Nitrates At 50!

[tennis4you]

So 2 days ago I cleaned my canister filter for the first time, the tank is 6 months old and I figured it was time. The tank is 120g with a Eheim filter. There is (1) ghost knife, (2) bala sharks, (7) red tailed tetra, (1) rope fish and (5) giant danios. The tank has several plants, but not tons and it is by no means a high tech tank.

Someone at another fish forum told me to only clean the filter media in the canister. I think I might have overdone it. Here is what was in the filter from top to bottom:

1/4" Black filter looking thing, I am guessing it is carbon
1/2" white filter
A ton of co co puff looking balls
Another 1/2" white filter
A ton of small mini tubes
Another filter

I took and cleaned the 1/2" black filter, and both white filters at the top. I removed but did not clean the co co puffs. I didn't touch anything else. Unwisely I cleaned the filters with untreated tap water. Maybe I should have cleaned them with fish water?

Regardless, all of my water settings are normal but the Nitrates, they are at 50!!! I did (2) water changes yesterday about 24% and 20% but this morning I am still at 50! What do I do?

Here are the normal settings:

Nitrites: 0
Nitrates (Normally 10-20): 50
Ammonia: 0
Hardness: 180
pH: 6.4 (low I know)

What do I do? Did I completely throw the cycle out of whack? I use Prime to clean up tap water but my understanding is to not use Prime with an un-cycled tank since it kills ammonia.

I need some advise, thanks!!!

 

[vinylman]

Always wash filter media in old tank water; using tap water will kill the neccessary bacteria, causing (at least) a mini-cycle. The best thing you can do is to see if your LFS can let you have any mature filter media. Also cut back on feeding your fish, once every other day until you have the filter sorted out. Test the water a couple of times a week, too, until everything is back to normal.

 

[tennis4you]

Thanks! I have some filters in a 55g that are from a whisper filter. Should I just drop one of those int he canister filter?

With 2 water changes yesterday am I OK to do another today? I need to get those Nitrates down. And as far as the Prime goes, am I OK to use it right now?

I know I am asking a lot of questions.

Thanks!

 

[dannym]

Hi,

I think your Nitrate level is a bit too high id say around 40 is the maximum

The other filter media you mentioned is it from a currently cycled tank?

If so maybe you could shape it to fit into your other tank

That would help!

Danny.

 

[tennis4you]

Interesting. I will do it right now. And yeah, it is from a cycled tank. Those cheap little whisper filters are far easier to clean and understand. It will fit into the canister with ease.

I still do not understand why all the coacoa puff stuff and mini tubes do not keep the good bacteria enough to help with a fresh filter. So much to learn.

Anyone know about the Prime and the water changes? I would like to change the water but with the Prime I am told it might be bad with an un-cycled tank. Prime is all I have right now and of course the fish stores are all closed today...

Thanks!

 

[raptorrex]

I still do not understand why all the coacoa puff stuff and mini tubes do not keep the good bacteria enough to help with a fresh filter. So much to learn.

Thanks!

no neither can i. i do much the same as you, i consider the sponge section of the filter as mechanical, as such, i clean it with untreated tap water*. also every second clean, i throw way the white filter pads and replace them. so as i said, in effect, the same as you. my tank is 18 month cycled though. did you vac the gravel before you did the filter clean?



*, © The-Wolf

 

[tennis4you]

Not really. I usually clean 1/3 of the gravel each time I clean. Maybe a little too often but I am not sure.

I tore down the canister and put a whisper filter inside of it from my 55g cycled tank.

I was also wondering about replacement of the filters. Seems like a way to fragile process overall. I left all the goodies and just cleaned the filters. But by doing so the 300+ coa coa puffs and mini tubes didn't have enough stuff on them to balance it all out? What about all the stuff in the tank? I figured 2 filters couldn't possibly be holding the entire tank together, but what the heck do I know, my nitrates are at 50!!!

 

[Tolak]

Your filter is doing what it is supposed to do, convert ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrate. Your tank is not cycling, I would suspect the test results. Aruarium water test gear is low tech, and often inaccurate, even the liquid tests, which can give screwy results when expired, or sometimes go bad for no apparent reason.

With a 20% water change you should have a 25% reduction in nitrates right after changing water, if not the test is bad, or you have nitrate in your tap water, which is not uncommon, and can vary seasonally.

I have been running Eheim canisters for years, with the same media you have, minus the carbon. I clean everything in dechlorinated tap water, and have no problems. I wouldn't go tearing the filter down, it is a better filter than any bi wheel out there, as long as it isn't one of the Ecco's.

 

[tennis4you]

I will do another water change today and monitor the nitrates and see what happens. Unfortunetly I am using the strips, not the liquid tests. Just for kicks I did test my tap water, it read at zero...

 

[Tolak]

Strips are the worst, try taking a sample to your lfs. BTW, I forgot to mention about ammonia & Prime. Prime, or any of the Ammo-Lock sort of water treatments don't remove ammonia, they convert it to ammonium, which is used the same as ammonia by your nitrifying bacteria, but is harmless to fish at levels found in an aquarium.