hi im new i wonder if anyone could help me i have a 60 litre tank and i cant my ammonia ph nitrate and nitrite levels down tried changing water up to 40% and still nothing i and thorughly vacummed over and over and still nothing clean filter media in tank water still nothing please help getting quite URGENT now thank you 
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How long has the tank been set up.
You shouldn't touch the filter sponges only change the filter floss or mating once a week.
Also you do not touch the subsrate till the tanks cycled.
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i have 6 tiger barbs 2 albino plecs 2 golden apple snails and 2 zebra snails shall i do water changes everyday and see how i get on my ammonia level i just check was on the highest one im really quite woriied no my nitrite is aswell now i dont no what ese to do any suggestion mate would be great cheers mate
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Continue to do water changes until you can get the ammonia and nitrite down to .25 ppm or below. Obviously, you want them both at zero but that will take some time. What are your exact readings for ammonia, nitrite and pH (test your tap water too as the problem could be there)? The pH isn't something you need to worry about getting down (or up). The main thing is that it is stable. Since you say you can't get it down, I'm assuming it's in the upper 7s which does make the ammonia more toxic.
Since you say the ammonia is on the highest level (liquid or strip tests - strips are terribly inaccurate), I would do a 50% WC as soon as possible. Contine to do them every 3 or 4 hours until you get the levels down. After that, you can cut back to 25% as needed to keep the levels down. The only reason not to do WCs that large is if the tap pH and tank pH are significantly different, thus potentially causing a big swing in the tank pH.
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Continue to do water changes until you can get the ammonia and nitrite down to .25 ppm or below. Obviously, you want them both at zero but that will take some time. What are your exact readings for ammonia, nitrite and pH (test your tap water too as the problem could be there)? The pH isn't something you need to worry about getting down (or up). The main thing is that it is stable. Since you say you can't get it down, I'm assuming it's in the upper 7s which does make the ammonia more toxic.
Since you say the ammonia is on the highest level (liquid or strip tests - strips are terribly inaccurate), I would do a 50% WC as soon as possible. Contine to do them every 3 or 4 hours until you get the levels down. After that, you can cut back to 25% as needed to keep the levels down. The only reason not to do WCs that large is if the tap pH and tank pH are significantly different, thus potentially causing a big swing in the tank pH.
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Continue to do water changes until you can get the ammonia and nitrite down to .25 ppm or below. Obviously, you want them both at zero but that will take some time. What are your exact readings for ammonia, nitrite and pH (test your tap water too as the problem could be there)? The pH isn't something you need to worry about getting down (or up). The main thing is that it is stable. Since you say you can't get it down, I'm assuming it's in the upper 7s which does make the ammonia more toxic.
Since you say the ammonia is on the highest level (liquid or strip tests - strips are terribly inaccurate), I would do a 50% WC as soon as possible. Contine to do them every 3 or 4 hours until you get the levels down. After that, you can cut back to 25% as needed to keep the levels down. The only reason not to do WCs that large is if the tap pH and tank pH are significantly different, thus potentially causing a big swing in the tank pH.
i think this may be a bit confusing as 1 person is saying to do 25% water changes and another is saying to do 50% water changes every3 or 4 hours??
which one is it
Since you have ammonia and nitrite present, your tank is not cycled. "Cycled" simply means that there is enough nitrifying bacteria present to process all waste. In a cycled tank, ammonia and nitrite wil always be zero. If you mean that you "cycled" it as the fish stores tell you by setting it up and letting it run for 3 days to a week or 2, that isn't cycling and really doesn't do anything. Until there is an ammonia source, eiher fish or bottled ammonia in a fishless cycle, the bacteria will not form.
The tank is cycled yes and i recently and regurly on a weekly bases put in nutrafin cycle give it a boost thanks for the quote
Since you have ammonia and nitrite present, your tank is not cycled. "Cycled" simply means that there is enough nitrifying bacteria present to process all waste. In a cycled tank, ammonia and nitrite wil always be zero. If you mean that you "cycled" it as the fish stores tell you by setting it up and letting it run for 3 days to a week or 2, that isn't cycling and really doesn't do anything. Until there is an ammonia source, eiher fish or bottled ammonia in a fishless cycle, the bacteria will not form.
The tank is cycled yes and i recently and regurly on a weekly bases put in nutrafin cycle give it a boost thanks for the quote
On a side note, the Nutrifin Cycle is pretty much useless. It really does nothing to speed the cycling process. It won't hurt to use it but it won't help either.
