Water Problems

[mumx1234]

have had my tank up and running since december last year, everything has been fine up until about 1month ago.
I have guppy's in my tank along with 2 pleco's , 1 upside down cat fish and 8 danios.
I am having problems with my water, i tested my water last week and the no3 was way above 100, so i changed 40lt of water one day and a couple of days later a changed 80lt, it the no3 started to go down - that was on monday this week.
I tested the water today and it was up at 100 again!, i changed 40lt water and it is down a wee bit.

I not to sure what to do my guppy's are all dieing off - at least 1 a day, they are acting quiet strange, flicking there body's of every thing and lying at the bottom of the tank then swimming quite erratically.
I have one that has a white patch along its side and it seems to be paralysed and can move only one side.

I am running 2 internal filters (fluval u4 and 4plus) plenty of plants and air stone providing oxygen.My tank holds 260lts.

I would be grateful for any help as i do not want to loose any more fish

 

[CrystalClear16]

no.3? Do you mean the nitrate is above the 100?

What are your ammonia and nitrite levels? Have you tested your tap water? How much Nitrate is in you tap water?

 

[mumx1234]

no.3? Do you mean the nitrate is above the 100?

What are your ammonia and nitrite levels? Have you tested your tap water? How much Nitrate is in you tap water?

Hi,
yes my nitrate is above 100, my ammonia is at 0, nitrite is at 0.I have tested the tap water and it is fine no nitrate.

 

[hamfist]

You need to do 50% water changes daily until the nitrate levels are reasonable. Remeber to make sure that the incoming water is dechlorinated and roughly the same temp as the tank (ADD BOILED WATER FROM THE KETTLE IF NEED BE ... oops caps lock ).

You don't mention what your water change schedule before this realisation was.

If you do the maths, then a 40 or 80 litre water change on a 260 litre tank is not going to hugely reduce the nitrate levels. They will quickly build up to high levels again if you have something causing the nitrate levels to rise in your tank.
I'm guessing that either your filters are so full of cr@p that they are just a nitrate factory, or else your substrate is. I'm sure something in there is releasing a lot of nitrate.
What is your stocking levels of fish ? What is your feeding schedule, and how much ?

 

[mumx1234]

You need to do 50% water changes daily until the nitrate levels are reasonable. Remeber to make sure that the incoming water is dechlorinated and roughly the same temp as the tank (ADD BOILED WATER FROM THE KETTLE IF NEED BE ... oops caps lock ).

You don't mention what your water change schedule before this realisation was.

If you do the maths, then a 40 or 80 litre water change on a 260 litre tank is not going to hugely reduce the nitrate levels. They will quickly build up to high levels again if you have something causing the nitrate levels to rise in your tank.
I'm guessing that either your filters are so full of cr@p that they are just a nitrate factory, or else your substrate is. I'm sure something in there is releasing a lot of nitrate.
What is your stocking levels of fish ? What is your feeding schedule, and how much ?

Thanks.

I change 40l of water weekly and vacum the substrate, right now I only have 20 guppys, 2 plecos and the upsidedown cat fish in the tank - the danios have been moved.

They are fed once a day with flake/brine/bloodworm (just one of them) all gone within 2 min.

I did read that it may be the filter, as i have 2 up and running I have changed the media foams in one.
I rechecked the nitrate levels this morning and it is coming down it is now at 50, i will do another big water change tomorrow.

 

[hamfist]

Thanks.

I change 40l of water weekly and vacum the substrate, right now I only have 20 guppys, 2 plecos and the upsidedown cat fish in the tank - the danios have been moved.

They are fed once a day with flake/brine/bloodworm (just one of them) all gone within 2 min.

I did read that it may be the filter, as i have 2 up and running I have changed the media foams in one.
I rechecked the nitrate levels this morning and it is coming down it is now at 50, i will do another big water change tomorrow.

Your stocking levels sound very reasonable (assuming the plecos are still small .... they can of course be massive).

What filter cleaning/maintenance schedule have been doing ? Foam media pretty much never needs changing BTW. Just wash/squeeze it out in clean tank water.
Most filters need the rubbish cleaning out of them, and the filter media being washed out (in tankwater) every 2-3 months or so. Some more often, and some less frequently.
Keep up the water changes to get those nitrates down. I'd also clean out your filters if you haven't recently.

BTW, plecos can produce huge amounts of poop. If the plecos are getting to a reasonable size then theycould certainly be contributing to the elevated nitrate levels if you are not making sure that the poop is getting cleared out on a regular basis.