Continuing Nitrate Problem

[Silencedogood]

Why so hesitant for big water changes?

Because I don't want to take out all/most of the good bacteria. Also, doesn't such a big water change shock the fish, like sudden change in temperature and different water? I admit that I have been lack on water changes though. I was only doing 25% water changes every month or so. I was changing the filter cartridges every month, but since my pleco had a growth spurt, I've been changing them every two weeks.

 

[Silencedogood]

The water I'm adding to the tank has a nitrate level of 20 ppm. How much will that affect the tank levels?

 

[Silencedogood]

I don't know what else you have in the tank, but the pleco alone is overstocking the tank. Those things constatly eat and poop. High nitrates are to be expected in this tank.

Besides the pleco I have 2 guppies, 1 swordtail, and five neon tetras.

 

[Metalhead88]

Because I don't want to take out all/most of the good bacteria. Also, doesn't such a big water change shock the fish, like sudden change in temperature and different water? I admit that I have been lack on water changes though. I was only doing 25% water changes every month or so. I was changing the filter cartridges every month, but since my pleco had a growth spurt, I've been changing them every two weeks.

Alright.... Where to start here..... Good bacteria lives mostly in your filter and on surfaces like substrate, glass, and decor. Little is in the water. When you remove your media, you remove your bacteria. You should absolutely not be changing your media every 2 weeks. It's probably about the worst thing you can do to your tank.

You really should be doing larger water changes. If you choose not to, we can't make you....but it will not harm your fish and you will be harming your fish by not doing it.

 

[Colin_T]

As mentioned by Metalhead88, most of the good filter bacteria lives on hard surfaces with good water flow, and the vast majority of beneficial bacteria lives on filter materials in the filter.

There's a lot of bad bacteria, viruses, fungus and protozoa that cause diseases and these live in the water where they float/ swim around looking for a fish to infect. Bad microscopic organisms also live in gunk in the filter and substrate. Doing big water changes and gravel cleaning help to dilute these harmful microscopic organisms.

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The filter pads and other materials in the filter hold the beneficial bacteria and if you throw the pads/ materials away and replace them with new pads, you get rid of the good filter bacteria and the tank will cycle again.

If you have filter pads in your filter, you should squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.

If you have carbon (black granules) in the filter pad, you can cut a slit in the top of the pad and tip the carbon out and throw it away. Then squeeze the pad out in a bucket of tank water and re-use it.

You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre and fit over the intake strainer of most external power filters.

You can also get sponges that can be cut to fit your filter. I use AquaClear sponges but there are other brands and you use a pr of scissor to cut them to size.
Sponges last for years and will save you money and provide a more stable filter for the fish. You simply squeeze the sponges out in a bucket of tank water every 2-4 weeks and that's it.

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If your tap water has 20ppm of nitrate, then the lowest your tank will ever get to is 20ppm.

You can fill up a large container with tap water and put floating plants in it. The plants will use the nitrate and when there is 0 nitrate, you can use that water to do water changes.

You can get a Pozzani Filter to remove nitrates from tap water.

 

[Silencedogood]

Alright.... Where to start here..... Good bacteria lives mostly in your filter and on surfaces like substrate, glass, and decor. Little is in the water. When you remove your media, you remove your bacteria. You should absolutely not be changing your media every 2 weeks. It's probably about the worst thing you can do to your tank.

You really should be doing larger water changes. If you choose not to, we can't make you....but it will not harm your fish and you will be harming your fish by not doing it

As mentioned by Metalhead88, most of the good filter bacteria lives on hard surfaces with good water flow, and the vast majority of beneficial bacteria lives on filter materials in the filter.

There's a lot of bad bacteria, viruses, fungus and protozoa that cause diseases and these live in the water where they float/ swim around looking for a fish to infect. Bad microscopic organisms also live in gunk in the filter and substrate. Doing big water changes and gravel cleaning help to dilute these harmful microscopic organisms.

------------------------
The filter pads and other materials in the filter hold the beneficial bacteria and if you throw the pads/ materials away and replace them with new pads, you get rid of the good filter bacteria and the tank will cycle again.

If you have filter pads in your filter, you should squeeze them out in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.

If you have carbon (black granules) in the filter pad, you can cut a slit in the top of the pad and tip the carbon out and throw it away. Then squeeze the pad out in a bucket of tank water and re-use it.

You can get round/ cylindrical sponges for some brands of internal filter. These sponges have a hole through the centre and fit over the intake strainer of most external power filters.

You can also get sponges that can be cut to fit your filter. I use AquaClear sponges but there are other brands and you use a pr of scissor to cut them to size.
Sponges last for years and will save you money and provide a more stable filter for the fish. You simply squeeze the sponges out in a bucket of tank water every 2-4 weeks and that's it.

------------------------
If your tap water has 20ppm of nitrate, then the lowest your tank will ever get to is 20ppm.

You can fill up a large container with tap water and put floating plants in it. The plants will use the nitrate and when there is 0 nitrate, you can use that water to do water changes.

You can get a Pozzani Filter to remove nitrates from tap water.

So I'm not supposed to change the filter pads every two weeks? They are dark brown every time I change them. I use Whisper filters that are supposed to be changed every month or so.
I thought that most of the bacteria lived in the gravel?

 

[Colin_T]

If you have an undergravel filter then most of the beneficial bacteria lives in the gravel. However, if you have a power filter or a sponge filter, the bacteria live in the sponges and other filter media. There will be some bacteria in the gravel but most will be in the filter materials.

Just squeeze your filter pads out in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.

Add some sponges to your filter so they can take over when the pads start to break down.

 

[Silencedogood]

Okay, thank you!

 

[Metalhead88]

Those filter pads will last a very long time. You can change them when they start to fall apart. As Colin said, just rinse in tank water.

Of course whisper wants you to change the pads often.....they want you to buy their product!

If you've been doing this for a while, I'm surprised that you haven't had more problems.

 

[Silencedogood]

Those filter pads will last a very long time. You can change them when they start to fall apart. As Colin said, just rinse in tank water.

Of course whisper wants you to change the pads often.....they want you to buy their product!

If you've been doing this for a while, I'm surprised that you haven't had more problems

lol that makes sense. I have had problems with fish dying for no reason or getting dropsy all of a sudden. Not sure if that is tied in with filters. I have only been changing them every two weeks for about two months.

 

[Metalhead88]

lol that makes sense. I have had problems with fish dying for no reason or getting dropsy all of a sudden. Not sure if that is tied in with filters. I have only been changing them every two weeks for about two months.

Water quality is 100% the reason.