Tank Issues

[fish_fetish65]

don't mean to sound like a newbie to all of this or anything... but this is driving me up the wall, and i need to get it taken care of asap.

so, my nitrites and nitrates are ridiculously high. i have been doing daily water changes, gravel vacuums, everything. so far none of it has worked. no dead fish yet, though. anyhow, pretty soon, i am turning said tank into a cichlid tank, so i want to get this all sorted out before i try to do anything like that.

so, my questions are:

WHY are my nitrites and nitrates so high after doing so many water changes and gravel vacuums?? am i missing something?

also, how can i clean my filter (getting gunk in it) without messing up the bacteria colony?

sorry for the stupid questions... they're just ones i've never bothered to ask haha. most of the time, water changes work for lowering nitrites and nitrates. this just seems to be a very messy bunch of fish!!!

TANK STATS:

NO3: 40ppm
NO2: 3.0ppm
GH: 150ppm
KH: 180ppm
pH: 7.8

occupants: 8 danios, 6 platties, 3 mollies, 2 dwarf gouramis, 3 guppies, 2 cory cats, 2 algae eaters
size: 55 (US) gallons
substrate: gravel
filter: topfin 55 gallon filter

i also have about 3 fry in there and a clump of java moss

thanks ahead of time!

 

[Tolak]

Sounds like a tank towards the end of a cycle. Your nitrates aren't too bad actually, nitrites can be lowered by water changes IF you have a good filter to colonize enough nitrifying bacteria.

Top Fin is a Whisper knockoff marketed by PetSmart. That filter won't fly if you plan on doing cichlids. It may be the problem with your tank right now, filter pads have little area for bacteria to colonize. If you want to get it sorted out before trying cichlids, get at least an Aqua Clear 70, and consider a canister filter along with it. Cichlids are messy fish, and need at least double the filtration of a community of smaller fish.

 

[confusion]

When you do water changes, how much are you removing?

Also, when cycling tanks, it's best to feed very sparingly - even skipping every other day. You obviously have all the right bacteria now, it's just a matter of getting things under control. I am not 100% sure, but when I was cycling my tank, it seemed like the high nitrites were inhibiting the continued growth of the nitrite to nitrate converting bacteria. I did a series of 5 or 6 70%+ water changes over the course of 2 days and that was what finally got mine down. After my last change, I noticed I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 40ppm nitrates.

I really don't know the cause of the seemingly high nitrates, but my guess is that there was a substantial unprocessed backlog of ammonia and nitrites that is being run through the system and not being processed by things like plants or algae (does that use nitrates??? hmm...)

I hope you're able to get it under control. My recommendation is to do a high percentage water change if you haven't already done so.

 

[fish_fetish65]

so whisper filters are no good either, then?

my tank is cycling...? that's rather odd considering it cycled about two months ago when i first set it up?

although, i later had to use melafix to rid the tank of some bacterial infections... could that have destroyed the bacteria in my filter, causing it to recycle?

anyhow, what brand of filters in the US that aren't insanely expensive would you recommend?