Water help please

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Vi_ha1

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 22, 2013
Messages
31
I have a 30 gallon tank been set up for about a month and have about 20 guppies and some babies I haven't feed them for 2 weeks now and been doing 50% water change almost everyday but my nitrite and nitrate are not going down at all and it's getting worst nitrite at 5.0 ppm and nitrate at 80ppm Wat do I need to do to lower it
 
Hello,
I would need you to answer a few questions:

-What filter do you have?

-What are the baby fish and how many do you have?

-What's you're tap water parameters(Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate)?

-What test kit are you using and when did you get it?

Is this well water? If so, what is the kH and gH of the water, and do you treat the water, and with water conditionner(Prime, Nutrafin tap water conditionner, Stress Coat, ...)?

You're are probably ''over stocked'' by a bit, but what's suprising is that you have that much nitrite. You're fish will likely die in no time in those parameters. It's just way too toxic for them. The Nitrate levels are also beyond ''toxic may I say. A cycled tank should show no traces of ammonia and nitrite, or lower then 1 PPM. Ideally, Nitrates should be under 20 ppm. The filtration can also have a big impact on this. Keep feeding them every other day as starving them isn't the best option. I'll be able to help you further once you answer my questions.
 
I use a penguin bio wheel 200, and my ammonia. Is .25 ppm, nitrite 5.0 ppm, nitrate 80 ppm I have about 15 ish or more guppies fry in there along with 20 guppies in a 30 gal tank. I use stress coat Proper ph 7.0 tetra easy balance n stability when changing water. N I use API master test kit
 
How long do you let the test liquid set before comparing it? I would let only 5 minutes and checking. If the results are still the same, then I would test the tap water, or try doing a 90% water change.
 
That's a lot of fish for a 30 gal; guppies are high bioload fish which means they're pretty messy. I'd add another filter, maybe an aquaclear. How long has the tank been set up? Are you doing anything to the filters such as replacing the pads, etc? It sounds like you're still cycling. I would ditch the chemicals; there's no need to mess with the PH, the stability is hit and miss, and the less chemicals you put into the tank the better. I would just use dechlorinator; Prime is best if you can get it but whatever you're using now is fine for now. Have you tested your tap water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? If not I'd start there just to see if your tap contains any of those things. If it doesn't, you could try increasing the water changes to two 50% daily to try to get the levels down. Make sure you vacuum the substrate well too to suck up extra food and waste which can decompose and contribute to the toxins in the water. Long-term though you're going to either need to get a bigger tank or rehome some of those fish.
 
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