advice please

[aquila18328]

Hello all,
I just found this great whelm of knowledge today and have read quite a few of the threads. Here's my problem. I have had a 55gal tank set up for about 2 yrs. I had an Oscar, Dempsey and Pleco. Aprrox. 6 mnths ago I lost the Oscar, then a couple of weeks ago I lost the Dempsey. The tank didnt look that bad as far as clarity and no bad smell. I did a 50 - 60% water change by way of gravel vacuum. I refilled used start right and thought everything would be good to start again. I bought 9 neons 4 swords and 2 mollies Sunday. Well from the get go the fish didnt look right. I did a water change and last night went and bought a test kit. My ph is 7.0. I have no sign of Ammonia or nitrite. hardness is between 150 - 300 ppm. Alk is between 120 -180 ppm. Here's what I dont understand.:shake: My nitrate level is off the scale between 160 -200 ppm. I see from threads I need to do water changes. Im wondering if there is anything else I can do to lower it quicker without ruining the cycle, I think I have since last night and again today no ammonia or nitrite. I did notice the tank cloud Snday night but Mon was clear again.

Thanks in advance for your advice and help

Aq

[some_guy]

are u using somthing like aqua-safe with every wc. um i hope someone else gives you more info than me. i got a 55g myself and i got the jd, 2 oscars, and well my sig doesnt show the firemouth. i would do another vac, and maybe take out the gravel ( if possible ) and wash it out good. maybe if you have a spare tank to put your fish in than completly clean out everything in your tank. hope that helps.

[aquila18328]

Well I just did another 20% change seems there might be a little drop more towards the 160 end of what I reported earlier. Yes I used a conditioner just to remove chlorine and chloramine and also adds a stress coat. I guess unless I hear otherwise Im in for a few more water changes. I wish I had another tank but thats not an option. Thanks for the reply.

Aq

[ChiefXP]

If you lost those fish over months ago your biological filter cant handle that much ammonia and its most likely going to poison your fish. Read up on cycling. Add fish slower...

[SBA]

the standard way of lowering nitrAtes is to do water changes. how often do you do partial changes on your tank?

check your tapwater - some tapwater contains high nitrAtes.

doing water changes won't harm the cycle - but by the sounds of it your tank has cycled anyway(0 ammonia / nitrIte?). as part of the regular maintenance you will need to do (probably weekly) changes. you can't really do too many.

i certainly wouldn't start removing the gravel, just vacuum it when doing changes.

HTH

[Richer]

Looks like to me you haven't been doing water changes in the past... though an establish tank will do ok without water changes for an extended amount of time, the tank will eventually crash, as you can see with your tank.

Just do a 30-40% water change everyday with dechlorinated water until your nitrates drop. To what level is up to you, but I prefer to keep my nitrate levels under 20ppm. However, I have read that keeping nitrates under 100ppm is also accpetable... though there is some conflict in that... some people also claim that 50ppm should be the borderline. If you ask me, the lower it is, the better it is. Change your water via vacumming your gravel. Your gravel has probably accumulated a high amount of debris, and that is probably another source for your high nitrates.

Once you've reached a lower nitrate level, get used to a routine of changing water regularly. Many people suggest changing about 30-40% of tank water once a week. That is probably easiest. I do water changes whenever my nitrate levels go up higher than my preferred level. Whichever method you pick will work just fine.

Don't worry about changing out too much water, if you are swapping your tank water with dechlorinated water your biological filter will do just fine. Every month or so, I do two 50% water changes on my cichlid tank (to more or less reduce nitrate levels down to nearly undetectable levels), and I've never lost a fish yet.

HTH
-Richer

[ROLLIN]

Also, add some plants like java fern and java moss, they are easy to grow and will help reduce your nitrates.