1 year-old tanks

[YesRushGen]

Hi everyone! It's been almost a year since I've posted here. My fish are doing well, but there are some problems looming and would like some advice...

First, my tanks and tap water.

1. 10 gallon, containing 13 zebra danios, filtered by an Aquaclear 30. Tests as follows:
Ammonia: 0ppm
NitrIte: 0ppm
NitrAte: 160ppm (yikes!)
pH: 6.8
KH: 2dH
GH: 11dH

2. 20 gallon, containing 4 angels, 2 debra danios and 1 royal pleco, filtered by an Aquaclear 50.
Tests as follows:
Ammonia: 0ppm
NitrIte: 0ppm
NitrAte: 160ppm (yikes!)
pH: 6.4
KH: 1dH (it changes to yellow on the first drop)
GH: 11dH

3. Tap water tests as follows:
pH: 7.0
KH: 2-3dH (2 drops ALMOST makes it yellow, hard to tell)
GH: 3dH

By the tank readings you can probably tell two things I've done wrong. First, is no water changes in several months. (high NitrAtes - also causing low pH since my KH is so low) The second, I've replaced evaporated water with TAP water. (high GH)

In spite of these two issues, my fish do not appear stressed. There is no sign of disease, and they seem to act as they always have. Still, I know I need to fix these issues.

I'm guessing the most important thing is to lower the NitrAte by doing immediate water changes? After that should the GH issue be addressed? Then KH/pH?

All advice and suggestions are most welcome, thanks!

Kelly

 

[netobeto]

i think you have it that high is because you are overstock on both of them

 

[pica_nuttalli]

yikes indeed! have you ever heard of old tank syndrome? basically, your established fish will slowly adapt to poor water conditions. old tank syndrome is generally diagnosed by attempting to introduce new fish but the new fish keep dying off.

the thing is, your current fish will be so adapted to the poor conditions that a sudden reintroduction to good water would be rather dangerous. i suggest that you start doing small water changes on a regular basis. change a gallon a day. always use dechlorinated water for both water changes and top-offs. keep doing this for a week or two, then test your water again. hopefully you'll see a reasonable difference. if not, start changing one gallon twice a day.

while you're at it, go on ahead and test your tap water for high nitrates.

another thing to be concerned over is the incredible overstocking in your 10g. your danios should be 2 inches long by now. thats 26 inches of fish! additionally, danios need a lot of swimming space. they are NOT recommended for tanks less than 2 feet long (which does not include 10g aquariums). you will be very hard pressed to get your nitrates under control so long as you have that many fish in a small space.

 

[freddyk]

You've got two problems that are only going to get worse if you don't do something about it:


20 gallon:

Royal plecos get to a foot long, and growing specimens eat a ton, and Water volume is imperitive - if you are feeding the pleco what it should be eating you problably wouldn't be able to see through the water by now. A 75 gallon is the minimum I'd recommend for one of these.

Angelfish get to 6" long and even taller and as cichlids do they'll get more aggressive as they mature. They should have a tall 30-40 gallon at least, preferably larger.


Unfortunately you chose the wrong fish for the tank and things won't look better unless you get more suitable fish or a more suitable tank.