Stubborn nitrates, nitrites

[KeithnHarry]

They simply will not go down. My fish are all doing great though. I have a wet master test kit. And I had some strips laying around I tested it with also...
It's infuriating ... Really...
I've dumped seachem prime into it 5x the normal dose, changed the water out (70percent), then treated it with prime a second time...

Nitrates didn't go down even after a massive water change at all...

I have a penguin bio wheel... 75 on a 55 gal...

Is it the gravel? My tank should be cycled by now... (3 months)

 

[BBradbury]

Fish In Tank Cycling

They simply will not go down. My fish are all doing great though. I have a wet master test kit. And I had some strips laying around I tested it with also...
It's infuriating ... Really...
I've dumped seachem prime into it 5x the normal dose, changed the water out (70percent), then treated it with prime a second time...

Nitrates didn't go down even after a massive water change at all...

I have a penguin bio wheel... 75 on a 55 gal...

Is it the gravel? My tank should be cycled by now... (3 months)

Hello KnH...

1 in every 10,000 water keepers is simply stuck with poor tap water. That may be your situation. You can introduce floating plants like Anacharis and Hornwort that take in large amounts of nitrogen through their leaves and grow as quickly as the nutrients are produced. I keep these plants in heavily stocked 55 gallon tanks and their growth is amazing. Try this. Large, frequent water changes of half the tank water every week or two will help keep the water chemistry stable. A stable chemistry is preferable to a particular chemistry. In your case, weekly changes would be best. Hopefully, you're keeping hardy fish, like Rasboras, Guppies, Platys, etc. These fish seem to thrive in water with less than normal properties.

B