I am new to community fish keeping and I have had my tank set up with fish for about 2 months. Its a 20 gallon tank. Here are the occupants:
4 guppies( 2 male, 2 female)
6 platy's
1 pleco
The filtering system I have is a Aquatech 30-60( I upgraded from a 10-20) with undergravel filter( installed 8-20-08, the undergravel filter).
The water readings are as follows:
Nitrites- .5(caution)
Nitrates- 20 (safe)
KH (Alkalinity)- 120( Ideal)
PH- 7.2 (Neutral)
I tested my tap water and the Ph is 7.0.
Also I do 25% water changes everyday and my Nitrites are still at .5 (caution) with my tests. Has been going on for a month now. I use water conditioner for tap water for each water change( our towns water supply does have some hardness to it).
My water is clear( not crystal clear yet). Although it could be the tank color of the glass(has a light greenish tint) for glass aquariums.
Now for my quesiton:
Will this Nitrite level ever go down? If so, how much longer will I have to do water changes everday?Should I replace the filters in my filter system NOT the Bio-media,( they are a month old)?
I am running out of opinions and about to go & . Any ideas? Any advice!
4 guppies( 2 male, 2 female)
6 platy's
1 pleco
The filtering system I have is a Aquatech 30-60( I upgraded from a 10-20) with undergravel filter( installed 8-20-08, the undergravel filter).
The water readings are as follows:
Nitrites- .5(caution)
Nitrates- 20 (safe)
KH (Alkalinity)- 120( Ideal)
PH- 7.2 (Neutral)
I tested my tap water and the Ph is 7.0.
Also I do 25% water changes everyday and my Nitrites are still at .5 (caution) with my tests. Has been going on for a month now. I use water conditioner for tap water for each water change( our towns water supply does have some hardness to it).
My water is clear( not crystal clear yet). Although it could be the tank color of the glass(has a light greenish tint) for glass aquariums.
Now for my quesiton:
Will this Nitrite level ever go down? If so, how much longer will I have to do water changes everday?Should I replace the filters in my filter system NOT the Bio-media,( they are a month old)?
I am running out of opinions and about to go & . Any ideas? Any advice!