Nitrites problem

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brew86uk

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Messages
45
Hi ppl I have had my tank setup 8months now I have lost 2fish in the time one kissing gourami fish and a dwarf gourami fish my nitrites out of the tap is 20ppm I do a 30% w/c every 2weeks and clean my canister filter out once a month I use api tap safe and my tank is 45g and I only have about 10fish all medium size and one big pleco 7/8"" in size any tips on getting this to go down showing 80ppm at the moment ?? IMG_2177.jpg
 
bre...

Work up to the point you change 50 to 60 percent of the tank water every week. I don't know of a tank problem that can't be fixed by simply removing and replacing most of the tank water every week.

B
 
bre...

Work up to the point you change 50 to 60 percent of the tank water every week. I don't know of a tank problem that can't be fixed by simply removing and replacing most of the tank water every week.

B



Ok thanks for help will try that
 
Water changes aren't going to help if you're adding nitrites. Do you know what's happening with that? Maybe call the water department and see what's happening, because there should not be nitrites in your tap water.
 
Water changes aren't going to help if you're adding nitrites. Do you know what's happening with that? Maybe call the water department and see what's happening, because there should not be nitrites in your tap water.



Sorry it's nitrates lol [emoji85][emoji85]
 
I agree to test the water coming directly out of the tap for nitrate levels. Let us know what you find :)
 
Okay so that's good news. It's high, but I've seen sky high nitrates out of the tap which makes for a real challenge.

Simple answer is water changes. Lots of them. In my opinion / experience...there is no such thing as too many water changes as long as you're using conditioned, temp matched (at least close) water.

I've had aquariums for the last 20 years, and it's a religion to do a 50% PWC at minimum once a week. Hell, I'd do them daily if I had the time and willpower :)

For simple math, start by doing large enough and frequent enough changes this week to get down to your baseline out of the tap. From there you'll have to decide if you're able to keep up the water change regiment to keep nitrates at or below 20ppm, otherwise start looking at options like planting with nutrient hungry plants (plant experts here could give you recommendations...Water Sprite comes to mind), otherwise running media in your filter to absorb some of the nitrate. I'm not a fan of chemicals personally, but it's an option.

If you're up for the challenge, plants combined with frequent PWC's is the best option, but if you haven't done a planted tank before make sure you do your homework. They're amazing, but definitely add another dimension which takes time and energy.
 
I had plants before and they just die after 2months and who wants to do water changes everyday
 
I had plants before and they just die after 2months and who wants to do water changes everyday



Totally get it, but step one is getting them back down to your tap water level. From there, I think a couple big ones (50%) per week should be okay.

Over the next few days I'd do several though to drop them down.
 
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