New Member

[nanab54]

Just wanted to say hello and tell you a little about myself. I have had aquariums for about 7 years and have progressed from a 10 gal to the 110 gal cichlid tank I have now. I am trying to stop my tendacy of "overfeeding" which has gotten me in the situation I'm in now. I have been battling nitrates and now I am getting brown algae. Would love to hear any suggestions other members have or just say hello. Happy to have found this site.

Nanab.

[Rbishop]

Welcome to AC! Start a thread in GFW with more details and any questions. Best weapon for nitrates is large frequent water changes....what is the nitrate reading on your tap water?

[nanab54]

Thank you for the reply I will check the site more often. I checked tap water and the reading was 0. As I said earlier, I am a over feeder. After I cut back to every other day, I was so proud of myself until I was told how big the stomachs are. I was still overfeeding. I think that I may have a better grasp on amounts required now. I have been doing 2 changes a week and removing approx 25-30% each time but I don't think they liked it. Now back to 1 change a week and I am doing about 40% and siphoning half of the gravel each time. Also I have a problem with the ph and algae do to the high nitrates and I have to treat every other day just to keep it around 7. Ever used baking soda to raise ph? I use product from aquarium store and its $9 a pop! I get about 3 uses due to size of tank.

Sorry, I am long winded. Thanks again.

[SubRosa]

Baking soda works nicely, and if you use an equal amount of Epsom salts or CaCl ice melter with it you are essentially replicating commercially produced Cichlid salt and buffer. Using a crushed coral/ aragonite substrate, or even a bit in a bag in the filter can help keep things right as well.