Nitrates At 200

[fluttermoth]

Never change anything in your filter, except the carbon. Just gently rinse it in some old tank water, never under the tap or you'll kill all your good bacteria.

Fish do naturally open and close their mouths a lot, but it could be related to the poor water.

 

[adpgt]

Ok. I just did my second 35-40% water change in two days. Here is a pic of the water I took out and the tank:

My nitrates are now at 180.
Ammonia as at 0
Nitrites are at .5
pH is at 6.4
Alkalinity is at 40
Hardness is at 160
Chlorine is at 0

Do these figures look alright?

Also, what happens when you put in too much chlorine conditioner? Does it spike up the nitrates? I felt like I might of put too much.

 

[fluttermoth]

It's virtually impossible to overdose on dechlorinator, unless you're tipping bottles of the stuff in.

Your nitrite level is a bit of a worry; that really needs to be 0.25ppm or under

 

[adpgt]

How would I go among reducing the nitrites?

Also, how long do you think it'll be till my nitrates become under 50?

 

[fluttermoth]

It's all down to water changes, I'm afraid mate.

It's hard to tell how long it'll take for the nitrates to come down; all depends on the exact amount of your water changes and the level of nitrate in your tap water.

Just keep up the changes, and the testing, and you'll get there

 

[adpgt]

So will waterchanges permenantly lower the nitrate and nitrite levels or is that only a temporary fix?

I was told I should change my filter media and that would resolve the issue permanently. Is this true?

 

[fluttermoth]

No; if you change your filter media, you'll lose all your good bacteria, and things will get worse. Water changes will get rid of the nitrite and, eventually, reduce the nitrate to the level of your tap water.

No mature tank is nitrate free (except in some, rather rare circumstances), as the ammonia produced by the fish is converted, first to nitrite, and then to nitrate. The nitrate gradually rises all the time, and you keep it from rising too high through your regular water changes.

 

[adpgt]

so the reason on why my nitrates are so is due to the fact that i never changed the water?

Also, what does dirty gravel do to the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia levels?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[phantomlink]

Yes thats why your level is so high, my 125 gallon tank goes to around 100 or so if I dont change 30-40% of my water a week ( lots of fish though, so lots of ammonia which cycles into Nitrates ). Fish waste/food will make its way into your gravel and decompose, making more ammonia in your waters. If you vacuum your gravel weekly you remove these which lowers the rate of ammonia growth in your tank to just what the fish add themselves