Thilligoss73
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I'm having problems getting my nitrates under control in my 60 gallon community tank. It's stocked with 2 medium Angels, 1 large blue Gourami, 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 1 Cremesicle Molly, and 8 platys. From what i can tell that isn't unreasonably stocked for a 60 gallon? I do weekly 30% - 40% water changes with a gravel vacuum/siphon, but every time I check my water, I get the same results. I've monitored my feeding closely, and only feed what will be eaten in about a minute (60 seconds) time. Everything is low, except my nitrates. Ammonia is 0ppm, nitrite is 0 ppm, but my nitrate is off the charts! The highest my kit will measure is 160 ppm, and that's the color I get every time! I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing seems to get the nitrates under control. I've tried increasing my water changes to every 3 days, changing more of the water, but nitrates are still off the chart. I've even put 5-6 live plants in the tank, because I've been told that live plants will use nitrates as food and help bring them down, but they've been no help. The plants are small (2-3 inches high) as I just purchased them two weeks ago, but I've seen no noticeable difference. Now in addition to the nitrate problem, I'm also having problems avoiding damaging the live plants when I gravel vac! I should say that I haven't had any deaths in the tank in about 8 months, so I don't know exactly how much of a real problem it is, but it really bothers me that although the fish seem fine, it may be an unhealthy home for the fish!