High Nitrates - Help

abrium · 08-09-2010, 07:59 PM

Hello everyone,

I am a new fish owner, I have had three fish now for about two months and I am learning leaps and bounds about tank maintenance. However, there is a problem I have with my tank that I can not seem to solve and would greatly like some assistance. I have a 55 gallon tank that has three fish in it. I have two young oscars (both are about 3 inches) and a giraffe cichlid. All of them are very small. I also have a RES turtle in the tank who has the appropriate lighting and dock. Now I have read other high nitrate posts on other forums where the poster has 15 - 20 fish in a 20 gallon aquarium and can't understand why the nitrates are high. My problem is nothing like that. I have 3 small fish and a small turtle. The turtle is also fed in a separate tank to stop his mess. I cannot under any circumstances get my nitrates to drop below 80 ppm according to my test kit. The steps I take are the following:

I do 25% water change a week which is associated with vacuuming the tank.

I limit feeding or I guess I should say that I don't over feed.

I don't over clean out the filter and have only cleaned the filter one time correctly.

My filtration system is an XP3 filter which handles up to 175 gallons.

I just have no idea what I am doing wrong. All other water levels are appropriate ACCEPT for my nitrate levels. I have done 50% water changes over the course of 4 days and the level is still too high. The only thing I can think of is the tank is not completely done cycling. Does anyone have any suggestions? The fish do not look what I would consider stressed. They have ample room and are eating very well. I just cannot lower my nitrates.

Any help would be appreciate, thank you so much.

ZeroSystem · 08-10-2010, 03:20 AM

Welcome to FTF Abrium!

First off I must mention that although things may be working out well now, I'm skeptical of your stock lists long term compatibility. Two adult Oscars in a 55 is already a very heavy bioload, and I know the Red Eared Slider is also going to be really messy, especially as it grows. The Giraffe Cichlid, or Venestus Cichlid, is a large growing African hap, while the oscars are gentle giants from south america. I'm not saying it's impossible to keep the two together, just that they are from some very different parts of the world, and some would argue that their water parameter requirements are too different for them to be housed in the same tank. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case it was something you were not aware of.

Your question makes me think of two possibilities. First off I would test your tap water and see how much ammonia, nitrites and nitrates there are in it. I've had a friend who had a very similiar problem and we learned that his tap water had high levels of ammonia, which were basically making his water changes more or less useless as long as he used his tap water. He ended up buying his water at one of those water vending machines you sometimes see in front of grocery stores..

The second possibility I'm thinking of is the turtle itself. I don't know a ton about turtles, but I do know some. You seem to already be aware of how messy they are, and are doing a smart thing by feeding him in a seperate tank. How long do you leave the turtle within the other tank after he has been fed? I've heard it's good to let them hang out for a good 45 minutes or so, as they often defecate shortly after eating. Maybe you are already doing this, I don't know, but I thought it should be mentioned.

I suppose a third option could be that, although the fish and turtle are all young, the overall bio-load is just too much for the tank to handle already. All the fish/turtle get large, are aggressive and messy eaters (although I know you are not feeding the turtle within the same tank as the fish I'm sure he still produces some waste), and 55 gallons is a decent sized tank, I wouldn't really call it a big one. I'd say it's the biggest of the small tanks! But thats just my opinion, because I feel that once you start getting into tanks that size and bigger, things really start getting more interesting!

Anyways, I've never attempted to keep a turtle, let alone with fish, so I do not know exactly how much waste something like that would produce. If your tap water doesn't have high levels of waste within it, then the only thing I could suggest would be larger and more frequent water changes.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope that helped ya out some.

cichlidgirl · 08-10-2010, 05:40 AM

Did you ever test your tap water ? How many inches are your fish? I would be afraid the turtle will eventually eat all 3 of your fish. He needs his own tank. How old and what kind of test kit do you have ? If its older maybe you need a new test kit. Your not using those strips are you ? I have never used or saw them myself but have heard they are terriable. I like API test kits, very reliable IMO. If your tap water tests 0 or very low using the same test kit then you know its not your tap water. you will need to do a very big waterchange, i would change 70 percent of the water in the evening, then the next morning do another of at least 25 percent. That should take care of the problem. If your tap water test good and you run into this again very soon then i would suggest its the oscars. O's are some of the messiest eaters of any fish i have ever kept. Your O's and Venustus (giraff) will grow out of your 55g quickly depending on their health and your feeding program. I have kept both of the fish you have and i would not worry too much about the giraff needing different water parems (africans usually are a higher ph than new world cichlids). Most of these fish are tank and farm raised in the US now so its likely that the ph there was close to neutral anyway. If you get it from a individual you will always want to ask what they keep their pH at. I have a couple haps and some fronts in with some new world (central and south american) and they get along just fine but i have a very large tank. Is your venustus a male or female. I miss mine. If its female it will look the same as it does now when adult. If its a male it will turn canary yellow with a vivid blue head.

bigomudders · 12-09-2010, 05:03 PM

I to have high nitrates in my 55gal. tank. Sorry My name is Dennis and I'm new to tank maintance. That being said I asked the local Fish store what amount of fish I could store in a 55gal. tank and he said 1inch of fish per gallon of water, is the correct.
I have 4 oscars, 2 Jack Dempseys, 2 red parrots, and to small catfish. I have stopped with the fish due to the adult size comes out to be my limit. Do I need to get a bigger tank for these fish? They are all around the 2 1/2 to 3 inch size now.

Judge · 12-09-2010, 07:25 PM

Welcome Bigomudders to ftf. That general rule is not very accurate. You have way too many BIG fish in there. How long has this tank been running? What are you feeding and what is your water source..these might help us rule out all the possibilities for your nitrates.

bigomudders · 12-09-2010, 10:53 PM

55gals. tap water, tetra flake food with occansional frozen shrimp. So I guess I'm forced to either buy alot bigger tank or get rid of some fish.

ZeroSystem · 12-11-2010, 02:32 AM

Hi Bigmudders, welcome to FTF.

I agree with Judge, you've got too many large and aggressive fish in there. You have the right idea however in either upgrading to a larger tank or finding new homes for some of the fish you've got in there now. Because of the large (and still growing) cichlids you've got it would be quite difficult to maintain good water quality, as these guys just produce a lot of nitrates real fast. I also think that some aggression problems are likely to arrise in the future, which would be another good reason to remove some fish or get a much larger (or multiple) tank.

bigomudders · 12-12-2010, 07:29 PM

we just got a 135 gal. tank with stand for $100 today. Gotta get lights and other accessarys. So I have a serious ? is a bottom filtration system worth the money compared to a top filter system? any help would be greatly apprecitated. and last but not least this tank is the correct size for the amount of fish we have. 4 tiger oscars, 2 jack dempseys, 2 red parrots and 2 albino catfish.

Judge · 12-12-2010, 07:32 PM

If you are talking about an under the gravel type filter I would not recommend. In the Front Page article section there is a bit of info on the types of filters, a comparison of cost, effectiveness, etc. Might check it out.

bigomudders · 12-12-2010, 08:03 PM

So this size of tank is ok for the fish we have? and thanks I read the front page article, very helpful.