No2 And No3 Levels High

[Thornie]

hi
i have let my fish tank go a bit lately and suffering now my no2 is 0.8 and my no3 is 60 i done a 50% water change and cleaned both of my filters and added some stress tyme and tap safe which got the levels down for a day. is there any thing else i can do apart from more water changes and how often to do them
thanks for your help in advance

 

[WILDER]

Did you squeeze any sponges in old tank water.
Only meant to touch one sponge at a time, You do the others some weeks later.
Did you do a good gravel vac.
It best not to swing water stats to fast as it can stress fish. So better of doing it gradually then in one big swoop.

 

[Thornie]

hi thankyou for your reply and no i didnt sqeeze them out in old tank water and i didnt clean my gravel i will clean my gravel at week end .will my fish be ok till i get the level down .they look fine at mo and can i ad any thing to my filter to help

 

[WILDER]

I would hoover the gravel then at the weekend but carry on with water changes.
Squeeze on of your sponges in old tank water if there really mucked up. Don't go mad as you can lose to much beneifcal bacteria. Only touch one sponge in each filter. Then do the others a few weeks later.

Nitrite harmful to fish so need to get the reading down with water changes and maintance on the tank.
If you havent touched the gravel in awhile it will be really mucked up and really wants doing now.
I always remove ornaments and silk plants when doing a gravel vac. So you are not getting pockets of bad bacteria.

How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.

 

[Thornie]

its a 260l tank with 2 oscars in and a 1ft plec which is going to me rehomed pretty soon oh and a red tail shark which again is going to be rehomed

 

[WILDER]

Yes the plec needs a bigger tank.
They are also massive waste producers so I don't envy you the gravel vac, I would put a peg on your nose as it's going to stink.
I would try and do the gravel vac before the weekend.

 

[Thornie]

its a 260l tank with 2 oscars in and a 1ft plec which is going to me rehomed pretty soon oh and a red tail shark which again is going to be rehomed

 

[Thornie]

thanks for your help buddy ive just got myself a new gravel pump today couldnt find my other one so will be cleaning tonight with peg on nose once again thanks

 

[WILDER]

Ok. LOL.
How are the fish coping.

 

[Thornie]

just cleaned my gravel didnt smell to bad but there was a lot of s**t in there and a 2p and a 10p ( bloody kids ) . fish are fine , they are feeding fine and look rather healthy considering . plec will go at weekend got new home for him. will test water tomorrow hopefully be a bit better . i will let you now the out come

 

[WILDER]

Thats good then.
Tell children not to touch daddy tank lol.

 

[Thornie]

alright bud just done water test again and no2 as come down its now 0.5 but not the no3 its still 60 surely it should of come down abit with a 50% water change and a 25 % water change since monday will do another one on sunday . is there something i can get to go in my filter to bring it down a bit or should i just carry on with the water changes

 

[WILDER]

Do you squeeze any of your filter sponges in old tank water.
What type of test kit are you using.

 

[Thornie]

i have not touched my filters since i gave um a good clean in clean water last weekend. i am going to start water changes every day now so i will start doing a bit of my filters at a time . ive got 2 filters running a fluval 404 and a jewel built in one. how often should you change the filter media . and i am using jbl combi set for testing the water

 

[WILDER]

All you do each week is change the filter floss or mating. You can rinse it but I found it dosn't work towell once it been rinsed.
You ony touch sponges once they look mucked up and when filter flow slows down.