Nitrate

[bluesfan]

i have tested tank for nitrate reading was 1 mg caution  so i did a partial water change   cleaned both filters  tested again reading not altered is there any way of lowering nitrate  or do i do another par w/ change

 

[Ninjouzata]

Do you mean nitrite or nitrate? Nitrate is okay to have, though I'm not sure how much 1 mg would be..
If you mean nitrite then yes do another water change. What % w/c did you do?
Did you clean the filters in tank water or tap water?

 

[bluesfan]

Hi, sorry its nitrite its a 180  ltr    tank   removed  approx 60ltr,then filters i have a spare ehiem 2213 which i changed over with the dirty one,i also  use  a fluval 205 with that i just emptied the dirty water rinsed sponges in tank water + replaced in tank   as it was not to bad

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

If you mean 1 mg/L then that is roughly equal to 1 ppm.  But regardless, nitrites should be zero.  Is your tank cycled?  What do you have in your tank?

 

[bluesfan]

tank is cycled been  up /running  for a while  as for fish there are 10 scissor tails, 4 black widow tetras  2 angels,3 suilver dollars, 2 pictus sharks,1 chinese loach , 1 bristle nose pleco,5 small plecos,5 red tail congo tetras,+2 khuli loach.

 

[zoopkamol]

1st off 180l tank with stocking you have... tank is overstocked. question also why so many plecos?
high nitrite reading could be caused by higher bioload in tank.

 

[bluesfan]

 Since setting up tank i have not lost fish Tank is crystal clear i check filters reg  i  have  never had any real water probs my nitrate has always been  zero its only now i checked its just on lower  caution. so many plecos because i had another tank which started to leak so removed fish and scrapped tank i had 3 plecos in each as they kept my tank clean they are only 40/50 mm each i know they grow but hope to get another tank up + running 

 

[Noahsfish]

Plecos don't keep your tank clean...they might get the algae off, but they produce TONS of waste.

 

[Skies]

It's true, Plecos are waste producers, I also agree with Zoop.