Nitrates - Need help

[palmbreeze]

I feed once a day and I skip one day during the week. How much? Well, that's hard to say. I watch them eat and they scarf everything down pretty fast. I don't think I'm overfeeding.

 

[Hooked Newbie]

Ok, thought I'd at least ask. I've battled Ammonia and Nitrate problems, but not Nitrate. I wish you the best of luck. The only thing I can think of is to do a big WC / Vac right before leaving...

 

[jehrbear]

Maybe further cut back on the feeding, especially while on vacation. When I go, I leave small envelopes cut in half, and put the exact amounts I want fed for each tank in a separate marked envelope. Skipping 2 or 3 days shouldn't prove harmful to the fish if it's only for one week. Also, like what's been said before here, look for something in that tank that's a source of bacteria food. Not to suggest you missed something, but any missing/dead fish under or behind any plants or rocks? Have you moved all the decorations around to clean that substrate? Sorry if this is redundant.

 

[palmbreeze]

Thanks for all of your help! I will check the tank very very well when I get home today. Hopefully I'll find something that is causing this. I'll do a super good cleaning today and a big water change.

Thanks again!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Good luck and keep us posted! ^^

 

[Star_Rider]

Thanks for all of your help! I will check the tank very very well when I get home today. Hopefully I'll find something that is causing this. I'll do a super good cleaning today and a big water change.

Thanks again!

is there any way you can test the test?
have you tested the source water?

there are a lot of good suggestions.

a heavy vac of the gravel will help..make sure you vac under any ornaments. but be aware that if there are 'dead spots' in the gravel there is also the possibility of a toxic build up .

as suggestged doing several water changes over time is the best idea.
what puzzels me is if you do a large change and the nitrate drop(to 0?) then climb again to high levels..
this makes me question the test kit.
typically for simplicity , lets say you have nitrates at 120(I know high) if you do a 50% water change the nitrates should not be lower than 60..they definitely should not read 0 or close for that matter..
what are your nitrates? (off the chart) then what are they after a water change?

 

[Aries]

is there any way you can test the test?
have you tested the source water?

there are a lot of good suggestions.

a heavy vac of the gravel will help..make sure you vac under any ornaments. but be aware that if there are 'dead spots' in the gravel there is also the possibility of a toxic build up .

as suggestged doing several water changes over time is the best idea.
what puzzels me is if you do a large change and the nitrate drop(to 0?) then climb again to high levels..
this makes me question the test kit.
typically for simplicity , lets say you have nitrates at 120(I know high) if you do a 50% water change the nitrates should not be lower than 60..they definitely should not read 0 or close for that matter..
what are your nitrates? (off the chart) then what are they after a water change?

I believe other established tanks report correctly (0-20 depending if I have dosed Nitrates for that tank - they are heavily planted tanks). Further, we also tested with another test kit - generally same result.

Aries

 

[jm1212]

i would also suggest a good gravel vac.