High Nitrates Cannot Get It Down

[toppo72]

i need help with high nitrates, i have discus en small fish bin there nearly a year,i do 25% a week,,,and the nitrates have gone mad i have a rio 400, and use the filter that came with it and a full undergraval with power heads also a external ehiem the water is well clear but i got a bad algea problemo and i tested nitrates and it well red, i dun water changes en put proh remover in also other nitrate removers still high can any one help ? one of my discus is lookin abit sick, its eating but lookin thin ??
i use nitrite spong in the rio 400 filter en change it every 4 weeks also prohate remover in the external and nitrate remover ?? ive dun a test on me tap water and it seems ok it very lite orange on the nitrate test paper ?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Exactly what is your nitrate level? How big is your tank, and what fish (and how many) are currently in it? Do you have snails in your tank as well?

Doing extra water changes will definately help out. When i took over my mom's neglected betta, I found nitrates well over 100. I did daily water changes, starting very to avoid a rapid change.

 

[toppo72]

Exactly what is your nitrate level? How big is your tank, and what fish (and how many) are currently in it? Do you have snails in your tank as well?

Doing extra water changes will definately help out. When i took over my mom's neglected betta, I found nitrates well over 100. I did daily water changes, starting very to avoid a rapid change.

my tank is 5+2+2 hold 400 ltrs got quite alots of small fish init 15 rummy nose, 20 zebra danios, 5 discus,20 black widows, and 20 or so mixed tetra,s all small stuff part from the discus, got some live plants as i had to remove the others they were coverd in algue, now i got 100 plus reading nitrates i dun a 40 % water change the other day and ever 2 days do a 15 % ish clean filters regular with tank water changed my carbon sponges, and nitrate sponges, just wont go down and now looks like one of my discus is lookin ill as it eats but lookin this in the body and not movin round much got good filters and i use a 15watt uv light,,, oh yeah no snails

 

[Cheese Specialist]

The only way to get rid of Nitrate is to do water changes and/or have live plants. If the amount of water you are changing is not covering the build up between changes you need to up your changes and/or your tank is overstocked.

What is the level in your tap water?

 

[tttnjfttt]

A large part of your problem is you are over stocked. When doing stocking levels, in general you use the adult size of the fish. With an inch of fish per gallon, you can have up to 106 inches for a 400 ltr tank.

Rummy nose tetras - 2" x 15 = 30"
zebra danios - 2" x 20 = 40"
Discus - 6" x 5 = 30"
Black widdow tetras - 2" x 20 = 40"
Mixed tetras - 1.5" x 20 = 30" (1.5" is a conservative estimate)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
= 170"

There is the answer, your tank is very over stocked, so even though the filter is keeping up with their waste, you are seeing the results of the over stocking in the nitrate build up. I think your best solution would be to either re-home some of the fish or start up a second tank. With this stocking level, you will keep having nitrate problems until it is changed.

 

[toppo72]

the tap water is 12.5 mg/l and there are alot of small fish init but the fliters are more then enough to sort it, and i dont over feed them ? i do have some live fast growing plants

 

[tttnjfttt]

the filter will not remove nitrate. YOur filter is definately adaquate because you are not having ammonia or nitrite problems. nitrate is only removed through water changes or by plants. Your plants are probably helping some, but can't do it all.

You can reduce how much you feed, also can do a very good gravel vacuming, like remove decorations that food and waste might be stuck under, which can be adding to the nitrates, but over all, your tank IS over stocked.

 

[toppo72]

i do vacum the gravel when i water changes, i do one side of the tank one week and the other the next week, im using rowa-phos and some other nitrate remover, cannot remember wat it is called now it came in a bad that u put in the filter ??? just dun another teast and well high 100 mg/l on my card thing summet not right ere, ?? thanks anyway for the replys

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Sorry but you have been told the answer. Wether or not it is what you want to hear is different.