MetalFishMan

I started a 29 Gallon Tank with my girlfriend about 1 year ago and it has been quite a learning experience. We have lost some fish here and there, but now overall I think we have been doing pretty good. We do frequent water and gravel cleanings and make sure to occasionally put in a new filter. Our tank has alot of fish maybe more than should be but as long as we keep on the cleanings it seems like we are ok.

My main issue is now I have my own 10 gallon tank as well with only about 5 fish. It is already cycled, I don't over feed...I give them a small ammount and make sure excess doesnt hit the bottom and then usually a little more about once a day. I do weekly water changes, but my nitrates are high. I can't understand why. My water is very clear and the tank looks really clean. When I do water changes I tend to do like 40% almost 50% sometimes....i use tap water and make sure it is a very close temperature and add de-chlorinator/stress coat.

Am i doing something wrong? Are the water changes in my 10 gallon tank too big....is tap water not good. I have tested the tap water and there are no nitrates in it and it seems to be alright.

I've heard many people say that when nitrates are high to do frequent small water changes until they come down. However, im worried that maybe my tank is too clean and maybe my big water changes got rid of the beneficial bacteria...almost like it is cycling again. Could that happen? What should I do, i don't want to mess anything up more, but all i can think of is that i will have to do water changes until they come down, but my tank does not appear dirty at all???

BJP

It's a pretty straight forward path. Ammonia ends up as nitrate. If you can't keep it down, then you need larger percentage water changes, more frequent or a combination of both. When that becomes more work than you're willing to do then you need to thin the population some and hopefully the food amounts at the same time.

It doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong. Add an extra water change a week or maybe rinse the filter cartridge out a few times a week. I've had tanks where I'd rinse the cartridges out after every meal. The longer excess food and waste sits on a cartridge, the more time it has to break down. I'm more likely to change over 100% of the water than under 50%.

Your tank can't be too clean and if you'd harmed the bacteria they wouldn't be there making the nitrate.

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gm333

Also have you checked your tap water for ammonia? Just for kicks check the nitrates as well. My tap has a little ammonia in it, which is not a big deal in a larger tank, but in a smaller tank it can fluctuate the levels.

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MetalFishMan

Thanks for the advice. I did a really good cleaning the other day and that seems to bring them down a little. Will probably do another really good cleaning again very soon. Makes sense that if my nitrates are there then its just a matter of cleaning even more.

Sukai

Can adding freshwater clams help reduce the nitrates?

BJP

I don't know of any reason to suspect they would. They must have a similar biology to most other animals. I haven't managed to keep any alive for more than a couple months myself.

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Sukai

I read somewhere they did.

I also have very hard water. As most of you know I have some Gouramis, platy, swordtail, catfish, glass fish, clown loach, algae eater and my biggest (and dirtiest) residents my 2 koi

My nitrates are pretty consistently in the 20ppm. The tester I got says it is safe to 40 but I never let it get passed 30. I worry because I hear it should be 0. My fish are all fine and good (minus the two sick ones I got from the store last week, which recently passed) but I doubt my nitrate levels had anything to do with them moving on.

Is there anything else I can do to lower my nitrates? Are the levels ok?

Nitrate 20ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Hardness (GH) about 250ppm
PH 7.8

Everything is pretty consistent. My ph is never below 7.2 and never over 8.2. I cant do anything about the hard water because I live in California and thats what I have to deal with (or is there anything?) Unless I want to buy my fish bottled water

I change the water at least once a week usually more like every 5 days. They all seem fine. I have had everyone except the glass fish, swordtail and snake skin gourami for a few months now. One of my koi moves his mouth a lot and it kind of worried me but he acts like a normal koi otherwise and the other koi doesn't move his mouth quite as often. I have been around koi my whole life and know how they act and what is normal. I notice that all of them are different and some move their mouths more than others but thought Id put it out there

Thought I would just post this up in case I am doing anything wrong or if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks!

BJP

I have never seen or read any document showing specific harm from any nitrate level to freshwater fish. I don't think anyone really feels comfortible over 100ppm but I have tested higher. We monitor nitrate simply because it's an easy gauge for telling you how fast everything else you can't test for may be accumulating from DOC's to airborne chemical contaminents. If you do enough water changes to keep the nitrate level low then you prevent the accumulation of things you can't test for as well as correcting many other problems like Gh and Phosphate accumulation and KH and PH reduction.

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Sukai

What else should I be testing for? I have a 6 in 1 tester and it tests Nitrate, Nitrite, Hardness, Alkalinity, Chlorine and PH.

Should I get an ammonia tester? The lady at the store said I didn't need it because I don't have very many fish in my tank but I think I may go pick one up tomorrow or Wednesday.

Is there anything that gets rid of chlorine quickly? I worry about another power outage and would like to have the bathtub as a backup but I would need to get rid of the chlorine if I ever wanted to use it.

BJP

Assuming you're not doing anything to directly alter anything, then regular water changes and keeping the nitrate in check should eliminate the need for testing other factors. PH, GH and KH are good to know but should stay stable with regular water changes. Phosphate accumulates but gets dilluted along with the nitrate. You should never have another ammonia or nitrite reading once the tank is cycled. Chlorine can be gassed out easily through simple aeration, agitation or simply letting the water sit overnight open. Any commercial dechlorinater used by package directions can also remove it in municipal supply strengths. Other than my nitrate kit, the only kit I use with any regularity is a chlorine test kit and that's only for checking things I've bleached algae off prior to readdition. I have an ancient chlorine kit from API and I use the simple dip tests from a swimming pool supply at work.

So basically if you can only have one kit get the nitrate. Anything else after that falls into the if you have the extra cash and desire range. I collect test kits. I've got iron, salt level, and assorted others that are more targetted to general drinking water analysis.

Unplug the tank for a while. If you're properly stocked it shouldn't be a problem outside of letting bio media like wheels dry out which should be avoided. If you are overstocked mother natures going to catch you when you aren't prepared. I keep hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, water with an extra oxygen molecule) around for emergencies but try never to stock to a point I need it for basic survival.

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