Thanks for letting me join ur group , got a question on aquarium water

[Billy1]

My tank filter is a 206 fluval , been running for years , i changed the gravel not touched the filter , my ph is showing 7.6
Ammonia yellow
Nitrite ... sky blue
Nitrate red 40 ppm
Maybe inbetween as its red
I do water changes but im getting the same results nitrate is always red
Ive washed 2 sponge filters added to this tank to maybe build the bacteria
But im puzzled whats the problem
Tds is 190
Ive got no fish in at the moment , i have had but when i changed the gravel i put them in my tank , so its not a new tank
Any advise please

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Have you checked the tap water for nitrates?
If the tap water has 0 nitrates then do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the ammonia and nitrite are 0, and the nitrate is less than 20ppm.

If there are no fish in the tank, then drain it completely and refill it with dechlorinated water.

Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

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How often do you normally clean the filter and how do you clean it?
Filters should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is better.
Filter materials should be washed in a bucket of tank water.
The filter case and impellor assembly can be washed under tap water.