high nitrates

[Flower1982]

I tested the water in my 30 gallon tank and my nitrates are high.
It looks like my nitrates are about 30. How can I bring this down?
Now I just did a partial water change yesterday and I also gravel-vaced the tank as well.

Here are ther other results from testing:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Hardness: moderate
Alkalinity: about 80 ( for some reason my alkalinity as always been around 80)
Ph: between 7.0 to 7.2

I usually do water changes once a week and i usually gravel vac the tank as well. I sometimes forget to change the filter cartridge so that doesn't always get changed all the time. However i just changed the filter cartridge about two weeks ago. How can i get my nitrates down? Like i said i just did a partial water change yesterday. I took out about 4 or 5 gallons. Do you think i should have taken out more?


Now I did have three fish die on me yhe last few weeks.
My black balloon molly, my silver molly, and one harlequin rasbora.
The silver molly and the balloon molly i believed died from stress.
I had put in a mosquito fish in the tank a few weeks ago and everything seemed to be going good for the first few days. However i noticed that quite a few fish had rip in their fins. So i took out the mosquito fish and everything seemed to be ok again since that was the last fish i put in the tank before i noticed the rips in the fins. The poor balloon molly was staying close to the bottom and the silver molly wasn't doing well either.
The harlequin rasbora i think died of old age. I had him for over a year.
The only odd thing was that his stomach looked bloated. But he was eating fine and was swimming normal. When i found him in the tank dead i took him out and i gently squeezed his stomach and small round things came out. They looked like eggs but i wasn't sure. Could they have been eggs?
Sorry this is so long but I wanted to give you guys all the info i had.

 

[jm1212]

what is the stock of your tank?

how oftern do you do water changes?

is your tank planted?

you dont need to change the media in the filter unless it is falling apart or you treat the tank with meds. 25%, so about 8-10 gallons, would be better for your tank.

 

[Flower1982]

I gravel vac and do water changes just about once a week.
I don't have any live plants in my 30 gallon community tank.
I have
2 pineapple swords
2 platies
1 albino bristle nose pleco
1 cherry barb
1 harlequin rasbora
1 neon barb
3 bleeding heart tetras
a few snails


Do you think i messed up the nitrates by changing the filter cartridge?
I always thought you had to change the filter cartridge once a month or so.
I never had any problems with my nitrates before now.

 

[jm1212]

it is probably the ammount of water that you are changing that is the reason your nitrates are high. try changing more, even perhaps 12 gallons or more.

 

[Marinemom]

I would recommend doing a water change of at least 20-25% daily until you get the nitrate levels down and stay down. Then I would keep a close eye on the water peremeters to make sure the problem does not happen again. I would also commit to a regular water change schedule like clockwork to keep the water in tip top condition. High nitrates can be very dangerous to the fish in the tank and although yours are not super high you want to keep it that way. Also have you tested the water straight out of the tap? Sometimes tap water has a problem with high nitrates and that could be one way they are in your tank. Other then that just keep up on your water changes.

Marinemom

 

[Flower1982]

Thanks for the advice.
I'll do another water change tomorrow.
You don't think i am overstocked? I do eventually want to get at least two more harlequin rasboras but I'm not going to get any more fish until i get the nitrates down. Where should your nitrates be at?

 

[Flower1982]

last time i tested my tap water there wasn't a problem with nitrates

 

[Marinemom]

I do not think that you are overstocked. However, I would not add any more fish util the nitrates are under control. It will just add to the present problem. Any fish you put in the tank with the high nitrates will not be used to that and will die. Not fair to the fish. The fish that are in the tank are used to these conditions so just do partial water changes until the problem has been resolved. Ideally I try to keep the nitrates in my freshwater tanks between 5-20 with 20 being the highest I would consider safe.

Marinemom

 

[Mgamer20o0]

plants or water changes are the ways to get nitrate out of the tank. do some 50% water changes and check again.

 

[Flower1982]

Why are plants good for keeping nitrates down? Would ich medicine do anything to the nitrates? I did treat my tank for ich because i saw a few white dots on my one fish. Sorry to say the molly didn't make it. She died about 2 days later anyway.