HELP....Nitrate Problems and Algae

[meximan]

Ive had my 55 gallon set up for a good 6 months now...Have had fish in there for about 3 months ...at the time the only Water monitoring stuff i had was API test strips..

I have
5 neons
5 Black Skirts
2 Cory cats

in there right now and i set up a 10 gal QT tank for all the new Fish to live in for a month before adding to my 55 gallon.

So far my big tank has been doing awesome...No fish deaths, they all seem healthy as can be...The only problem i have been having is with This brownish Algae thats, spreads pretty darn quick...

MY 10 gallon however has been set up for about 3 months now...Was used to cycle/ QT the fish i currently have in my 55 gallon....and now has a batch of 7 neons (small) and 5 lamp eye tetras...HOWEVER I cant seem to keep these dang neons alive...

So i broke down and bought the API master test kit and tested both tanks, and both of the water paramters were SUPER close to eachother...

about-
.15 Ammonia
0 Nitrite
80 ppm Nitrate
7.6-7.8 PH

Holy crap my Nitrate is high...Ive been consistently Keeping up with 25-35% water changes every week, I dont over feed i actually will sit there and hand feed them until they stop eating..

SO i tested my Tap water......40-50 PPM Nitrate...So seeing how my Water changes are getting me no where....What can i do to lower this nitrate problem.. I have some plants in each tank....

Also For PH, is the only STATIC change i can make to ph , by adding driftwood? Otherwise its best to leave the PH alone rather than add Disolvents as band aids right?

 

[CathyGo]

Just leave your ph alone. It doesn't need to be "perfect" and aside from some truly sensitive species the fish don't care. That's what our ph is in Phoenix and I've kept and bred "soft water" fish in it with no problems.

Can't answer on the nitrate problem other than to say I'm glad you thought of testing your tap water.

 

[Manafel]

Overfeeding doesn't mean that you will always have leftover food. The more you feed your fish, the more waste they produce which means higher nitrates. I would lighten up on feeding, and do a couple 50% water changes over the next few days.

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[sorberj]

The ammonia reading seems off. If your tank is cycled then your ammonia should be 0 unless you're testing right after a water change and your tap water has residual ammonia in it, especially since you shouldn't be anywhere near overstocked. As for the nitrate, that's definitely high and your tap water shouldn't be showing that much since the maximum US drinking water standard is roughly 10ppm. If you're getting your water from a well, you may wish to have a professional test your well. It's also possible that your test was off. Maybe try double-checking the directions and running the test again.

For pH, leave it alone, you're fine for most species, especially if they're domestically bred. A steady pH is better than a swinging pH

 

[meximan]

I was always told to feed them a few pinches until they stop eating, I only feed once a day...thats not right?

Ya the tap water was 40-50ppm....I dunno what the regulations are here in california, but the tap water tastes like (Excuse my french) ****...bottle said to take 5 ml of water, add 10 drops of bottle number 1, put the cap on the tube and turn it over a few times...Shake the bottle #2 for 30 seconds. Add 10 drops..Shake the vial for 1 minute and then let it sit for 5 minutes.

I've had nothing but problems keeping the neon tetras alive ever since ive tried keeping them...I usually lose about half of them in every batch i buy. Now seeing the nitrate levels in my tap and tank water, it has me concerned that maybe that was the problem all along.

Overfeeding doesn't mean that you will always have leftover food. The more you feed your fish, the more waste they produce which means higher nitrates. I would lighten up on feeding, and do a couple 50% water changes over the next few days.

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[CathyGo]

Legally enforceable limit is set at 10 ppm

"Infants below the age of six months who drink water containing nitrate in excess of the MCL could become seriously ill and, if untreated, may die. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blue-baby syndrome." :uhoh:

You need to report it to somebody.

 

[sorberj]

For feeding you should feed just enough that they eat it all in about 5 seconds. Many fish (like many humans) will continue to eat beyond what they need.

You may want to double check your test kit too. Try getting a bottle of distilled water and testing it. It should come out with 0 nitrate. If it does, call your water company. If they don't respond then call the EPA.

Please forgive any typos. This was sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using the MonsterAquariaNetwok App

 

[Rbishop]

an adult gets more nitrates than that daily....thru food consumption..it's only a worry if you are using the water to make formula...just saying....

 

[meximan]

ok so i decided to test the kit again....I actualy moved to another faucet in the house (the newest one) to try the tap water there, and it had much better lighting then the bathroom lights..

Sad to say it but...The test was the same around 40 ppm..

Our family buys water from one of those Water shops that use reverse osmosis to clean it all out...So i decided to test the kit itself on the Store bought Water....Sure enough...0ppm Nitrate.

So now knowing that my tap water is basically not getting me anywhere with water changes....Whats the next best route to take in order to get my nitrates down...

Nitra-zorb?
Plant a load of plants? (i really dont want to do this)
Buy the reverse osmosis water in 5 gallon jugs and do a 40% water change with it?

 

[meximan]

ok so, what ive done so far. in both tanks...

10 gallon tank-

drained 55% of the water, vacuumed ect...
Got RO water from the water store, it was cold out of their faucets, so i mixed pretty much one hot water CUP of AM PM BIG GULPS lol...Seriously... to 3 cups of the RO water. To match temps.

Been adding it about a gallon of water every hour or so...Fish seem to be handling it ok so far.

55 gallon-25% or so - 15 gallons worth, drained and vacuumed.
Same method as the 10 gallon with the Big gulp cups and filling 3 gallons an hour. These fish are my babies, and are the stronger fish. Seem ok so far.

I bought some of this Fluval Clearmax - Pretty much Peat in a bag. " traps phosphate, nitrite and nitrate"...I havent put it in yet , Anyone has any experience with it? seems just like the nitra-zorb....The only problem im seeing is that because im using Over the top Filters, theres not alot of room to squeeze them in behind the Carbon Filters...I might have to buy some seperate filter socks to slim them down.

I figure ill watch the fish today make sure they arent acting funny since i have the day off and then test water parameters again tommarrow?