nitrates

[trackman]

hello, I have been getting high nitrate readings 40!
I do water changes 1-2 times a week and vacume the substrate which is dolomite.I change 25-40% of the water.
I have a 50 breeder with 15 african cichlids mostly mbuna.
I use a whisper 60 and a whisper 30 for filtration.
any help would be great!
thank you in advance. Erik.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

what are the nitrate readings of your tap water?

 

[trackman]

between 0.5 and 10

 

[Slappy*McFish]

You have alot of rocks in your tank?

 

[trackman]

rocks and slate.

 

[Slappy*McFish]

You may need to remove them and vacuum underneath. There could be alot of crap trapped in there that's causing your high nitrates. How often do you clean the filter?

 

[trackman]

1-2 times a month i rinse off the cartridges in fishy water and dump the box.if the cartridges are in bad shape i replace them with new ones.
i try not to bother the black sponge other than dumping it to get the bigger stuff out.

 

[trackman]

would it help if i just replaced the cartridges instead of rinsing the out in fishy water

 

[Slappy*McFish]

Your filter cleaning methods sound fine. I would, however, consider cleaning under the rocks as I suggested. That may help.

 

[trackman]

Ok,i will do that and see if it helps.

thanks for the input! Erik.