HELP! What am I doing wrong?

[The Bass Hole]

My water parameters are out of whack and i have no idea why. The fish are prospering and very active but the levels are scaring me a little.
Ph=6.0 (the only good one)
Ammonia=2.0ppm
nitrite=1.0ppm
nitrate=40ppm

In the 120(5 foot) gallon tank there are two 2217s, the water is kept at 87 degrees, uv sterilizer for 500 gallons, 300 gallon airpump, live plants(swords) and fake plants, driftwood, T-5(anthic blue and daylight 10000K bulbs) light.

Stock: 7 asst discus (largest is 2 1/2)
6 sterbai corys
3 electrc blue rams
1 orange lobster
3 macaluchi rainbows
2 turquoise rainbows
15 von rio tetras
12 cardinal tetras

any thoughts to help me out?

Thanks

 

[mcsnapper1]

How long has the tank been running and what is your water change/filter cleaning schedule? Also, how often do you feed?

 

[The Bass Hole]

sorry i forgot to add that, 40% water changes every 10 days, change one of the filters every 3 months and i feed every three days one cube of mysis, one cube of brine and a pinch of flakes.

I also use flourish excel for the plants if that makes a difference, i dont think it should though

I also have one 3" zebra angel and two 1 1/2" angels

 

[The Bass Hole]

tanks been running for 1 year and 3 months but i redid all the decorations and stock about a month and a half ago

 

[Zari]

Are you testing after just doing a water change? Also some water companies in winter add extra chloramines and other stuff to the water that will show up as a positive ammonia reading.

 

[The Bass Hole]

i did a water change yesterday and tested today. I use stress coat which is supposed to take out all chloramines i believe.

 

[mcsnapper1]

In the past I've had problems with the nitro. cycle if the PH is too low.(below 6) The way I understand it, low PH shuts down the cycle. Try raising PH (crushed coral), and see what happens.

 

[crazysteve]

May we see a photo of tank? I clean my filter pads to remove fish poop and dead plants every water change. And stir up the rocks to remove the crap down there every water change. Try it.

 

[Owain4]

it seems like your tank is pretty hot too.

 

[Rivermud]

What substrate do you have? Are you experiencing plant death? How often to you prune? Ammonia is a product of decay, you seem to be experiencing a large amount of biologic breakdown (decay) be it overfeeding, lack of bio-bacteria, substrate or plants decay, etc. What is your KH?