how to lower nitrate levels?

[Apt]

Hello,

Hope someone can give me some advice i have had my first tank up and running since April. Its a 55g planted community tank

Fluval 450 filter with zeo carb replaced bi monthly.
Temp 26-28C
Ph 7.6 but very steady..has never changed.
I do a gravel vac and remove 40litres every week-10days.
I have;
4 x medium angelfish
9 x Rummy nose tetra
2 x Sailfin mollies
3 x peppered corys (did have bigger school but had lots of trouble keeping them alive, i didnt know they needed sinking food so i think they were dying from lack of nutrients.. was going to give up on them after these three but they are now thriving)
5 x fancy guppies
1 x Black Ghost Knife (approx 6inch)
1 x bristlenose pleco (approx 2 1/2 inch)

and so far evrything has been going well. Water has been perfect or very close to perfect, and no diseases or problems. But lately i have noticed some fish (corydoras and the male guppy) have many spits in their dorsal fins and tails and just look a bit tattered.
They appear healthy and happy, acting normal etc.
I am starting to get higher Nitrate readings, not dangerously high yet but they seem to be increasing..

I feed a rotating menu of:

1 x cube frozen bloodworms + 1 algae wafer + 1 omnivore wafer
or
1 x Cube frozen tropical community food + 2 x algae wafers
or
flake food and 1 of each wafer.

What could i do to improve my tank? How do i get the nitrate levels down? Am i feeding too much? (they gobble it up really fast and the angels go onto wrestle the BGK, pleco and corys for the algae wafers)

Also how do i post pics? Will have a try now...
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=23884&stc=1&d=1317470584

Thanks in advance

[rich311k]

Pretty tank. Nitrates are controlled by water changes, you may need to up your water changes to keep up with the increasing size of your fish. Feeding a bit less will hwlp as well. What are the nitrate readings?

[Lady Hobbs]

Larger water changes perhaps because your tank is stocked plenty. I also notice that my nitrates go up a bit is when my filter is allowed to get too dirty.

Not sure how long you'll be able to keep the BGK. They're known to get much too large for a 55 gallon. Not too sure how well the angels will fair either. They're a bit too aggressive to try to keep 4 in a 55. (I have one in mine.)

[sheamurai]

I use purigen to drop my nitrates - my water is at 40 out of the tap, and purigen drops it to 20.

[Apt]

Thanks, I love this tank! My family think I'm nuts because I'd much rather watch the tank everynight rather than the tv!
I havnt heard of purigen, would I be able to use it with the bgk as he is a scaleless fish? Is there something different I should put in the filter?
Is it realistic to try and get the nitrates to zero?

[Brhino]

the first and easiest thing to do with high nitrates is increase the volume of water changes. Right now you're only taking 20% out. Many of us do 50% water changes weekly - that would lead to a major decrease in nitrates.

[sheamurai]

0 nitrates is not really possible, nor is it required, tho its always good to provide the best care you can!

Increasing water changes is the cheapest, best way to drop your nitrates.

I would only recommend purigen to people like me who's tap water comes with high nitrates naturally.

Purigen doesn't harm anything in the aquarium, I use it in my reef tank AND my FW tank.

[Apt]

Okay, Im about to go and do my biggest water change ever... will test levels again afterwards.

Thanks for everyones advice.

[Apt]

Ok, so I have done two 50% water changes since the last post and the nitrates are still the same 10-20 and now the ammonia is .25 two days after my last change!!!! Eeeek! Could I have upset things by changing too much water? Should I go back to 20% changes? I have noticed tonight and the last few days that some fish are rubbing their faces on the plants, are they irritated by the ammonia? I only checked the water tonight because the rummys looked s bit pale but after a feed they look a good colour again.

[sheamurai]

No, its normal to do water changes daily until water parameters are good.
Monitor your water daily and continue doing large changes until things are good.
It may take longer than you would like, but it WILL eventually level out.

Your spike in ammonia will be caused by something else - perhaps cleaning your filter out a bit too thoroughly or forgetting dechlorinator?

Nitrates of 10-20 are ok in my book.

[Kelvinlim11]

Seems like too much waste and not breaking down fast enough, you can try to connect to a pre filter and put in more filter media.


Hello,

Hope someone can give me some advice i have had my first tank up and running since April. Its a 55g planted community tank

Fluval 450 filter with zeo carb replaced bi monthly.
Temp 26-28C
Ph 7.6 but very steady..has never changed.
I do a gravel vac and remove 40litres every week-10days.
I have;
4 x medium angelfish
9 x Rummy nose tetra
2 x Sailfin mollies
3 x peppered corys (did have bigger school but had lots of trouble keeping them alive, i didnt know they needed sinking food so i think they were dying from lack of nutrients.. was going to give up on them after these three but they are now thriving)
5 x fancy guppies
1 x Black Ghost Knife (approx 6inch)
1 x bristlenose pleco (approx 2 1/2 inch)

and so far evrything has been going well. Water has been perfect or very close to perfect, and no diseases or problems. But lately i have noticed some fish (corydoras and the male guppy) have many spits in their dorsal fins and tails and just look a bit tattered.
They appear healthy and happy, acting normal etc.
I am starting to get higher Nitrate readings, not dangerously high yet but they seem to be increasing..

I feed a rotating menu of:

1 x cube frozen bloodworms + 1 algae wafer + 1 omnivore wafer
or
1 x Cube frozen tropical community food + 2 x algae wafers
or
flake food and 1 of each wafer.

What could i do to improve my tank? How do i get the nitrate levels down? Am i feeding too much? (they gobble it up really fast and the angels go onto wrestle the BGK, pleco and corys for the algae wafers)

Also how do i post pics? Will have a try now...
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/attachment.php?attachmentid=23884&stc=1&d=1317470584

Thanks in advance

[SkipW]

I agree with sheamurai. You can change all of the water and you shouldn't affect the cycle unless your filter/biomedia got hit with chlorine or something.

Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? If your tap water is testing 0, then a 50% WC should drop the nitrates by half.
My tap water tests at 5ppm, so I'm usually between 10 - 20 in the tank.

Keep testing for ammonia in case your cycle took a hit.