Dumb theory on why my nitrates are so high ....please help !

[flamenco-t]

So I have been frustrated with my nitrate reading for the past 4-5 months. My problem is keeping it down. I have tried Seachem purigen, which brought nitrates down to 20-40 ppm, but it spiked back up to over 80-100 ppm within 3-4 days.

I do have a lot of bio load on 100 gallon tank with 2 Rena XP3 and 1 Emperor 400. I maintain 50 % water changes weekly in which I have tested the Nitrates after every single WC and I get about 60 ppm and spiked back up to 100 ppm within 2-3 days.

So I thought, it's the damn gravel bed...too thick and it's a breeding ground for bacteria...

I took all the gravel bed, simpel flush and lay down about 1/4" - 1/2" of gravel versus 3" I had before.

I tested my nitrates and it's still at 80-100 PPM. I dohave some plants, not very much

At this point, I am stumbled and came up with a dumb theory IMO.

Since I have a tight glass lid to keep my Aro and CK from jumping,

COULD IT BE THAT BY HAVING A GLASS LID, I AM NOT ALLOWING NITRATES TO BREATHE ? therefore it's sat around the tank for a long time ?

I know this may be dumb, but I am running out of option. my fish seems to be normal in behaviour but they don't grow as quick as they were before which is a good indication that they're surviving rather than thriving.

Thanks

Stan

 

[StiffMeister]

how many fish do you have and what species?
What is your feeding regime?
did you test your tap water?
if you wanna lower the nitrates, just do wc more frequently or add more plants.

 

[WyldFya]

What size tank, how many big preds, and sizes?

I would just do more frequent WCs, My 135 is heavily planted, and I have to supplement Nitrate due to it being to low constantly.

 

[fishmaven]

Ever seen the before and after photos of someone that's dieted. Unless you see the before it's hard to tell if they're successful. You should check the water before AND after. You should also check your source water. Remember "garbage in = garbage out."

Are you rinsing your Emp wheels? Do it in tank water OR dechlorinated tap water.

If I had to guess, 90% of the time someone loses an aro, it's from jumping out. I don't think having a tight lid is your problem. I also don't see how it could be that tight just because of the way that Emp hang. How did you get the top to be tight with that big a hole?

 

[flamenco-t]

My tap water tested 0 for nitrates. my tank is currently at 100-120 ppm.

I cut the glass lide to fit around the Emp outflow, so it is a perfect tight fit.

Tank size is 100 gallon wide.

Livestock:

8" Silver Aro
7-9" Clown knife x 3
Tigrinus Cat
TSN Cat
Bichir
3 Blood Parrots
Severum
BGK
2 smaller pleco


Filtrations:

2 XP3's and Emperor 400. The XP3's currently have the carbon bags, black and white foam and purigen

PH: 7.4-7.6
NItrites : 0
Ammonia : 0
Temp: Around 80-82 deg F

No, I have not rinsed my bio wheel yet. Today, I am going to try to rinse them out, rinse the foam on the XP'3 and get rid of the carbon bag (too old) and may run without carbon to see what it'll actually do.

stan

 

[illinibruin]

it's because the tanks overstocked, theres not enough water to dilute the waste produced by your fish.

 

[blt70]

it's because the tanks overstocked, theres not enough water to dilute the waste produced by your fish.

That's it, you can do a few things to remedy your situation. This is the order in which I would address the problem. Hope this helps. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

1. Get a larger tank.
2. Do water changes 3 times per week.
3. Reduce feeding frequency and or amounts.
4. Remove some fish.

 

[d20monsteroscar20]

That's it, you can do a few things to remedy your situation. This is the order in which I would address the problem. Hope this helps. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

1. Get a larger tank.
2. Do water changes 3 times per week.
3. Reduce feeding frequency and or amounts.
4. Remove some fish.

I strongly agree with you. I m not sure if about getting a bigger tank thou. did he say he has a 100 gallons tank?

 

[StiffMeister]

and another one agrees. with all those monster fish in a tank that "small" you will keep this problem unless you feed once a week and do 3-4x wc a week.

 

[WyldFya]

That tank is overstocked big time. You need a larger tank, or to get rid of some fish. With that many cats it would be very hard to have any plants, as they would get ripped up.

8" Silver Aro
7-9" Clown knife x 3
Tigrinus Cat
TSN Cat

These will all get monsterous very quickly, also what kind of bichir, and how big? I'd say it is time to upgrade to a new tank.