Problem With Nitrate And Ammonia

[jbatt]

Hi

I wonder if you can help?. I have a tank wish I cannot lower the Nitrate or Ammonia

Tank Size: 400l
Filter setup: Two External filters filtering out the tank 7 times an hour
Fish

6x serverons (2 babies, 2 10cm long ones and 2 15cm's in size)
6 Mollies (from my old tank and their getting along fine)
6x 5 yellow Malaw
2x Rope Fish
1x fire ell which I have had for a few years. He's only 20cm long and never seems to grow
2x plecs which much 20 - 30cms long (had these for years)

The water PH is 6.5
I had one plant, then I added some more last week to see if that would help which the fish have now eaten.

The problem, for the last 3 to 4 weeks my reading are

Ammonia: 0.50 mg/L
Nitrate: 10mg/L

What have I done??

I have keep doing water changes (I'm now doing 50% each time)
I hoovered the sand quite a few times
I have replaced the sand with special black and white Cichlid stuff
I have cleaned each external filter out
I tried a massive 80% water change

Tap Water appears to be fine...

I use 6.5 Buffer made by water life

Anyone have any clues?

Thanks

James

 

[WILDER]

How long has the tank been set up.
Do you mean nitrite and not nitrate.
When you cleaned the filters did you touch the filter sponges, if so did you clean them in old tank water.
How often do you do a gravel vac.

 

[jbatt]

How long has the tank been set up.
Do you mean nitrite and not nitrate.
When you cleaned the filters did you touch the filter sponges, if so did you clean them in old tank water.
How often do you do a gravel vac.

Hi

Deffo Nitrate

I suck gravel once a week.

I totally cleaned the filters in the end using tap water. I cleaned one out 3 weeks ago, and then tonight the other one. I know it's not a good idea, but I just can't get the reading down and thought 3 weeks would be enough for the first one to grow back the bactira.

I will take all the rocks out again tomorrow and vacume the gravel

 

[WILDER]

Should never wash the sponges in tap water as it wipes the benefical bacteria colony out.
A nitrate reading of 10 is good.
What your nitrite reading as thats the one you should be worried about.
Test your nitrate tap reading.

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/cycling2.htm

 

[Rick A]

Have a look at these articles:

PH levels and why you shouldn't try to mess with them:

http/mchportal.com/fishkeeping-mainmenu-...-chemistry.html

Amonia levels:

http/www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquai...water%20changes

The Malawi Cichlid Homepage is not a forum, nor are all the articles directed solely at Malawis. There are many good, well written articles here - some go down to the "science behoind it all" level - and it would be worth taking a bit of time to read and digest what they say.

Don't panic, don't try to mess with the PH (remember that most people keep captive-bred fish and they have been happily living in water that may not truely reflect their species wild environment) and don't use any PH up / down chemicals - you might end up with a PH crash!

Take a look at this, if you feel the need to do something about your PH:

http/www.mchportal.com/fishkeeping-mainm...-chemistry.html

Hope this helps.

 

[petertr]

Ahhhhh - don't put your sponges in tap water - it toally kills everything in them.

Always wash them out in water taken from the tank.


If the flow rate is ok, you probably don't need to clean them anyway - and even then, try to clean no more than 1/3 of your media at any one time.

 

[jbatt]

Thanks for the replies.

Todays test show

Nitrate 10 ppm (mg/L)
Ammonia 0.10 ppm (mg/L)
Nitrite 0 ppm(mg/L)

Nitrate - I just cannot get down
Ammonoa has dropped right down
Nitrite is pretty damn good

OK, I have been putting 6.5 Buffer in the tank. I have always done this since day on for over 3 years.

I wish I could just use normal tap water's PH as it would save ton's of cash (400L takes quite a bit of powder - lol

My Test kit has two PH tests
- High Range PH
- PH

High Range PH ranges from 7.4 --> 8.8 while PH range is 6.0 to 7.6

Going by High PH Range, the colour is slightly weeker than 7.4 so I assume I don't use this test
Going by PH, the colour looks closer to 7.2 so I assume the PH will be PH 7.2

So, unless anyone disagree's, I'll say the water from my tap is 7.2 / 7.3

How to I safly up the P.H level of the water? And Can I do this with the fish I listed in my first post?

Thanks

James

P.S - I am just about to read the links above.

Ahhhhh - don't put your sponges in tap water - it toally kills everything in them.

Always wash them out in water taken from the tank.


If the flow rate is ok, you probably don't need to clean them anyway - and even then, try to clean no more than 1/3 of your media at any one time.

I know, but I was desperate. My flow rates are good. They never seem to get clogged up however when I cleaned them they were really dirty with long brown bits in. Never seen that before in the filters

 

[petertr]

Ahhhhh - don't put your sponges in tap water - it toally kills everything in them.

Always wash them out in water taken from the tank.


If the flow rate is ok, you probably don't need to clean them anyway - and even then, try to clean no more than 1/3 of your media at any one time.

I know, but I was desperate. My flow rates are good. They never seem to get clogged up however when I cleaned them they were really dirty with long brown bits in. Never seen that before in the filters

Thats what the filters are supposed to be full of - just make sure to use water taken from the tank - tap water kills the good bacteria.

10ppm nitrate isn't something I'd worry about.

 

[WILDER]

Your nitrate is fine don't worry about it, its rare to have a nitrate reading of 0.
Nitrate only harmful to fish once it's over 100.
Your nearly cycled by the looks of it.