i cant control my nitrates

[vaderbanger]

i cant seem to get my nitrates down. the tank is 6 weeks old, amonia is 0ppm
i do 30 percent water changes per week. the tank is 55 gallons with a penguin filter (300gph?) water temp is 78. i have 4 cichlids under 3 inches
and a few other misc fish under 2 inches
my nitrates are insane...160ppm!!! how the fish are still alive and not even sick is beyond me
i tested the water from my tap and it contained nitrates, 10ppm
then i tested bottled water to see if my test kit is working and the bottled water was fine 0ppm
im installing a new filter tomorrow, a filstar xp3. im adding bio stars and nitra zorb to the filter along with the other stuff it comes with
how can i keep nitrates normal? like below 20ppm if i keep adding at least 10ppm with every water change?
my water is crystal clear and theres no algae build up, just a tiny bit of brown algae on a rock...isnt this odd? with such high nitrates and all?

 

[Hannys_Papa]

Well even with 10ppm from the tap you can get the levels much lower than 160 - and thats by doing more waterchanges. I'd do at least 2 x 50% - and if needed another. I am sure that'll bring it somewhere around 40ppm - maybe lower.

 

[vaderbanger]

ok i just did another water change, should i do another one in a few days?
also what about the new filter? will this throw things off completely and my tank will cycle all over again?

 

[Hannys_Papa]

Try reading through some of the recent "water change" threads and you'll see that there is no reason to be "afraid" of (many, high %tage) water changes unless there are certain parameters way off from your tap water (pH for example) which might make it necessary to do more but smaller changes.
Aslong as your tap is close to your tank you could do another one today - or even more. I know its a PITA - carrying waterbuckets and whatnot but i guess in emergency situations it might be the best thing you can do. All the other filter chemicals etc only works so well.
The new filter probably wont really help you getting your nitrates under controle - but i would keep the "old" one running with the new one untill a biocolony has established in the new filter. Then you can switch the old one off.
Of course i hope someone else will give you some additional and more detailed ideas on the filtration though....

 

[IceH2O]

I've been having Nitrate problems also..I did daily water changes starting off slowly..around 20% and now am up to 40%..I hadn't cleaned my gravel in a few months because I couldn't find my vac.I went and bought a new one yesterday.

My Nitrates were over 160 ppm,even after a week of water changes.I did a gravel cleaning yesterday and again today along with my water changes.I took a reading just now,doesn't really mean much since its only been 2 hours since the last change,but my Nitrates are at about 15 ppm.I'll have to take another one tomorrow after 24 hours to see how much they climb.

I typed all that just to say this..

Have you been doing weekly gravel cleanings? From what I understand cichlids are pretty messy.If you haven't been doing gravel vaccuming that might be your problem.

 

[vaderbanger]

yep i have the python hooked up to the sink, i clean the gravel in every spot each time
the gravel is kinda clean lol when i syphon it not much comes up, theres really only one area thats "dirty" and that is where the cave is
the reason im so afraid of nitrates is because of hole in the head disease...i remember reading somewhere that high nitrates may be the cause of cichlid hole in the head disease, my fish are fine but im worried for their future and this illness
i had an oscar several years ago that had HITH disease and it was awefull. i dont want this happening again :sad:

 

[rrkss]

Check to make sure that your fish are not overfed. In my family at one time we had a little goldfish in a bowl (before I learned about keeping fish and started having many aquariums) and this poor fish would get fed about 8-12 times a day because everyone including the housekeeper would feel sorry for the fish (he always looked like he was hungry) and throw food into the tank. If you have children you never know what ends up being added to your tank. Overfeeding/Overstocking can attribute to high nitrates.

 

[RockabillyChick]

my tap has a nitrate level of 7ppm, and i keep mine below 30 with 50% water changes once a week.

 

[tre8160]

Of course i hope someone else will give you some additional and more detailed ideas on the filtration though....

Yes that's correct. You'll wanna leave your old filter running for a few weeks to help establish a biological filter in your new one.