When I first rescued my Jack Dempsey, almost a year ago, he was very ill and I had to keep him in a ten gallon tank. (I was a new fish owner and never could get my levels to 0 or close to 0) Then after a few months, I bought a 55 gallon tank and cycled it for a month and a half. Then I acclimated him, and everything was great. My levels at that time were close to 0. I would do regular 10% water changes once a week. At the end of Summer, my roommate and I decide to clean the gravel, but we ended up taking out half the water. Then that's when things started to go wrong. After that it was a constant battle of trying to bring my nitrate levels down. I did the same amount of water changes every week, but nothing was changing. I could notice it in my fish, he was very stressed... When it got really bad, he would get fin clamp and barely move. So I found this product called nitra-zorb. And it worked so well! All my levels went back to 0 or close to 0... But as soon as I took it out after a week or two, my nitrate would skyrocket! And I didn't have the money to keep buying nitra-zorb every two weeks... So I stopped and just stuck with my water changes and gravel cleaning... Then it came to a point where I was doing more frequent water changes or changing out a little bit more water once a week because my fish looked so unhealthy. And I've noticed when he's stressed he gets almost clear feces. But he would still eat regularly. Then one day a few weeks ago I started to notice the ammonia spiked. It was 0 this whole time or close to 0, but now it's at .25. Then I watched a video on how to break down and clean my filter and did so. When I went to plug it in, it stopped working... So I mailed it back to the manufacture for a new motor... I was panicking for my fish, so I went out and bought a more expensive filter (maybe mine is not a good enough filter?) and the new filter is great... Except my ammonia and nitrate levels were high, so I bought another nitra-zorb thinking that would be a quick fix. (In the back of my old filter, it was small, room for two filter pads so I had room to put the nitrazorb... But my new one, has four filter pads and I barely any room to put the nitrazorb so I took one filter pad out and put the nitrazorb in its place...) And the levels are higher then ever I feel like I'm losing my mind! So I called the nitrazorb customer service for some help, and they told me everything I already knew... My levels are now as followed ammonia- .25 and nitrate- 50 to 100 I'm not too sure. So I'm out of options. I don't know where to go from here. My fish is so stressed and the last few days it's been hard for him to eat. Out of this whole process, he's only not had an appetite in the first few weeks I had him and that's because he was really ill. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I'm desperate and am almost wiling to pay someone to come to my house to see what's going on...
Help! Nitrate levels have been high for months! How will he make it another day?
- Thread starter Fish4m
- Start date
1st of all welcome to AC! 
Sorry to hear you are having troubles, let's find out some more about your setup.
What was his illness when you got him? Are you certain he is not still ill?
55g is good, is he the only fish in there? How big is he now?
What are all your tank parameters pH, GH, KH, temp etc.?
What exactly are you considering "high" nitrates? 0 nitrates isn't really a plausible goal although under 40 is ok, under 20 is good.
When you changed filters did you put the old media into the new filter? Sounds like you may have had a mini cycle.
What do you feed him? Have you changed foods recently? You mention white/clear feces that is usually a sign of internal parasites or bloat.
Any other changes you can think of? No one else has been feeding him or may have accidentally knocked something into the tank?
I'm sure there are more questions but let's start there. ANY additional details you can think of might be helpful. Can't have too much info! Pictures can be very helpful too but I think you need more posts before you can post pictures....??
Sorry to hear you are having troubles, let's find out some more about your setup. What was his illness when you got him? Are you certain he is not still ill?
55g is good, is he the only fish in there? How big is he now?
What are all your tank parameters pH, GH, KH, temp etc.?
What exactly are you considering "high" nitrates? 0 nitrates isn't really a plausible goal although under 40 is ok, under 20 is good.
When you changed filters did you put the old media into the new filter? Sounds like you may have had a mini cycle.
What do you feed him? Have you changed foods recently? You mention white/clear feces that is usually a sign of internal parasites or bloat.
Any other changes you can think of? No one else has been feeding him or may have accidentally knocked something into the tank?
I'm sure there are more questions but let's start there.
ANY additional details you can think of might be helpful. Can't have too much info! Pictures can be very helpful too but I think you need more posts before you can post pictures....??Hi!... His illness? Well I know he defiantly had ick... But he was never tested so I have no idea what else he had. I know he had white feces for a long time but it subsided. I know he was in a tank with a dead eel a month before I took him. (My ex's roommate had him and took really bad care of him so I asked if I could take him and he said yes) I have no idea if he's still ill. He's acted normal all spring and summer but has had clear to white feces on and off in summer-now... Yes he's the only fish in there. He's about 5-6 inches. I believe he is around 4 years old. I know the pH is 8-8.2 and has also been that way. The temp is always between 75-80 F... I don't know what the other abbreviations stand for. My nitrate levels are in between 60-100. (I went to a fish store a few months ago and he told me my fish would be okay if the level was between 40-60) I thought that was too high... I didn't know I was suppose to put the old media in the new filter... Should I do that now? When I took my old filter out, and let it and the pads dry, the filter started to grow this white fuzz stuff and I feel like it's mold... I don't know what else it could be. Is that bad? And when I bought the nitrazorb and realized it wasn't working as it normally does, I decided to remove one of the filter pads and replace it with the nitrazorb and all of a sudden my whole tank got really really cloudy. I feel like it just let go of all the crap it was holding onto. And it still hasn't cleared up.
What's a mini cycle?
I feed him 4 Tetra Cichlid floating sticks in the AM and in the PM.
He's had bloat many times... I've treated him with metronitizole multiple times...
I know no one else has fed him and no one has knocked anything in the tank...
I know when I clean the tank I find green/clear slime on the glass of the light fixtures... Is that normal?
I wish I could send pictures! That would be so much more helpful to actually see what I'm talking about... Right now, and the last four days he's been in one spot in the corner, behind a branch. His bottom half is touching the ground and his top half is floating...
What's a mini cycle?
I feed him 4 Tetra Cichlid floating sticks in the AM and in the PM.
He's had bloat many times... I've treated him with metronitizole multiple times...
I know no one else has fed him and no one has knocked anything in the tank...
I know when I clean the tank I find green/clear slime on the glass of the light fixtures... Is that normal?
I wish I could send pictures! That would be so much more helpful to actually see what I'm talking about... Right now, and the last four days he's been in one spot in the corner, behind a branch. His bottom half is touching the ground and his top half is floating...
Other abbreviations are general hardness and carbonate hardness (alkalinity). 1st suggestion is expand your test kit to include GH and KH and use liquid tests, not strips. Even 60 isn't horrible for these big hardy fish but certainly not ideal and if you are changing the water and vacuuming as often as you say you shouldn't have that high of nitrates. Have you tested your tap water?
You said you let the 55g "cycle" for 1.5 months. Are you referring to a real nitrogen cycle or just let the water circulate? I'll just explain now to move things along, if you already know this nevermind. The nitrogen cycle in our aquaria case simply is growing the correct bacteria to breakdown ammonia (most dangerous) from fish waste, leftover food, plant material etc. into nitrite (less dangerous) and finally into nitrates (least dangerous). That bacteria grows on everything in the tank but mostly in the filter media/pads. So when you removed the old filter pads you removed that colony of bacteria sending you into a mini cycle where your amount of bacteria didn't match your nitrogen wastes resulting in the ammonia you are seeing. This bacteria dies when dried out = old pads are just pads again. The cloudy tank after removing the filter pad to put in the nitrazorb could have been loose debris from pads but more likely it was a bacteria bloom (rapid production of free floating bacteria). What kind of filter do you have?
If he has had bloat repeated then something needs to change. I would suggest trying a different food, with less protein or even giving him a wider variety of food, again with low protein things mixed in, even blanched veggies are a good treat. Right now I would suggest you stop feeding him the sticks and try to give him some deshelled peas, if he doesn't show interest put a dab of garlic of the pea to pique his interest and the garlic is good for his immune system to boot. In addition to that IF he has internal parasite you will want to get him some medicated food, let's hope it's just bloat tho.
Tell me more about this white "mold" on the filter and the green/clear slime on the light fixture.... Is your light in contact with the water? get splashed on?
Sorry for these long posts but I think we are starting to get more of a sense of the whole picture now.
You said you let the 55g "cycle" for 1.5 months. Are you referring to a real nitrogen cycle or just let the water circulate? I'll just explain now to move things along, if you already know this nevermind.
The nitrogen cycle in our aquaria case simply is growing the correct bacteria to breakdown ammonia (most dangerous) from fish waste, leftover food, plant material etc. into nitrite (less dangerous) and finally into nitrates (least dangerous). That bacteria grows on everything in the tank but mostly in the filter media/pads. So when you removed the old filter pads you removed that colony of bacteria sending you into a mini cycle where your amount of bacteria didn't match your nitrogen wastes resulting in the ammonia you are seeing. This bacteria dies when dried out = old pads are just pads again. The cloudy tank after removing the filter pad to put in the nitrazorb could have been loose debris from pads but more likely it was a bacteria bloom (rapid production of free floating bacteria). What kind of filter do you have?If he has had bloat repeated then something needs to change. I would suggest trying a different food, with less protein or even giving him a wider variety of food, again with low protein things mixed in, even blanched veggies are a good treat. Right now I would suggest you stop feeding him the sticks and try to give him some deshelled peas, if he doesn't show interest put a dab of garlic of the pea to pique his interest and the garlic is good for his immune system to boot. In addition to that IF he has internal parasite you will want to get him some medicated food, let's hope it's just bloat tho.
Tell me more about this white "mold" on the filter and the green/clear slime on the light fixture.... Is your light in contact with the water? get splashed on?
Sorry for these long posts but I think we are starting to get more of a sense of the whole picture now.
Okay I'll buy some GH and KH liquid tests tomorrow... I vacuum my gravel once a month. I've tested my tap water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate and they were at 0. I haven't check for GH and KH because I don't have the tests, I'll do it tomorrow.
With the 55 gallon cycle, yes I mean the nitrogen cycle. I did a lot of research before i did this and I tested it twice a week until the levels went back down to 0... I used ammonia from ace hardware to start off the process by the way...
I thought nitrate was the most harmful? Yea my tank is still cloudy... The type of filter that I had bought the night my old one broke is called Penguin 350 by Marineland. My old one is by Aqueon, it's the 50-75 gallon one. I don't think it has a real name... The food I have now says it has 46% crude protein... I've fed him two des helped peas... He doesn't like them... He's kept them down. Every time he comes back up I'll feed him another one. How many is to many?
I found a very long white string poo tonight... And a few more around the tank. The white fuzz started to grow on my old filter when I took it out. It's been out for a week now and I just noticed it a few days ago.
And yea water does splash up on both of the glass on the lights. And now it's the same for my new filter (where the water comes out) so I just wipe it off with a napkin...
And there's random patches of what looks like salt that builds up around the filter but I figured that was normal...
I love the long conversations because I'm finally getting answers I've been searching for for a year thank you so much!
With the 55 gallon cycle, yes I mean the nitrogen cycle. I did a lot of research before i did this and I tested it twice a week until the levels went back down to 0... I used ammonia from ace hardware to start off the process by the way...
I thought nitrate was the most harmful? Yea my tank is still cloudy... The type of filter that I had bought the night my old one broke is called Penguin 350 by Marineland. My old one is by Aqueon, it's the 50-75 gallon one. I don't think it has a real name... The food I have now says it has 46% crude protein... I've fed him two des helped peas... He doesn't like them... He's kept them down. Every time he comes back up I'll feed him another one. How many is to many?
I found a very long white string poo tonight... And a few more around the tank. The white fuzz started to grow on my old filter when I took it out. It's been out for a week now and I just noticed it a few days ago.
And yea water does splash up on both of the glass on the lights. And now it's the same for my new filter (where the water comes out) so I just wipe it off with a napkin...
And there's random patches of what looks like salt that builds up around the filter but I figured that was normal...
I love the long conversations because I'm finally getting answers I've been searching for for a year thank you so much!
Is that with liquid or strips? Even fish stores often use strips and they are wildly inaccurate most of the time. All I would use them for is a positive or negative test. They do display levels of 0 correctly and anything else means something is there but who knows exactly how much. The nitrate was the most inaccurate in my experience but that was 15years ago.
Nitrate is the least toxic of the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia will kill in the single digits and nitrite might. Nitrates are often fine up to 40ppm. It gets questionable after that and most aim closer to 20ppm.
Do not attempt to place filter media back in after it has sat stagnant for too long. It will turn anaerobic (bacteria that does not use oxygen to survive and often produces toxic gases) and possible grow other weird crap. When you do a gravel vac or clean a filter don't clean it all. Do about 1/4th of the tank gravel at a time and keep some media that is just rinsed in the old tank water you removed and then return it to the filter. That will help prevent mini cycles. Mini cycles happen when you remove too much of the bacteria that keeps the tank changing ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. You end up with a small spike of ammonia and have to cycle it back to fully functional again.
I suggest you grab a bottle of prime which will render most of the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates harmless. Then figure out what cleaning, water changing, or feeding is going wrong.
Nitrate is the least toxic of the nitrogen cycle. Ammonia will kill in the single digits and nitrite might. Nitrates are often fine up to 40ppm. It gets questionable after that and most aim closer to 20ppm.
Do not attempt to place filter media back in after it has sat stagnant for too long. It will turn anaerobic (bacteria that does not use oxygen to survive and often produces toxic gases) and possible grow other weird crap. When you do a gravel vac or clean a filter don't clean it all. Do about 1/4th of the tank gravel at a time and keep some media that is just rinsed in the old tank water you removed and then return it to the filter. That will help prevent mini cycles. Mini cycles happen when you remove too much of the bacteria that keeps the tank changing ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. You end up with a small spike of ammonia and have to cycle it back to fully functional again.
I suggest you grab a bottle of prime which will render most of the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates harmless. Then figure out what cleaning, water changing, or feeding is going wrong.
