Last week i had 2 alge eaters die. the guy at the fish store said it may be my nitrates, so i tested my water and it was about 15 ppm. i do weekly water changes. How else could i lower my nitrates? thanks
How do i lower my nitrates?
- Thread starter andyb325
- Start date
15 ppm is quite low and would not have killed your algae eaters. Most peopel strive to keep the nitrates below 20ppm, but only long term exposure over that will lead to any harm. Anyone with a planted tank actually adds nitrates to their water. So your fish store guy is very confused.
But back to the problem. How big is the tank, what is in the tank (fish, plants), what other water numbers do you have (ammonia, nirtite, pH, hardness), how big of a water change do you do, how old is the tank, what do you feed the fish (esp. the algae eaters, what kind of algae eaters are they, how did you introduce the fish to your tank and how long had they been there? Also any new fish before those ones died?
But back to the problem. How big is the tank, what is in the tank (fish, plants), what other water numbers do you have (ammonia, nirtite, pH, hardness), how big of a water change do you do, how old is the tank, what do you feed the fish (esp. the algae eaters, what kind of algae eaters are they, how did you introduce the fish to your tank and how long had they been there? Also any new fish before those ones died?
well i started the tank around easter. its a 30 gallon tank with an aqua clear 50 filter. Ammonia and nitrites were almost zero. pH was about 7.4, not sure on the hardness, i use store bought refill water. basically distilled. I do about 25-30% water change weekly. i had 1 alge eater in there about a month ago, and it vanished. i figured something killed it and ate it. so 2 weeks ago i bought 2 more, just standard plecos i think. I found the one dead in a plant with the fish picking at it. but the other one was fine, so i didnt think much of it. it was odd. cuz most of the skeleton was there. and then the other one lasted about a week and it did the thing happened. i brought them home in the bag, let them sit in the water for a good 30-45 minutes before i let them go. I havent had another fish other than the 3 die in probably 6 weeks. I only have 1 real plant, and it was one of those grow yourself bulb, and its just starting to grow. hopefully that helps you guys help me. Thanks
What are the other types of fish in the tank? Ammonia and nitrites should be zero, not almost zero... long term exposure to both can really stress the fish. Did you cycle your tank? What is the water temperature? Do you know what kind of algae eaters they are? You think common plecos -- you know they can grow to 24" and from my understanding will outgrow your tank? Are there places for the plecos to hide in the tank (caves, rocks, driftwood, etc)? Did you supplement their feeding at all -- algae tabs, zucchini, something like that?
andyb325 said:
You can't use the bottled distilled or RO water without adding back some minerals. Fish cannot live in that water. Assuming you started with tap water, then as you changed water each week, you used distilled or RO water, you were slowly reducing the minerals in the tank to unhealthy levels.
Test the KH, it may be too low, like near 1 or 2. Begin adding back tap water, slowly. It does not hurt the fish as much to go from soft water to hard water as it does to go the other way.
Yes, well there are many little problems to fix here. As was stated by Anona, stop doing water changes with distiled water unless you are adding back in some minerals. That stuff is for saltwater people as they add in a marine mix and don't want the extras that tap water can have. From this point on start with weekly water changes of say 20% using tap water, increasing the amount each week until you get about 40-50% weekly using tap water.
As for adding in new fish. If your water and the fish store water are the same then you are doing fine. If they are not then what you need to do is acclimate the fish to the newer water. Put the fish and the water it came in into a bowl or bucket. Start adding water from the tank until you double the amount of water you started with (add 1/2 cup or so every 15 minutes) then get rid of half of the water and repeat. This will take close to 2 hours but is much easier on the fish.
Also plecos are not a good idea for a tank that size. 2 plecos are worse. A Simease Algae eater would be a better idea but most sold are actually flying foxes which aren't the greatest alage eaters. Chinese algae eaters are great in the begining but loose their tase for alage and get a taste for fish slime coats as they age. And yes, plecos and all algae fish need mroe than the tank algae to survive. They need supplimented food. And i would skip adding another alage eater. Without many plants in your tank I would suggest using an alage brush to clean the tank walls once a week during the water change. Much easier and does the job the right way.
As for adding in new fish. If your water and the fish store water are the same then you are doing fine. If they are not then what you need to do is acclimate the fish to the newer water. Put the fish and the water it came in into a bowl or bucket. Start adding water from the tank until you double the amount of water you started with (add 1/2 cup or so every 15 minutes) then get rid of half of the water and repeat. This will take close to 2 hours but is much easier on the fish.
Also plecos are not a good idea for a tank that size. 2 plecos are worse. A Simease Algae eater would be a better idea but most sold are actually flying foxes which aren't the greatest alage eaters. Chinese algae eaters are great in the begining but loose their tase for alage and get a taste for fish slime coats as they age. And yes, plecos and all algae fish need mroe than the tank algae to survive. They need supplimented food. And i would skip adding another alage eater. Without many plants in your tank I would suggest using an alage brush to clean the tank walls once a week during the water change. Much easier and does the job the right way.
andyb325 said:
To answer your first question" how do you lower nitrates", there are several ways to do this , one is through the use of a denitrification which utilizes anarobic bacteria to break down the nitrates. This can be done by several methods , denitrification coils ,or using a refugium with whats called a live substrate which is used to creat a deep sand bed and or the use of a plenium( mostly used by the saltwater folk ).
There is the other way which is a little easier for us freshwater folk, its the use of plants and algae to lock up excess nutrients which can used as food for these plants. One is the veggie filter which uses a refugium with lots of fast growing plants, others are what is commonly used by SW folk, is the use of macro algae in a refugium sometimes with 24/7 lighting and then there is the use of micro algae as used in Dr Adey's algae turf scrubber.
BUT , before you even try any of these methods ,as everyone has said you must get the everthing soted out in your tank, "ammonia and nitrite are almost zero" is not low enough, with pet shop test kits anyting that registers is very bad(pet shop kits just dont test low enough). So once you get everything sorted out then you can start experimenting with other methods. Good luck
I really dont know what kind of alge eaters they are. I am assuming. I cant remember but i told the guy at the store what i had and told him i needed something that owuld fit. so i am assuming that is not the problem. i had a bunch of brown alge on the sides which they took care of and i have alge tabs. If the water is so much of a problem, why doesnt it affect any of hte other fish. I cycled the tank, and have 1 5 inch gourami, 7 serpae tetras, 2 angle fish, 2 rainbow sharks, and now 2 newly added alge eaters. The guy at the fish store told me to use distilled instead of tap water.