Well, I just did my 2nd 50% water change. I tested the Tap water with the different chemicals. The Tap by itself was Nitrates-5, Amonia-.5, Nitrites-0 and PH-9.5? The PH is so high it's off the scale so I have no idea how high it is, but it must be over 9. If I added the Neutral Regulator everything stays the same except the PH goes down to about 7.6-7.8. It doesn't get rid of the Nitrates and Amonia like it says it does. So, I tried just the Kordon products Amquel and Novquel or whatever they are called. The results were Nitrates-0, Amonia-.25, Nitrites-0, PH-9.5. The Amonia went down from .5 to .25, and I assume it transformed it to the good amonia and it wasn't the bad amonia I was reading, but I guess it's OK even if it's the bad amonia because the algae in the tank will get rid of it. I put a double dossage of Cycle in the tank just incase. I was still worried about the PH, so I did a 3rd test. I added the Kordon products and the Neutral Reg. to the Tap water. I got the best results yet for the Tap. Nitrates-0, Amonia-.25, Nitrites-0 and PH 7.6. So, I put in 5 Gal of RO at Nitrates-0, Amonia-0, Nitrites-0 and PH 6.8. Then I put in 10 Gal. of Tap Nitrates-0, Amonia-.25, Nitrites-0, and PH 7.6. I have a 30 Gal. tank, so I guess in the future I will change 5 Gal. per week with RO water and I'll just add the extra minerals, etc. to it that the RO process takes out that the fish need. I guess I just need a recommendation on what the best product is for that. I'll test the water tomarrow and see what the results are. I'm hoping that the Nitrates will finally be below 20 and the Amonia will be 0. I guess we will see....
Nitrate and PH problems... Help!
- Thread starter Apota
- Start date
Well, like I said previously. My Nitrites are always 0, and my Amonia is always 0. I never have problems with them. I just have problems with my PH and my Nitrates. My Nitrates have just been going up and up. I didn't know that water changes got rid of the Nitrates, I thought they would just go naturally. Since the Amonia and Nitrites where always 0 I didn't think it was going to be a problem. Sometimes I didn't do water changes for 2-3 weeks. The Nitrates were like maybe at 60-80 before I did the first water change. After I did the 1st 50% water change the Nitrates were still 40 or over. I'm hoping after this 2nd 50% water change I'll see the Nitrates finally below 40. In didn't used to have a problem with the Nitrates until recently either and the 5 gal water changes weren't making a difference. Hopefully it will make a difference now. What will happen if I don't get rid of the fish that will grow too large? How do I get rid of them? I don't want to kill them if they are alive and doing well. Thanks...
Agree'd you should be able to find one that will take them. The less fish you have, the less problems with nitrates you will have also. Nitrate doesn't break down like nitrites and ammonia. I imagine it is difficult to vacuum your tank since it is so tall. As the debris builds up in the gravel, the nitrates build up also.
As they grow, so will the amount of waste they put out, and that means more nitrates. Also they will end up fighting, especially the aggressive ones you have.
If the fish that you have are scrunched into a smaller tank than what they need they will be stunted and as mentioned, more aggression and more waste
let the tap water sit over night before testing pH. it should be lower as it gasses off
let the tap water sit over night before testing pH. it should be lower as it gasses off
I am very new to freshwater and have had no experience with trying to lower nitrates in a freshwater tank. That said, I do have a little experience with marine/saltwater tanks. There are those in marine and freshwater that like to have a large number of fish and thus a large bioload. In saltwater, there are many that dose their tanks daily with either sugar or vodka to help combat the high nitrate levels. Would this work also in freshwater tanks? or is the chemistry totally different?
winland
I have never heard of anyone putting vodka or sugar in saltwater tanks to reduce nitrAte, I would think that would be deadly to the eco system, and I certainly would not do it in a freshwater tank. If you have 40ppm nitrAtes, and want to cut that down to 20ppm, then you do a 50% water change. I don't know of any other way to reduce nitrAtes
your original question re high nitrates - basically your lack of water changes plus lots of fish waste caused this. get to doing at least, bare minimum 25% changes weekly. in your heavily stocked tank consider 50% changes. measure and work out what's necessary to keep below 20 ppm.
I'm guessing also that with that skinny tank you have a problem gravel vaccing thoroughly and regularly. Nitrates build up ferociously in&on the substrate - simple water changes is not really enough, you need to combine with a thorough weekly gravel vac.
As regards your stocking issues, which have been explained very well above, hopefully the store will take them back, or you can advertise them for release to someone with an appropriate tank, or you can procure an appropriate tank yourself. They may look ok for now but that tank will not sustain them unfortunately, and you will have aggression issues, overstocking issues, and fish deaths in consequence.
