Lowering Nitrates

ReefRaft

ReefRaft

Respect My AUTHORITY!
Apr 18, 2006
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Hello Everyone,

This is my first post here. I appreciate all of the information that is available here. I hope to learn a lot! I have a 30 gal tank that has been established for about 2 years. I have 3 algae eaters, 3 neons, 5 tetras, an albino shark, a large cloawn loach, and another loach that looks like an eel...I can't remember the name of it. For the past two days my laoch looks like it has ich and now this morning he is looking like his is on his way out. I may have tohers with the ich too. My nitrates are constantly high and I can't seem to get then down. What can I do to resolve this. I do a 20% change about every 2 weeks. I use a Whisper filter and pump. Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
About nitrates: More water changes will probably help with the nitrates! Waterchanges should ideally be done weekly, and in your case, may need to be larger than just 20%. Try doing a larger change, on the order of 50%, and see where that takes you in terms of your nitrates, maybe. BTW, what exactly is your value for nitrates?

About ich: Which loach is it that has the ich? You're probably right in guessing that more than one of your fish has ich. Do you have a heater in the tank? I've never had to deal with ich myself, but most around here seem to reccommend a treatment that involves maintaining higher tank temperatures and adding salt to the aquarium. Here's an article thingie about ich and how to treat it: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39759

About your fish: Do you know what kind of algae eaters you have, exactly? Maybe otocinclus? Or some kind of plecostomus (pleco)? And what kind of tetras do you have five of? Is the eel-looking loach a dojo or weather loach, by any chance? Or maybe it's a kuhli loach...? Lots of questions, I know, sorry. :)

My gut tells me you have some stocking issues in that tank. I'm new to the hobby, and by no means a pro, so I won't dare to say if you're overstocked or not, but I do know that clown loaches do best with friends of their own species, and neons are better off in larger groups. I'm only pointing this out because less-than-optimal living conditions can stress fish out, and make them more vulnerable to diseases, like the ich you're seeing now. In other words, your stocking choices may actually be a significant part of the problem. In short, I feel that maybe some rethinking of your tank stock is in order, but I'll leave that for some more experienced fishkeepers than I to elaborate on. I don't want to give bad advice unintentionally!

Miscellaneous but important: Oh, and do you have any other readings for ammonia, nitrite, pH and the like? It helps to get a more detailed picture of what's going on in your tank.
 
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Thanks for the quick response :)

Yes, the eel is a Kuhli loach, thanks for jogging my memory. The other readings all seem to be fine. I'm using the strips that use the color comparison chart so I don't have definitive numbers. The hardness may be a tad high. BTW....the Clown loach died :(....I'm very sad. We've had him for over two years. We've been using some ick treatment drops....and the aquarium salt as you suggested. Perhaps a 50% change is in order? Thanks again...I'll check back later.
 
I know you really didn't ask for this imformation but I feel obligated.

All Tetras (which include neons) need to be in schools of 6

I'm pretty sure you are overstocked but you'd have to ask Oriongirl, Roan, or any of the countless other smart people to be sure.

What kind of algae eater do you have. Many peoples call plecos algae eaters.

You need to changing 40% of the water each week.

What kind of shark do you have? There are many albino sharks and most will grow top large for your tank.

We need the results of those tests. At least as close as you can get them. Try buying a liquid test kit as they are more accurate.

I know it sounds lika a lot but we all learn. To tell you honestly I was a terrible person once doing 20% waterchange once a month. Don't tell anyone.
 
Thanks for the info! i have an albino rainbow shark. And just to let you know i didnt post those last two post. that was my mom because she was trying to find a fourum thing while i was at school. Anyway she got a lot of my fish wrong. i have four glo-light, tetras 3 Serpe tetras, two baby red tipped tetras 3 Sunset platies a small flying fox and two okctilous cats(excuss my spelling on that one) and thats it. Oh ya i also have a kohi loach but i sometimes forget about him because he is always underneth all the rocks. All in all most of the fish i have are pretty small.
 
Water change weekly, at least 25%. If you don't want to change water that frequently. Try to put live plants in there, leave the light on at least 8 hours a day. They will consume some of the nitrates.

When I was in college, I had a 55 gallon at home, my parents would never change water in the tank and I only come home once a month or so. In order to bring down the nitrate. I told my sister to leave the fish tank light on all day except when she goes to sleep. This will cause algae to grow a little bit, but it'll bring down the nitrate. I did this for 3 years, and I only change water about once every 2 months.

You can try to play with the light, growth rate of algae, pleco and the amount of food you feed your fish. If you find the right combination, you can have low nitrate without changing water frequently.
 
Are you gravel vacuuming? I see people doing water changes with everything from a scoop and bucket and no gravel disturbance to folks stirring up all the filth and dumping the whole tank. (I work in a pet store with large fish dept. ) The easiest way to get nitrates down is bite the bullet and buy a gravel vac. Ask the silly question about how to use it while you are at the store. ( I usually vac a tank for the folks so they see it done)

I also find that freshwater mussels /clams do a good job of lowering nitrates ina chronic condition. But the water changes and vacuuming is still essential.
 
Walaboom

Your plan will certainly reduce the nitrates in a tank, but the problem is your operating on the assumption that nitrates are the main reason for doing water changes. We used to think this, but now it is commonly believed that high nitrates are not all that harmful to fish. It is the DOCs (dissolved organic compounds), also refered to as metabolites, that cause problems. These are hormones, organic acids, and a host of other proteins that all living creatures produce. They are not taken up by plants and continue to build up if water changes are not done regularly. Here are the main problems with each compound.

Hormones: high concentrations of growth hormones in water actually inhibit growth, and this can lead to a stunted fish that will eventually get sick and die, but will never live it's full life span (this is the root of the myth: Fish only grow to the size of their tank.)

Organic Acids: These will react with the buffer (also called alkalinity, or KH) in your water, and eventually consume it. The buffering capacity of your water is what keeps your ph from crashing. Once this happens your ph will drop hard and fast.

The other thing that happens when a long term routine of "top offs only" is followed is that your TDS (total dissolved solids) sometimes called GH (general hardness) will rise. As pure water evaporates and is replaced with water that contains dissolved minerals these build up in the system and gradually harden your water. Most fish deal with it if it happens slowly, but when you finally get around to doing a water change you dilute that hard water in a matter of minutes. This can and will shock your fish.

If during this time, your ph has dropped also (as discussed above), then alot of the ammonia in your tank has been converted to ammonium (non-toxic). This happens naturally at lower ph levels. When the water change raises the ph rapidly, all of that ammonium is converted instantly to ammonia. That's no bueno.

I could go on and on, but you get the pic. Please, get someone to change out some of that tanks water more frequently than every couple months. If you can't, then break it down until you get out of school.
 
Hey mooman

First of all, I just want to let you know that I totally respect your opinion and I am not here to start a fight with you. I am just trying to learn and understand about aquarium as I go on.

I understand the part about DOCs and how they are bad for the fish, but from my understanding, activated carbon is used to remove both organic substances such as organic acids, proteins, hormones and antibiotic compounds. It will also remove some other inorganic compounds as well.

Also the minerals that are not being removed by activated carbon can mostly be used by plants as nutrition.

Please correct me if I am wrong. Again, I am still learning.

This is what I am thinking. If fish in the pond and lake can live and grow without any water change, there must be a way for me to bring in the eco system into my aquarium to achieve the same goal. This is where I got the idea from.

Oh btw, I graduated 2 years ago and I do my water change regularly.
 
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