been putting the other half in my 20g tall. As soon as my woman returns with my car I will go to the store and get some liquid test for the ammonia and nitrites. I think I may have some bad strips.

 

[krap101]

I think ice is referring to a bacteria killoff in your filter if you rinsed the media out with non-dechlorinated water.

 

[jeeptree]

yeah I just used tap water to clean the filter out. looking back I thing that was a dumb move. I killed off all the good stuff didn't I nice, Go me.

 

[InfernoST]

Are you using a canister filter? If so you must clean it out all of the debris every 2 months and change/clean all pads every two weeks. I clean off my filter media every two months during a water change in a tub with water from the tank, all that's needed is to gently wash off all of the debris from the media then put it back in the filter (after the filter itself has been cleaned with de-chlorinated water) with new pads and if you are running carbon replace it too. One note on carbon, carbon does a great job at filtering however it will become saturated with the material it filtered out and begin to release it back into the tank causing your tank parameters to go nuts. I don't use carbon for this reason. Also do yourself a favor and get the liquid test kits those strips are horrible.

 

[jeeptree]

Inferno: Thanks for the info. I will do this asap. and the liquid tests are on there way home. Im starting to believe that the readings are off.

 

[InfernoST]

No problem. Canisters are awesome but if not looked after they can become your worst enemy. Let us know how you make out.

 

[jeeptree]

Results

OK guys here is my testimony on the test strips...
I went out today and got API ammonia liquid test kit.
When I got home I went strait to my tank and tested the water while I was waiting for the results I also puled out my test strips and decided to test the water with that to..
here is my results.
With the liquid test = .25 ammonia but could have been .0 as well its a very small difference in color
With the test strips = 3.0 ammonia

I was shocked to see such a big difference in results. To say the lest I will never go back. Once again thank you all for your input. Even tho I am mad at the fact that the test were so off. I am happy that I decided to write about it on here I still learned that I need to start pulling my filter apart and clean it (not with tap water!!!) and now what to do with out a question if my ammonia ever gets that high.

 

[InfernoST]

OK guys here is my testimony on the test strips...
I went out today and got API ammonia liquid test kit.
When I got home I went strait to my tank and tested the water while I was waiting for the results I also puled out my test strips and decided to test the water with that to..
here is my results.
With the liquid test = .25 ammonia but could have been .0 as well its a very small difference in color
With the test strips = 3.0 ammonia

I was shocked to see such a big difference in results. To say the lest I will never go back. Once again thank you all for your input. Even tho I am mad at the fact that the test were so off. I am happy that I decided to write about it on here I still learned that I need to start pulling my filter apart and clean it (not with tap water!!!) and now what to do with out a question if my ammonia ever gets that high.

That's great news, Now you can sit back and enjoy them knowing you have the right tools now to diagnose and fix problems. Two theories I follow is if it's too good to be true it usually is and if it's too easy there is something wrong. I'm glad we were able to help you out, Good luck to you, take care.

 

[millimowze]

I am having very similar issues with my 10 gal. Test on a regular basis, water changes very frequent and have used easy balance with nitraban several times...cleaned with gravel vaccuum and rinsed my fake plants..still very high I am just worrying though doesn't doing a lot of water changes really stress the fish out? They don't act differently or look sick despite the fact my nitrates are high but I still worry about them when I'm disturbing the tank trying to fix this problem

 

[millimowze]

Wow actually I ordered an api master liquid test kit online and it should be arriving in a couple days..glad to see someone else saw a big difference from the paper strips to the liquid maybe my nitrates aren't as bad as they've been reading...well see!

 

[millimowze]

Wow actually I ordered an api master liquid test kit online and it should be arriving in a couple days..glad to see someone else saw a big difference from the paper strips to the liquid maybe my nitrates aren't as bad as they've been reading...well see!

 

[InfernoST]

Wow actually I ordered an api master liquid test kit online and it should be arriving in a couple days..glad to see someone else saw a big difference from the paper strips to the liquid maybe my nitrates aren't as bad as they've been reading...well see!

Don't do the strips. Let us know what the liquid test kit tells you. If you do your PWC's properly it shouldn't upset the fish that much.