High Nitrates, everything else normal...

[stevelikesfish]

Tested my crystal clear water last week and found unusually high Nitrates and Nitrites. Did a 10% water change, and retested 5 days on.

0 ppm Ammonia
0 ppm Nitrites
7.2 pH
90 ppm ish on Nitrates

Water has also gone a little cloudy, and my siamese fighter & bull-nosed pleco have started to get white spot...

I've done another 25% water change just now, filtering as much crap outta the gravel as possible.

Is the white spot (Ich) related to the high Nitrate levels? What can I do to try and re-stabilise things? All help is appreciated!

Thanks guys!

 

[vega]

Is the tank planted?

If not the best is to do partial water change every 2-3 days until the NO3 drop.

tHE WHITE spot is inderectly due to the high NO2 n No3 as the N weaken the fish.

 

[stevelikesfish]

it has a couple of tropical plants in, but nothing much.. does that matter? Thanks!

 

[vega]

Yup they complete the full cycle

Simplified:-
fish > NH4 > NO2 > NO3 > O2 (via plant)

I miss the cloudy water part, tat's algae bloom norm due to high nutrient in water due over feeding or dead fish or new tank still in cycle.

New tank? Probabily partial water change and stop feeding the fish for 2 days and the cloady water will go away.

HTH

 

[TankGirl]

You can use the heat treatment for the ich and keep on top of water changes and gravel vacs in the meantime to keep the nitrate lower. Do not do a drastic water change now, as this will drop the nitrate suddenly, and the fish are acclimated to the higher level. Do small water changes every day whilst treating with heat and the ich will disappear.

Your plants can and will help your cycle, but only if there are optimal growing conditions in place, with vigorous plant growth. Generally this is best demonstrated in higher light, CO2 injected tanks where fertilizers are dosed to achieve optimal plant growth. Plants will always help your water quality, though, unless they are not doing well in the tank.

 

[stevelikesfish]

Thanks everyone!!

You mention treating the Ich with heat... how do I do that? I read somewhere you should turn the temp up, so Im starting to do that gradually... should I get some medication to kill the cysts when they pop and drop to the gravel ?

 

[vega]

With heat then no need med.

whether it is increase temp, water changing, etc the best result is alway do it slowly so the fish have time to acclimated their body to the changes.

 

[stevelikesfish]

how high do i go with the temp ?? thx

 

[An t-iasg]

Have you read the ich article here on this site: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=32

What kind of fish do you have? Some people here have mentioned that cories are sensitive to the raised heat. Otherwise, you need to get your temperature at 87 or 88 degrees. The ich parasite appears not to live at these temperatures. Many people have said that the heat treatment, or the heat plus salt treatment, also mentioned in the article, will kill the ich. Medicines at the same time are not necessary. Ich meds are very harsh. Plus, as mentioned in the article, there's a small window of time where they are vulnerable to the medicine's effects. The heat treatment should work well for you. Turn the heat up by 1 degree every 12 hours. If your current heater can't get up to 87 or 88 degrees, you could add a second heater for the duration of the heat treatment.

 

[Menagerie]

I just finished a three week heat +salt treatment on some Badis, a betta, rams, pygmy cats and a pleco. They did great! I highly recommend that treatment.