Still can't get Nitrate low

[Potluck]

Okay i have been on here before but couldn't sign in maybe cause if inactivity, before I was having an issue with die offs and sores, that's done thank God (knock on wood) I did lose 15-17 fish from it though which was sad, I always have good water readings EXCEPT Nitrate, yesterday I redid all my decor changed everything over from the plastic stuff you get from like petsmart to all Texas Holy rock from my lfs, i am going through a major snail invasion right now (pest snails) so when I was at my lfs I also got 2 clown loaches smaller ones 1.5-2", i love them and their personality, but now I'm worried because I checked my water tonight and here are the readings everything is perfect except the dang nitrate

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Ph - 7.4
Nitrate 80-100+ (hard time with shades of red)
Temp 77-78

I've tried everything that was suggested, 2 water changes a week instead of 1, cutting back on food from twice a day to once, adding plants (the tall ones didn't survive) bought a stronger vac etc etc nothing has worked I've tried for over a year and now I'm worried because the clown loaches are sensitive to water
quality and I'm worried is gonna start affecting my other fish but they seem fine, please someone has to have a solution lol

I attached a couple photos don't mind the hazy as i took them right after my water Change and decor replacement, yes I sprayed off the rock before I added them. Ty in advance

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Fresh2o]

Have you tested the source water (assuming straight out of the tap)? If you detect nitrates, then there's the culprit. If not, then it has to be bioload and/or amount of food given. Can't think of any other source.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Potluck]

I will check tap again I think I'm over feeding and I also don't clean my aqua clear every week I do it once a month, reason I think I'm over feeding cause of the 5000 snails I have, someone said to do a tank flush but i don't trust that, its where you change your entire water in your tank over the course of a day a long process but i don't want to risk nitrite ammonia spikes from doing that. Plus I'm going to try to attempt to grow more live plants which will help

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[mambee]

If you have a snail problem, then you are probably overfeeding.

Other suggestions, switch your large grain gravel to pool filter sand. All of your extra food and waste if falling between the pebbles where only the snails can access it.

Live plants are easy if you go with the appropriate ones. Anubias and Java fern grow well attached to driftwood and don't require bright light. However, the ones which work best to consume nitrates are fast growing ones, especially floating ones. I would suggest Indian fern, water sprite or duckweed.

 

[Potluck]

Yeah i have 2 Anubias in the tank right (i cut one in half because it was growing to crowded)they grow great, I spent a lot of time yesterday on the phone, it's not gonna kill my fish at 80-100 or even 160 but it does stunt them, when i pulled out my counter sunk lettuce yesterday it was covered in snails as well as my blanched zucchini, i was told to get another hob like another 110 Because I've never changed the ceramics in mine or the sponge and run Matrix and I forgot the carbon it's for nitrates and run 2 filters, but i think if i can get the plants to grow it will help a lot but 2 filters won't hurt, in my led fixture I don't have any plant pods but I'll get like 4 of them if need be I have 4 HD whites, 4 lunar blues and 2 color enchanting, I'm glad you said which ones grow in low light because I've been searching All night lol, why did every fish store tell me I shouldn't of put Texas holy rock in a community tank they said it will make my ph go to High but i have drift wood that lowers the ph?

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[mambee]

I still think that the nitrate problem is with your substrate. When I had gravel in my tanks, I used to dig in with my python to get out all the muck underneath. This doesn't happen with sand.

 

[Potluck]

Yeah but I'm not crashing my tank by switching substrate, even though I'd like to cause i like smaller gravel but i hate sand I have sand in my 30 gallon and it's a nightmare to vac is actually called fluffing cause you skin the top which brings the clean and to the top, i will get it under control as i just got another filter and going to get plants and pods in a few hours, you're probably correct but i can't risk a tank crash as I'm just now starting to restock after half my fish died a year ago.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[OwduaNM]

From what I've read, the only way to reduce nitrates is to do large water changes. Your nitrates may be off the charts right now, so doing a single (or 2) water changes is not enough to bring below the max reading.

As long as the water chemistry and temperature are good, you can change 100% of the water in a day without causing severe stress to your fish.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Potluck]

I bought another filter because I have never changed the media in my other aqua clear 110, i am running matrix in the new one with Nitra Zorb, also in my old filter (my forgetfulness) didn't put my bio Chem Zorb back in the filter about 2-3 months ago (dang anxiety), i at one point had the nitrates to about 40-60..... thinking back that's right around the time I forgot to put the bag in, i had taken it out cause i was doing medication to make sure whatever had killed my fish 5-6 months prior was not still in the tank so i did a precaution med dose before I started restocking, i do about 60% water changes weekly, i just got plants to help nitrates and more drift wood to counter balance the Texas Holy rock I just added because it can raise your ph.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ScotJudd]

The main thing is to get your water nitrate low. Do repeated 25% water changes every 2 hours until you have a good solid 10-20 ppm reading.
Test your tap water to ensure you're not just swapping high nitrate water for high nitrate tap water.
Clean the tank gravel the best that you can, do not wash it, just use the vacuum to syphon out excessive detritus. Do not clean your filter unless it is clogged up.
This is a known starting point.
Do not feed your fish for a week and test the water once a day ensuring that you follow the instructions to the letter.
At the end of the week either your nitrates will be low, where previous over feeding has been a big cause of your problems, or it will have risen. Depending on the rise will indicate how bad the rubbish still in your gravel really is.
If it's only a slight rise then do an appropriate water change and start feeding the fish. TINY TINY amounts. No flake should ever reach the gravel. Only sinking pellets for catfish should lay on the bottom, and only feed a few of them.
It's a fact of life that most enthusiasts are also enthusiastic feeders - I hold my hands up high. Oops!y


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Alright. Let me make this clear. STOP feeding daily. Feed Tuesday and Thursday until you get your nitrates down. Once you've got them down to less than 40 you can feed 3 times a week. Your fish can go a week without food easily.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Autumnsky]

Also some foods break down into ammonia faster than others, especially like flake foods. Try the Omnivoire sinking wafers from Hikari are really loved by Clown Loaches and also the appropriately sized other type food for your fish, also from Hikari.

It can make a world of difference also just not using flake food. Hikari is pelleted. As a staple food it is fine. There are many other really good commercial foods but many will break down and cause a lot of ammonia very quickly.

As an over feeder myself, I have killed fish by changing foods and using the same pattern of feeding as with the Hikari foods.

One of the pieces of good advise I was given by someone a long while ago, is to see the size of the fishes eye and think that the amount of that much food should be enough for him.

Try this also put the amount of food you would normally feed your fish onto a paper plate and just see how much it really is.

If it seems like a lot, then divide it into a quarter and try feeding just that amount.

If you shake the container into the tank directly stop that.

AND...most fish always act hungry.

If you feel you would miss the interaction of feeding, try portioning out the food in advance.

You can use a curved bottom ice cube tray and portion it out one section per day grab out the food pinch by pinch or pellet by pellet if it is for bigger fish. Don't hesitate to break a wafer into 2-4 pieces. Wrap the tray with plastic wrap to keep it fresher.

Vac the bottom every week section by section.

If you have a clean plastic tub you can use your old water to put into new sand substrate with a air bubbler. Even swish a dirty filter pad into the tub of sand.

Keep up the tub like a tank by adding a pinch of flake food a couple times a week and doing a pwc on the tank weekly replacing the water with old tank water. Stir it around gently a couple times a week. It would kinda be like seeding your sand for BB growth. Say after about a month or 6 weeks then start replacing a small section at a time in the tank, you could use a small sifter.

If you start vaccing frequently it won't be a complete mess to change, and you will get some bb growth started on the sand. Just an idea. There really can be a decent amount of BB in the substrate, for sure to cause a mini cycle. Also feed lighter after doing the substrate replacements.

 

[Potluck]

Okay I'll start by telling you my feeding schedule, m/w/f cobalt probiotic tropical flake, tues/thurs/Sat cobalt veggie, Sunday fasting, i bought another filter so now im running a 14 overturn rate on my tank instead of 8, i also bought plants and new Nitrate bottles cause they can go bad, with the new bottles my tap is 2-5 ppm, my tank is 40-60, I'm going to start doing 3 water changes a week instead of 2 vacuuming 1/3rd gravel each time instead of 2 at 100% gravel each time, your bio bed is 20% of your BB, filter is 80% I don't touch my filter but once a month except the tubes when they get black, so I'm going to do smaller water changes more frequent or should I stick with 2 and just do 50% vac each time, I'm not good reading shades of red it's definitely not over 80 I'll attach a pic. The clown loaches eat blanced veggies and blood worms, snails, and flake

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Autumnsky]

I am not good with the colors either, as I think that looks like maybe 100, a touch darker than 80 imho.

Sounds like the extra cleaning will help. Do you slosh the filter pads at all in treated water? I will add an additional filter pad into the slot space if at all possible and that has also helped me.

The API Nitra-Zorb I thinks works pretty well.

 

[Potluck]

Its not darker than 80 I think it's just cause it's a pic but like I said im horrible with reds , lol i had all my nieces and nephews sister and her bf try to help me out was pretty comical they all said not 40 but not 80, my aqua clear 110 is modified, i have a piece of cannister filter in it to catch the really fine pieces the other stuff doesn't, the downfall of this is when it gets clogged I have to hurry and take it out before my filter over flows lol, i just got another aqua clear for the other side that has Nitra zorb carbon in it, my old bottles for Nitrate were bad they read really high or it could of been the test tube as when I would shake it the water would fly out cause on a Nitrate test you have to shake the tube pretty hard for a min, so now my tank is running at 14.5 turn over rate instead of approx 9.


EDIT : forgot to answer your filter question, I clean the sponge and slosh the media in fish water I siphoned from the tank once a month when I change my bio bags

I do brush my pick-up tubes weekly I don't know if that is a bad idea I hate them being dirty.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Potluck]

Think I have to much turn over now I'm running 14.5 approx

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Potluck]

Wrong pic that's on auto mode

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[enrgizerbunny]

A hungry fish is a healthy fish. Stop feeding 5 days/week, they don't need it. I'd cut down to 4 max. But until you get a handle on nitrates, feed twice a week.

Nitrates are the symptom, over feeding is usually the root cause. I change water once a month and my nitrates don't go over 60 with 4 angels and a BN pleco in a 55. I feed 3ish times a week (sometimes get busy and forget, lol). Try reducing your feeding and doing 50% water changes until you get them down for a week or so and then add a day of feeding back. Once you get into a routine that works it makes things super easy.

Fish can be absolute pigs, and the more you feed, the more they will act hungry. I have goldfish that I fed 4-5 times a day (using their poop to grow plants) and they always came up when I walked past their tub.

Sent from my SCH-I435 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Potluck]

I have way more fish than that though I have 1 angel, 2 huge Buenos Aires tetras, 1 turquise rainbow, 6 lemon tetras, 2 clown loaches, 4 phantom tetras, a calico BN, and 2 glo lite danios, i have to reschool because a year ago I had a lot of them die from a bacteria I got from a different lfs I went to besides my normal one, i do 2 50% changes a week, nitrates are from what I can see, im not good with reading the red cause they are so close together looks like about 60.

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Potluck]

Maybe you can tell I had 6 people say is between 40-80

Sent from my SM-G930P using Aquarium Advice mobile app