Water test results....

[Richie Lucas]

Just bought a master test kit after holding out for a while.

Did a test on my problematic tank

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 160ppm+!!!

Really cant understand it.

I tested my tap water for Nitrate to find it has 5ppm.

What can i do to get the nitrate down?

 

[Bloo]

water change ! Do a 50% change now and then measure again after a few hours.
Make sure your filter is clean and the media is rinsed in the siphoned water.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Is it cycled, its either going through the full cycle or a mini cycle.

 

[rdd1952]

Your tank is pretty heavily stocked, especially with the pleco. How big is he? Also, you could be overfeeding. The only way to get nitrates is through your tap water which doesn't appear to be a problem or through the nitrogen cycle. That would mean you have an enormous amount of fish waste (overstocked tank) or a lot of left over food that is decaying (overfeeding). As Bloozoo2 said, water changes are the only way to get rid of nitrates. I would suggest doing 30% changes daily until you get the nitrates under 40 ppm. Also, see if you can rehome the pleco. He needs a minimum or 55 gallons (more like 75+).

 

[fishwatcher]

You can try adding more live plants too. The plants use up all that kind of stuff.

 

[WILDER]

Your tank is pretty heavily stocked, especially with the pleco. How big is he? Also, you could be overfeeding. The only way to get nitrates is through your tap water which doesn't appear to be a problem or through the nitrogen cycle. That would mean you have an enormous amount of fish waste (overstocked tank) or a lot of left over food that is decaying (overfeeding). As Bloozoo2 said, water changes are the only way to get rid of nitrates. I would suggest doing 30% changes daily until you get the nitrates under 40 ppm. Also, see if you can rehome the pleco. He needs a minimum or 55 gallons (more like 75+).

I agree, how big is the shark as it needs a 125gal tank, for now you could always add another filter for back up.