what should i do about my nitrates? they are pretty high. My tank is year old. sandsubstrate 5 cichlids and 3 clown loaches. filtration is a canister filter. i have 1 chamber with corse media and the next 2 are fine filter pads, then a filter pad with carcoal and zeolite last has bio rings.
nitrate problems
- Thread starter stephenray75
- Start date
Do water changes until they come down. Continue with a regular regiment of removing/replacing tank water to keep nitrates down.
I had the same problem. My solution was to do every-other-day water changes until it got under control. As soon as I stopped doing that, nitrates went up again.
One problem could be the source water... if you are on a well, definitely get it tested for nitrates. This is a growing problem with the ground water. City water deserves a close look as well...
My final solution was to 'close the loop' on the nitrogen cycle:
Amonia - Nitrite - Nitrate - Plant Food
Since nothing in my fake-planted tank used nitrates, I changed to live plants. It worked great!
One problem could be the source water... if you are on a well, definitely get it tested for nitrates. This is a growing problem with the ground water. City water deserves a close look as well...
My final solution was to 'close the loop' on the nitrogen cycle:
Amonia - Nitrite - Nitrate - Plant Food
Since nothing in my fake-planted tank used nitrates, I changed to live plants. It worked great!
If you haven't been diligent about gravel cleaning, this is another possibility. Anything decaying in your tank is a possible source of NO3. Clean filter sponges, rinse media, vacuum gravel, etc. Sand is a definite suspect, while it's good at keeping wastes near the surface where the filter can get at it, it's equally good at keeping in anything that works its way down.
Water changes are great, and they'll get done along with gravel vacuuming. But in this case they're treating the symptom, not the cause. It's not magically appearing, so find out where it's coming from and attack that, if you can. If it's in the source water, you're outta luck, unless you want to start shilling out the big bucks for RO or DI water or for an RO unit.
Water changes are great, and they'll get done along with gravel vacuuming. But in this case they're treating the symptom, not the cause. It's not magically appearing, so find out where it's coming from and attack that, if you can. If it's in the source water, you're outta luck, unless you want to start shilling out the big bucks for RO or DI water or for an RO unit.
my well water is pretty good. the only thing that shows up on my test are phosphates. i am wanting to add better lights so i can grow plants.
Well, if it's not coming from the source water, it's in your tank. When was the last time you cleaned your filter pads? Or vacuumed the substrate?
i dont vaccum my substrate because i would have to replace the sand every month do to lose. I clean the filter once a month and replace all media (expect the bio rings) every other month. Im thinking of switching to 2 hang on filters instead. It would be alot easier to clean them and i can do bi weekly maintaince.
do you think i should switch to 2 hang on filters? i could do bi weekly cleaning. would that help? here is one im looking at. plus i can set up a grow out tank for my baby cichlids. would you say do it or not? would it hurt me any? http://www.worldpetsupply.com/ca300pofi.html
I don't think that it would improve much. Try this:
Cover your filter intake with a filter sponge (the Aquaclear Mini sized sponge is just about perfect, or just cut some bulk sponge to fit).
Give your filter media a good thorough rinsing. Keep the same media though. Rinse the intake sponge weekly to twice weekly. It should keep any larger bits out of the filter so that you can remove them before they decay. Rinse the filter media monthly.
Also, stir up your sand a little using the back of an algae scrubber or something while doing your water changes. I really do believe that you've got a lot of decaying organic matter in your substrate. If you can clean this out, or at least minimize it, you'll solve your problem.
Cover your filter intake with a filter sponge (the Aquaclear Mini sized sponge is just about perfect, or just cut some bulk sponge to fit).
Give your filter media a good thorough rinsing. Keep the same media though. Rinse the intake sponge weekly to twice weekly. It should keep any larger bits out of the filter so that you can remove them before they decay. Rinse the filter media monthly.
Also, stir up your sand a little using the back of an algae scrubber or something while doing your water changes. I really do believe that you've got a lot of decaying organic matter in your substrate. If you can clean this out, or at least minimize it, you'll solve your problem.