Algae causing ph and nitrate problems

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
With that small tank and those fish you should be doing water changes at least once per week, I'd be doing partial changes on that tank every other day if it were me, which I do on my tanks.
What Jc119 said is right, the algae is actually helping your water quality, by eating nitrates, without it you'd be in the 300ppm range.
 
Jc1119 said:
If anything, the algae is actually helping your parameters as they consume the same things plants and a functioning bio filter do. You need weekly water changes. 160ppm nitrates is high but not as deadly as your ammonia readings. Ammonia and nitrite should be basically zero and nitrates even in a heavily stocked tank should never be above 100ppm


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At 6.0 pH ammonia of .5 ppm is not even harmful let alone deadly. Though yes it should be at zero.
 
sounds to me like you have something breaking down in the tank creating ammonia and your bacteria cant keep up. With the ammonia being produced the bacteria are generating more nitrates, and like people mentioned before high nitrates means more algae since they thrive off of it.

When you clean your canister how do you do it? If youre using tap water or scrubbing it you could be hurting your bacteria colony. Also, if you havent done a gravel vac (assuming you have gravel or sand) you might have waste in the gravel/sand generating ammonia beyond your bio filtration capacity. i'd follow the weekly water change regiment listed above, only rinse your filter media with tank water and only when needed, and if you havent done it ina while, do a good gravel vac
 
Thanks guys. I do a gravel vac every time i do a water change which is every 2-3 weeks. When i clean my canister, ive been using tap water. Ive actually been rinsing out the ceramic media i had in the filter...oops
Is it ok to clean the sponges with tap water?
 
OscarMan0315 said:
Thanks guys. I do a gravel vac every time i do a water change which is every 2-3 weeks. When i clean my canister, ive been using tap water. Ive actually been rinsing out the ceramic media i had in the filter...oops
Is it ok to clean the sponges with tap water?
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chlorinated water kills the bacteria it touches. that is it's whole purpose.
sometimes people get by doing that, WHEN the chlorine doesn't come in contact with all portions of their media. ie; only the outer edges get rinsed, but the media type has generous porosity and the inside bacteria is sufficient to manage the tank bioload.
doing that is never a wise gamble.
your water parameters are causing the algae growth, not vice versa.
 
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