High Nitrate Levels Wont Come Down

[twisted]

Hi, please help. I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to fish tanks, as i have only ever changed water and fed them.
My red tailed black shark went grey, and his eyes got cloudy, so i was advised to check the levels of ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and PH. All were fine apart from nitrate, which was well above 80. I did a 50% water change, and added some stress zyme as i was told this would help. I tested again the following day, and no change. I then did another 20% water change and added a "Nitra-zorb" bag to my filter. I have tested the water today, and, you guessed it....no change. My fish look really poorly, and i feel really bad. Please help me if you can.

 

[twisted]

Oh, in case you need the info to help, i have a 60 litre tank, with a fluval internal filter. Not sure which one it is, but it's about 30cms tall. I have no LIVE plants. Only 4 fish atm. A Red tailed black shark, a Loach, a guppie i think, and a sort of angel fish (brown with a couple of wide black stripes). Any info on what fish i need to get to keep them company when the water is ok would be a great help too.
Thanks

 

[rdd1952]

Hi twisted, and welcome to the forum.

First, in answer to your question, your nitrate really isn't a major problem. Although we always try to keep them low with water changes, test have shown that levels up to 400 ppm are ok. Have you tested your tap water? In the UK in particular, 40+ ppm in the tap water is relatiely common. Obviously, if you have 40 ppm in your tap water, you won't ever get it lower than that without some type nitrate sponge but they really aren't necessary. You said your other levels were ok. What are the actual readings for ammonia and nitrite? Anything other than 0 requires attention and water changes.

Second, you have some fish that aren't the most compatible. The RTS will grow to about 4" and be cramped in your current tank. The angel will grow to about 6" and really needs a deep tank as their fins can reach 18" from top to bottom (this will take a while though). The loach, depending on the type may also outgrow your tank. Clown loaches grow to over a foot. Most loaches also prefer to be kept in groups of at least 3 and preferably 6. And if happens to be what coome stores sell as a "sucking loach", it is actually a Chinese algae eater. They become very aggressive as they get older and will try to suck the slime coat off flat-bodied, slow moving fish like angels.

 

[twisted]

it is a yellow, sucking type loach, and is very old, and although he can be agressive, he hides in his house for the most part of the day. The shark is also a few years old as is about 4 inches long, but was already that size when we adopted him a year ago. The angel type fish...I'm not sure EXCATLY what it is, but its only a little bigger than a 2 euro coin, and has been that for about 2 years since we adopted him.

Ammonia and nitite levels all came back at 0 thankfully, and ph is around the 7.4 mark. The ntrate levels are hard to work out excatly because of the colour chart. the last three colours on the chart are red, and are all a VERY similar shade. These range from 40, then 80, then 180. It is very hard to tell which one it is on, but as all the other levels are fine, then i'm thinking the nitrate is gonna be one of the latter mentioned.

I have tested my tap water for ph and nitrate. ph is 7.2, and nitrate was 10.

 

[rdd1952]

Don't you just love those coloe charts. For nitrate, anything over about 10 to 20 looks the same to me. Fortunatly, my tanks never get that high. Water changes will bring them down but the level you have certainly isn't dangerous. The biggest risk you run is probably from algae. And as small as the one fish is, I'm pretty sure he's not an angel fish. A pic would help and someone could ID him.

 

[twisted]

I got myself a photo, but not got a clue how to upload it.
I have bought some salts to recharge my Nitra-zorb, as i've been told if my levels are that high, it will only absorb for a short period before it needs recharging. I have also bought some "viresco" aquarium tablets. (a micro-organism based product to remove nitrate).

I have just tested the water again before adding any of these tablets, and my levels have come down ever so slightly. It is still quite a deep red, but not as deep, so at least something is happening.

Will keep u posted.

Thanks rdd1952

 

[rdd1952]

To upload photos, you need to set up an account with a hosting site like Photobucket. It's free. Upload your photo there then copy the URL (on Photobucket it's the Direct Link) and click the

button above and paste in the link.

 

[twisted]

i didn't know that the light on the fish tank should be turned off at night, but i've just been told that it should. I have had this tank for at least 3 years now, and never turned light off. Until about 3 months ago, i had a sort of blue-ish light in there, but when that went, i was advised by "a petshop chain" that a white light would be better. It is since I have had this light my fish have started with problems i think. Could this be the problem? Is it the wrong light, or is it that i should be turning it off, and the BLUE light didn't affect them when it was on all the time.
I have just turned the light off and have noticed a MASSIVE response from the fish. They are swimming around, happy as larry, not just sitting still and hiding. Even Mr Loach is out! If it is possible to talk via msn, let me know.
thanks
kriston

 

[twisted]

done the photobucket heres link. Name that fish in 1
<a href="http/s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh37/tw...ion=tageditmany" target="_blank">http/s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh37/tw...ion=tageditmany</a>
The slight black stripes u see on him are usually a little darker, but as with the shark, his colour has faded.

And wow, how quick they hide when i turn the light on. Think there may be something in that?

 

[rdd1952]

Fish don't really like the lights. They would be fine if you never turned it on. If you don't have live plants, only turn it on when you are there to view the tank. If you do have plants, put them on a timer so they come on and go off the same time each day. What size tank is it and what is the wattage of the light? They are probably just not used to the birghter light yet. Most all of us use white (or regular) lights and most have extra wattage for plant growth so you should be fine with what you have.

The link you posted didn't work. It took me to my Photobucket album (I guess because I was logged in to PB). When I logged out, it just took me to their home page. All you need to do is copy the IMG CODE for the photo (not the HTML code which is what you have in your earlier post) from Photobucket and paste it into your post You don't even have to use the button above. The link should be something like:

i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/your PB ID/the file name you gave the file on PB.jpg

I had to leve the "http/" off because it was making that a link to no where. The "y1" could be any letter/number combo based on your photos. In your post that will be between the "img" brackets.

 

[twisted]

Finally managed to get logged back in to photo bucket. Nitrate levels havn't gone down anymore from the other day, but at least they went down a little. I just spent £13 on those bloody tablets aswell. Waste of time they were. The dwarfed angel fish look-a-like has got its stripes back now, but sharky is still pale. ALL are much much livelier. I havn't used the light since i turned it off a few days ago. I don't want to spoil their enjoyment of the dullness. Not sure what the wattage is on the bulb, but it is the right size for the tank, and the only one the shop had. Gonna do a 25% water change tomorrow and recharge my nitra-zorb.

Hope you can identify the ufo (unidentified floating object)