Emergency Please Help Me Please

[sharktale]

Hi, when you change your water how do you clean your filter?

 

[thegnu]

jonnys tank is mature if it weren't he wouldn't be seeing high nitrates would he, he would be seeing high nitrites or high ammonia depending on how far the cycling had got. by over feeding you get high nitrates in a cycled tank because this would make more ammonia, then nitrites and finally nitrates, which you are stuck with. if you are sure you really do keep up with your water changes then the only answer to your problem is your water at its source;ie tap what ever, it must be very high in ammonia and/or nitrite and/or nitrate and your bacteria in your tank/filter are producing these high nitrates. the solution, you check your tap water for NH3 NO2 and NO3 and if they are high you either buy your water (RO or distilled or buy an RO unit) or if your water isn't that high in these toxins you do a lot more water changes and test your water frequently and keep NO3 under 40PPM at the very most

 

[thegnu]

sorry, i'm such a fool. i'm answering two post's at once. it's davidwhite136, not jonny, he's was on another post.
EDIT; by the way that second fish pic is of a sailfin molly and if you kill lots of snails in your tank, take the dead snails out as leaving them in will cause nitrates to rise. i would take any snail out that hitched a ride on plants apart from just a few Malaysian trumpet snails, and yours are not those

 

[davidwhite136]

+++++++++++++++++++++TODAYS UPDATE+++++++++++++++++++++++


just done a water check and no3 is high 50+

what is going wrong

no dead fish yet




did a check on main water supply and no3 is high

but never had this problem before

readings always been low.

 

[davidwhite136]

Hi, when you change your water how do you clean your filter?

in a bucket full of tank water just give it a bit of a shake .

 

[thegnu]

how high a number no3 in you tap water

 

[davidwhite136]

how high a number no3 in you tap water

50+

but did the test again with a bucket full and 1 kettle with aqua plus water conditioner

and readings where below 5




stuck as to what to do next

 

[WILDER]

Are you doing a gravel vac, what type of algae eater are they as some as massive waste producers.
Tap nitrate reading would help.

just take a sample of your cold water tap and leave the test for 30 minutes.