I'm a bit nervous putting this out on the internet to be judged, I've got issues that make it extremely difficult for me to push myself to do water changes every week, but this isn't an excuse. I have these animals, and I really need to push myself going forward or I need to get rid of them. So I'm going to try pushing myself, the last thing I want is my pets that I love to die.
So here's the deal. I've not been doing weekly water changes, they've been getting done every 3-4 weeks and they have nitrate problems. There's no amonina or nitrite in either tank, just high nitrates. I've been trying to fix them but every time I test the water the nitrates are the same or only slightly lower, this is what I have and exactly what's going on:
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55 gallon
1 angel
11 or 12 black skirts (I am aware they are nippy, they've not caused problems and if they ever do I have a store that will take them)
1 clown pleco
0 ppm amonina/nitrite
40+ ppm nitrate (I have trouble telling between 40/80, it's one of them)
10 gallon
1 betta
0 ppm ammonia/nitrite
40+ ppm nitrate (I have trouble telling between 40/80, it's one of them)
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The 55 is my third tank ever and I'm really new to how to lower it safely and effectively. Would 50% weekly be enough to lower them, or should I do water changes every other day until they're normal? Would lowering it very fast hurt them? How often should you clean a filter and tubes to avoid it producing excess nitrates? Thank you.
So here's the deal. I've not been doing weekly water changes, they've been getting done every 3-4 weeks and they have nitrate problems. There's no amonina or nitrite in either tank, just high nitrates. I've been trying to fix them but every time I test the water the nitrates are the same or only slightly lower, this is what I have and exactly what's going on:
---
55 gallon
1 angel
11 or 12 black skirts (I am aware they are nippy, they've not caused problems and if they ever do I have a store that will take them)
1 clown pleco
0 ppm amonina/nitrite
40+ ppm nitrate (I have trouble telling between 40/80, it's one of them)
10 gallon
1 betta
0 ppm ammonia/nitrite
40+ ppm nitrate (I have trouble telling between 40/80, it's one of them)
---
The 55 is my third tank ever and I'm really new to how to lower it safely and effectively. Would 50% weekly be enough to lower them, or should I do water changes every other day until they're normal? Would lowering it very fast hurt them? How often should you clean a filter and tubes to avoid it producing excess nitrates? Thank you.
