Sorry Another Water Tests Results Question

[lmbridgen]

Can anyone advise me please:

I did a 25% water change yesturday because my tests results were like this:
PH 8
Nitrite 0
Amonia 0
but Nitrates 120

I checked my water again today and the nitrates have come down to 80 all other results the same. I had read somewhere that the tap water might have high nitrates and so you would struggle to get them down if that was the case so I tested my tap water and it came out at 5.

Do I need to do another water change? and what is causing my tanks reading to be so high? an I just feeding them too much?

Im also suffering from a lot of algae not sure of the type but it looks like hair floating from one plant to another. I have a mixture of both plastic and real plants.

thanks for any info you can give me

 

[aaronc]

Hiya

How often are you doing the changes? Nitrate levels that high could indicate that you are overfeeding or perhaps overstocked.

Aaron

 

[lmbridgen]

Hiya

How often are you doing the changes? Nitrate levels that high could indicate that you are overfeeding or perhaps overstocked.

Aaron

Hi Im testing weekly and doing changes as and when reading say to usually fortnightly, my stocklist is as follows:

Juwel 180
3x angels
2 x guaramis
1 x discus ( a mistake still looking for someone to have him )
6x Phanton tetras
5x flame tetras
2x BN plecs
5x Khooli loaches
3x Albino cory
3x pepper cory

thanks again for any help

Marion

 

[aaronc]

I would say that you need to be doing a water change at least once a week that should help keep the nitrates in check.

Aaron

 

[mark.w.jones]

Those are seriously high nitrate readings. I don't feel you are over stocked at the moment. Maybe you need to consider a weekly water change and gravel vac. Nitrate readings that high are not good for fish. You could well be over feeding.

I feed just enough so that all food is eaten within 1 minute. I also vary what I feed every day and have one day a week where I don't feed at all.

e.g.

Mon - Flakes + sinking wafers
Tue - Frozen daphnia
Wed - Algae flakes + wafers
Thur - Fish eggs
Fri - No food
Sat - Flakes + sinking wafers
Sun - Frozen Daphnia

repeat.

The other possibility is that you are not getting a correct reading from your test kit. Nitrate is notoriously difficult to get an accurate reading for. Are you using a liquid test kit and precisely following the instructions. If not you could get false readings.

Finally, best cure for high nitrates is loads of fast growing plants. Ideally 50% of your substrate planted.

Hope this helps

 

[lmbridgen]

Those are seriously high nitrate readings. I don't feel you are over stocked at the moment. Maybe you need to consider a weekly water change and gravel vac. Nitrate readings that high are not good for fish. You could well be over feeding.

I feed just enough so that all food is eaten within 1 minute. I also vary what I feed every day and have one day a week where I don't feed at all.

e.g.

Mon - Flakes + sinking wafers
Tue - Frozen daphnia
Wed - Algae flakes + wafers
Thur - Fish eggs
Fri - No food
Sat - Flakes + sinking wafers
Sun - Frozen Daphnia

repeat.

The other possibility is that you are not getting a correct reading from your test kit. Nitrate is notoriously difficult to get an accurate reading for. Are you using a liquid test kit and precisely following the instructions. If not you could get false readings.

Finally, best cure for high nitrates is loads of fast growing plants. Ideally 50% of your substrate planted.

Hope this helps

Thanks for great advice, if that is what you feed your fish then I am seriously overfeeding mine, I give mine
A large pinch of flakes
a pinch of dried bloodworm
6-8 wafers
and around 15 pellets
TWICE a day

I shall stop that immediately, do a water change and get some more plants. Apart from that Im doing OK

 

[Underwurlde]

I have heard of over feeding but.....

Crikey!

Sound advice so far.

Nitrate levels:

Below 40ppm 'good'
Over 100ppm 'bad'

Keep doing water changes on a daily basis until it drops...!

Re: Algae:
What lighting do you have?
Do you have CO2?
How long are the lights on for?
Do you feed your plants?
Is the tank in direct sunlight?

Andy

 

[lmbridgen]

I have heard of over feeding but.....

Crikey!

Sound advice so far.

Nitrate levels:

Below 40ppm 'good'
Over 100ppm 'bad'

Keep doing water changes on a daily basis until it drops...!

Re: Algae:
What lighting do you have?
Do you have CO2?
How long are the lights on for?
Do you feed your plants?
Is the tank in direct sunlight?

Andy

Hi Andy, my tank is not in direct sunlight and the lights are on from 10am - 12 noon then 1630 pm till 2300 pm I dont feed the plants, thought the plants got their food from the water somehow, and sorry for being an idiot dont know what CO2 is???
I know I must sound awfully vague about it Ive only had my tank about 4 months I didnt do fishless cycle ( didnt know anything about it ) and when I bought my tank from LFS I asked what sort of plants should I have and was advised to have a mixture of live and artificial. I wasnt given any special care and everything I have learnt has been from this forum.Im afraid I couldnt even tell you which plants I have.
I have been very lucky to only have lost 1 fish right at the beginning.
This algae is a real pain so if you can offer any advice I would be grateful.
p.s Re Overfeeding
Do I still feed my fish small amounts whilst doing daily water changes to get the level of nitrates down? or stop feeding for a couple of days? ( seems cruel )

thanks again

Marion

 

[Underwurlde]

my tank is not in direct sunlight

Good.

and the lights are on from 10am - 12 noon then 1630 pm till 2300 pm

9 1/2 hrs then. I'll come back to this.

I dont feed the plants, thought the plants got their food from the water somehow

trace elements may be, this depends on your water supply. Regardless, there won't be nearly enough for your plants. The fish will also provide a little 'food' for the plants, but again, not nearly enough.

and sorry for being an idiot dont know what CO2 is?

CO2, Carbon Dioxide. It is in the air we breath. We take oxygen IN, breath CO2 out. Plants use the Carbon in CO2 as a fundamental building block. It is what they are made of essentially (that and water). For this reason many people actually inject CO2 into the water - then again, some don't. This differentiates a 'low tech' set up from a 'high tech' set-up (High lighting, CO2).

I know I must sound awfully vague about it Ive only had my tank about 4 months I didnt do fishless cycle ( didnt know anything about it )

Neither did I!

Im afraid I couldnt even tell you which plants I have.

See if you can post a picture of your tank up to get them ID'd. Many shops sell plants that (believe it or not) are simply NOT aquatic!

I have been very lucky to only have lost 1 fish right at the beginning.

Me too. I lost a little Cory. Gutted!

p.s Re Overfeeding
Do I still feed my fish small amounts whilst doing daily water changes to get the level of nitrates down? or stop feeding for a couple of days? ( seems cruel )

Carry on feeding. Post above suggests an excellent feeding riegeme.

This algae is a real pain so if you can offer any advice I would be grateful.

Isn't it just!

One more question: What type of lights do you have, how many and what is the wattage of each bulb?
If you don't know, how long are they, how wide are they?

Once I know that I can bore you with more inane stuff!!! (lucky you).....


Andy