darkangel Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 I'll start with the tank criteria. The tank is a 72 gal, 95% of the substrate surface is planted (2ft x 4ft jungle), 2 canister filters rated for 150gal ea. pressurized Co2, dry ferts, slightly overstocked, 80+ cardinals, 8 rams, a dozen or so habrosus cories,a few other cories, plecos and shrimp. The fish get fed once a day, what can be consumed within 2 minutes, and one day a week they don't get fed. 50% water change religiously every sunday at 10am. Up until last week the nitrates were between 5 & 15ppm. Now the nitrates are running 40 to 50ppm. No dead bodies anywhere or decaying plant matter, gravel is clean enough for the fish to eat off of. One filter was cleaned Oct 25/09 the other filter has not been cleaned since Feb 8/09. The only thing that I can think of is the one filter may have enough crap in it to cause the spike in nitrates. The filter that has not been cleaned since Feb is the one that has almond leaves in it, the other one has a small bag of peat. Water tests on the tank revealed, Amonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate 40-50ppm, ph-5-6. Any other thoughts or possibilities are welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicklfire Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 (edited) seems like you got a pretty good setup right there. Honestly 40-50 sounds about right, healthy, if you were getting lower that's GREAT but.. 40ppm is not dangerous.. if you were at like 65 and above then i'd look into possiable overstock or spike of some kind.. but your not at that which is fine.. you at about the max saftey.. but not dangerous at all. I wouldnt worry about it too much, if your fish look healthy then great. overstocking or overfeeding could lead to a spike but like you pointed out all the fish eat the food and your doing your 50 percent water changes which is great. you seem like your on track. How planted is your tank? If it's light or moderate you might want to stick some more plants in there to absorb more nutrients and help clean the water a bit, fast growing stem plants would help you with this. your not losing fish or none are unhealthy right? You are fine. if your still concerned then do an additional 50% water change during mid way through your ei dosing and just compensate for lost nutrients. as far as your filters you mentioned if you dont have a flow problem i wouldnt worry about them, the only reason i'd clean my filters if my flow descreased, your filters are more then established so they will be harnessing tons of beneficial bacteria Edited January 20, 2010 by Nicklfire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 If I could stick another plant in the substrate I would, but there is only 1/4 to 1/2 inch between plants now. The fish are healthy, colorful and spawning on a regular basis, but I have no place to put the fry. That is why I don't feed for one day during the week. The fry go into the other fish and condition them for the next spawn. I'll try 2 x 50% water changes a week and see if that helps. I don't like sitting borderline with water conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 20, 2010 Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 Are you sure the test kit is still good? Especially if you have good growth in stem plants, I can't really see how you'd have such high Nitrates. Your tank doesn't seem overstocked to me - those fish are really small, and won't create much waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2010 The test kit is about 2 months old. I bought a new one just to make sure, and I'm still getting readings around 40ppm. I'm going to stop feeding for a couple days and throw in another W/C for a total of 3 W/Cs this week and check results the next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 21, 2010 Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Are you adding ferts? If so, increasing the PO4 might help a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2010 Are you adding ferts? If so, increasing the PO4 might help a little. Yes I am adding ferts. I saw your replies on another planted tank topic and you nailed everything there so I'll give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted January 22, 2010 Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 Up until last week the nitrates were between 5 & 15ppm. Now the nitrates are running 40 to 50ppm. Something wicked this way comes , , , Planted that heavily ( with 2 or 300 Watts of light) Nitrates should disappear as quick as they come Substrate has been likened to a nutrient sync - you have been feeding it , , , perhaps now is it toppped up? Easy way to find out measure N stop adding N wait one week observe N Did it go up or down? If they go down your good If they go up - - well- - ph-5-6. Are you mixing RO ? That Ph seems frightfuly low Any other thoughts or possibilities are welcome. How old are the lights? Perhaps its not consum'n the ferts like it once was. Could we get a photo? There are many who believe ' lots of plants' is the same as 'heavily planted' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2010 ph-5-6. Are you mixing RO ? That Ph seems frightfuly low No RO mixing, Peat, almond leaves,black water extract, and Co2. The cardinals and rams seem to like it that low and really show there colors. The rams are allways spawning, and the cardinals do the dance but I have yet to see a spawn take place. They do the dance and then hide in the thick plants. Any other thoughts or possibilities are welcome. How old are the lights? Perhaps its not consum'n the ferts like it once was. Could we get a photo? There are many who believe ' lots of plants' is the same as 'heavily planted' The lights were changed out about 3 months ago, 0ne burned out so I changed all of them. I would classify it as heavily planted, It only has about 12 differnt types of plants in it now, and I have to trim once a week just to clear some swimming space for the fish. I'm trying a few things and the nitrates are coming down,but I don't want to make too many sudden changes. I did a water test about an hour ago and the nitrates are at 30ppm. As far as pics go, I suck big time with a camera, but I will try and get some up in the next few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Cleaned out the one filter, it lost about 10 pounds. The nitrates have come down to a level that I can live with, 15 to 20ppm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 26, 2010 Report Share Posted January 26, 2010 Gotta love a good purging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted January 31, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Stopped adding ferts completely for a week and a half,plants are still growing like mad, cleaned the second filter and the nitrates are at a livable stage. Only problem now is I am getting a smell from the tank as if you were standing next to a lake. Just completed water tests: Amonia-0, Nitrite-0, Nitrate-5-10ppm, ph-6-6.5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 An organic, peaty smell is ok. The smell might be cyanobacteria (BGA) though- that stuff stinks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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