Water Stats

[rarefish]

I have been struggling with water quality since I moved 2 years ago. I have high nitrites, and low alkalinity. Are there any good products out there that can help? Thanks!

rarefish

P.S. I'll post complete water stats tommorrow.

 

[The-Wolf]

all depends on what exactly the problems are and how you want to deal with them, naturally or chemically.
check out the link in my sig "water" and it may help you.

 

[rarefish]

Thanks! I'll be doing a water change today, then going after a nitrite remover. Thanks again, the link helped!

rarefish

 

[black molly3]

how often do you feed your fish.
if it is over 3 times a day cut right down to once a day.
if you feed your fish only once a day feed once every other day.
however most nitrite comes from waste in the tank so i would recomend you to do a water change one every week.
this WILL drop your nitrite leve;l down to IDEAL.
im not too sure how to raise your alkaline levels.
the best thing to do is to go to your local aquatist and question him over your problems.

best of luck

 

[rarefish]

I feed my fish once a day(except for my cory cat fry and guppy fry). By the way, I accidentally confused the nitrates with the nitrites, and the nitrates are actually too high. Here is the list of my tanks and their inhabitants:

29 Gallon:
2 Medium/Large 5" Severums
1 Small 3" Severum
2 Small/Medium 3"-4" Kissing Gouramis
1 Full-Grown 4" Gold Panchax Killi
Water Stats:
Nitrate: 80(Too High)
Nitrite: 0
GH: Soft
Alkalinity: 0(Low)
pH: 6.2 (Too Low)

20 Gallon:
4 Small 1.5" Mollies
3 Female Guppies
4 Platies
4 1/2"-3/4" Male Guppies
4 Snails
7 Cory Cats
Guppy Fry
Water Stats:
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 5.0(Too High)
GH: Soft
Alkalinity: 40(Too Low)
pH: 6.8(Almost Too Low)

I am about to move my male guppies to a 10 gallon, and my fry to a 5 gallon. I might possibly be able to move some other fish, but none in the 29 gallon. All of my tanks are over-crowded, and I know it. I did not mean for them to grow so large so quickly! Anyone know of some good products to help my water stats? Thanks again!

rarefish

 

[cujoho78]

Hi, the wierdest thing i notice is that the water stats bewteen your two tanks are quite different. I am wondering why that is? Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? I would be curious to know what the number was, it should be zero in most cases. Alkalinity in one tank is zero, and in the other is 40, again i wonder why. Also nitrItes in the one tank are zero and in the other 5? Is that tank cycling or something? The pH as well is different i noticed. So do you use water from the same source for both tanks? If so how often do you do water changes, and how often do you vacuum the gravel? If you don't have any nitrAtes in your tap water then i think that doing water changes would help you out. A water change of 10%-20% once a week might do the trick along with a gravel vacuum. Also, try not to feed too much. Maybe you could cut down the amount you feed them a little in the tank with high nitrates to see if that helps.

 

[rarefish]

I'll have to test my tap water. I use the same water in both tanks. Neither tank is cycling, so I'm also baffled as to why they are so differant. I've been doing water changes(and vaccuming the gravel) every 1-2 weeks, mainly because I can never get the water to clear up. I'll moniter feeding them so that no/little food goes to waste in the tank. Thanks again!

rarefish

 

[pokagon55]

You never said what the ammonia readings are. If the NITRITES are 5.0 then you are on a cycle. The nitrates and the cloudy water will go hand in hand. How deep is you gravel? What are the sizes of you filters? What is the % of water that you take out? Your ph looks good, you do NOT have to have 7.0 for a ph reading just as long as it is stable. People tend to focus to much on the PREFECT ph reading, please don't. Just go with what you have. And make it STABLE.

 

[rarefish]

I don't have an ammonia test . I might have to purchase one soon. My 29 gallon has 2" of gravel and an almost new Emperor 400 filter(my other filter gave up after 8 years, but the water has always been cloudy since I moved). My 20 gallon has 1" of gravel, and an older Marineland like the Penguin 350 without the bio-wheels. Depending on how bad the water is, I change 30%-50%(usually 30%). I'll probably leave the pH alone until everything else clears up. Thanks!

rarefish

 

[pokagon55]

Yea get an ammoina test kit!!!! Is your tank planted? If not is sounds like to much gravel, it is recommened to have about 1/4 inch gravel up to 1 inch gravel. But if you don't know the ammoina readings it MOST likly a re-cycle of the tank. If I were you I would leave the ph ALONE it is better to have a stable ph than a PERFECT ph. And on the filter it is also a good idea to have one or two sizes to big for the tank.

You could try bio-speria and add that to your tank it will help with the cycle.

 

[rarefish]

My 20 gallon tank is planted, but my 29 gallon is not. I'll probably take some of the gravel out. I can't find any Bio-Spira locally, so I'm trying Cycle. If that doesn't work, then I'll go on the hunt for Bio-Spira. All of my filters are at least 2x too big for my tanks, lol ! Thanks again!

rarefish

 

[rarefish]

The 20 gallon is starting to clear up. I actually didn't do much to it. The 29 is still a problem though. Any advice? Thanks!

rarefish

 

[love cichlids]

Run out and get an ammonia test and keep changing your water if there is ammonia in the tanks. If you don't keep that down you will lose some fish. How did you move your fish, did you take as much tank water with you when you moved. When did you get the new filter, did you put the old media from other filter when you set up new filter. How far did you move, if it was far, did you put your media in tank water. All of these factors will effect how the tank is when you set your tanks up in your new place. Have you done anything different recently to your tanks, taking out gravel, adding it, adding fish. This will all help to figure out why your tanks are recycling. I had a mini cycle when I moved but did not take long at all to clear up.

Sorry, just reread your post. Have you been having these problems for the full 2 yrs or just recently.

 

[pokagon55]

My 20 gallon tank is planted, but my 29 gallon is not. I'll probably take some of the gravel out. I can't find any Bio-Spira locally, so I'm trying Cycle. If that doesn't work, then I'll go on the hunt for Bio-Spira. All of my filters are at least 2x too big for my tanks, lol ! Thanks again!

rarefish

I have never found Cycle to work very well because of the amount of the bacteria strains that it contains. You could try Stability instead, you should be able to found that one. It works better than the others. Other than Bio-speira. Stability contains alot more strains. Bio-spreia is live bacteria and it works in about two days.

 

[rarefish]

Stability didn't work for me the first time, but I guess I can always try again. I'll also go out to find an ammonia test. I'll keep up the water changes. I've had these problems for 2 years, and it is starting to really worry me !!! I haven't changed much of anything. I'll have to answer the rest of the questions later as I'm on my way out ! Thanks again!

rarefish