more problems

[laurasmithuk]

just tested water again and nitrAte has soared to 80!!!! What can i do? does it mean daily water changes? i really dont wanna lose any and know i'm over-stocked and this is probabaly a major contributing factor.... am waiting for homes to come avaliable for fish

 

[emma12321]

Hi Laura,

Do you have live plants in your tank? If not put a load in as they will use up the nitrates, Moss balls are also good for this. You are going to have to do daily water changes until the nitrate levels drop. If you are really overstocked would your lfs give you credit for the fish?

Emma

 

[GSD]

hello.
how many fish of what types and what size is the tank?you will need to do daily water changes.

 

[laurasmithuk]

i have juwel rekord 96 that holds 96 ltrs

in it i have

10 neons
5 silver tipped tetras
4 glass cat fish
4 clown loach
4 albino corys
4 plattys
3 mollys

was thinkin of gettin rid of plattys and mollys will this help stocking levels?

 

[IMCL85]

Is it the tank planted? and my advice is no dont do daily water change do 3-4 days per water change. Nitrate wouldn't kill ur fish its ammonia and nitrite that kill ur fish. Daily water change is only required when ur ammonia or nitrite lvl gone off the chart and doing water change like that it will offen stress fish.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I would definately try to bring that number down, especially since it is so far from what you tap water is. Remember to go slowly, because a dramatic change is stressful for the fish.

How long has it been since your last water change?

 

[laurasmithuk]

been about a week now. someone suggested cleaning out filter box so am gonna do that.... lots of s**t building up in there am thinking this colud be some of problem

 

[IMCL85]

when clean up the sponge inside ur filter do not use tap water or the benefit bacteria inside ur filter will die off. And leave u more ammonia/nitrite which the thing that really hurt/kill ur fish. Use the water u change out to wash the sponge. Good luck

 

[tttnjfttt]

I'm pretty sure she was talking about cleaning out the physical filter (the hardware).

If that doesn't work, what I woudl recomend doing is measure the nitrAte daily. When you figure out how long it takes for the nitrate to raise 20-30 ppm, it is time for a water change. Having your tank over stocked will mean you have to do a water change. Also, until you get this under control, cut back on how much you are feeding your fish. That will cut down the waste in the tank.

 

[laurasmithuk]

clenaned out filter sponges and hardware..... never seen soo much fish #### in all of my life! am new to all this and never realised it came apart! thanks for your help guys!!! will leave it 2 days then will test water again...... fingers crossed x