Fish Load And Water Test Question

[FishRunner]

Hi, could anyone give me any advice on nitrat (NO3) i have a reading of 40mg/l and my nitrit (NO2) is 0.1mg/l what cause high readings of nitrat (NO3) and how could i reduce it, i have been doing 25% water changes and using a product called nitrafin but levels dont seem to be reducing, could it be my fish load? I have ten fish in the tank the types of fish are in my sig. The other readings from my test are as follows,

PH - 7.5
Ammonium - 0mg/l (NH4) 0mg/l (NH3)
GH - 10 DGH
Phosphat - 1.0mg (PO4)
Chlor - 0mg (Cl)
KH - 4 DKH
Iorn - 0.0mg (FE)
Nitrit - 0.1mg/l (NO2)
Nitrat - 40mg/l (NO3)

Sorry for the long winded post, thanks for reading

 

[Alien Anna]

Sounds like your tank is still cycling i.e. the beneficial bacteria haven't yet built up. If you read the article in my sig that should explain the background to what's happening and give you some tips to get that tank finally cycled.

If you have any further questions, please get back to me.

 

[Kossy]

Yes and take this into heavy consideration because its one of the biggest killers for beginers so yes follow the link

 

[FishRunner]

Hi, thanks for the feedback. Luckly for me my lfs did tell me i had to cycle my tank and they also told me about the fishless cycle, but due to my working hours etc i decided to opt for hardy fish, my tank is cycled but after reading your link i'm now pretty sure i have caused the problem by replacing two of the coarse sponges

 

[aquamanis]

When your tank finishes cycling, ( you may have created another cycle by replacing your sponges) you may want to look at plants for keeping the nitrates in check. I have a big fish load and my nitrates hardly ever go over 5ppm, most time its at 0ppm though because I have 20 odd plants using the nitrates up.

 

[Alien Anna]

When your tank finishes cycling, ( you may have created another cycle by replacing your sponges) you may want to look at plants for keeping the nitrates in check. I have a big fish load and my nitrates hardly ever go over 5ppm, most time its at 0ppm though because I have 20 odd plants using the nitrates up.

I second that. I've got a big fish load in one tank but great water quality due to the plants. I have giant vallis, Java fern and dwarf anubias in there, plus two Amazon swords that are growing back after I accidently killed them off.