Keep an eye on the nitrates after each water change so you can determine how much time it takes for the nitrates to go above desired level, and use that info to create a water change schedule.
High nitrates!!!!
- Thread starter erpethoichthys
- Start date
Step 1 is getting your nitrates back to a reasonable level...and the best way is through frequent partial water changes. Do, say, 4 or 5 40-50% water changes - including partial gravel vac and cleaning the filters - over the course of a couple of weeks.
Step 2 is maintaining low nitrate levels once they've been "reset." You'll accomplish this through water changes. On a heavily stocked tank, I'd do at least 75-80% per week. Maybe more. Also keep your mechanical filtration "clean." You can also use Pothos or other plans to absorb nitrates...and/or chemical filtration (like Purigen or Polyfilter).
So often people think that their tanks are "clean" because they have several big canister filters (that they next-to-never clean) on a tank. Reality is that they have several tanks full of uneaten food and crap rotting and creating nitrates. People often don't "clean" their canisters until their completely full of crap and flow decreases because it's a PITA - often months. For this reason, I don't use them and prefer easier to clean sumps, dumps, boxes and Poret. Anyway, if you can clean the mechanical part of the filter frequently (weekly?) - and/or use a pre-filter to keep crud out of the filter - you'll be in better shape. If you're preventing a bunch of gunk from getting into the filter and/or cleaning the mechanical frequently, the bio material should stay relatively unclogged. People have strong opinions about periodically rinsing the gunk out of the bio media in filters. I've never had issues with giving bio materials - balls, scrubbies, Poret foam, etc. - a quick rinse in tap water in my deep sink (in any of the half dozen or so places I've lived). Maybe your tap water has unusually high levels of chlorine or chloramine and you want to go through the extra effort of using tank water? Knock yourself out.
Good luck... and do more water changes.
Step 2 is maintaining low nitrate levels once they've been "reset." You'll accomplish this through water changes. On a heavily stocked tank, I'd do at least 75-80% per week. Maybe more. Also keep your mechanical filtration "clean." You can also use Pothos or other plans to absorb nitrates...and/or chemical filtration (like Purigen or Polyfilter).
So often people think that their tanks are "clean" because they have several big canister filters (that they next-to-never clean) on a tank. Reality is that they have several tanks full of uneaten food and crap rotting and creating nitrates. People often don't "clean" their canisters until their completely full of crap and flow decreases because it's a PITA - often months. For this reason, I don't use them and prefer easier to clean sumps, dumps, boxes and Poret. Anyway, if you can clean the mechanical part of the filter frequently (weekly?) - and/or use a pre-filter to keep crud out of the filter - you'll be in better shape. If you're preventing a bunch of gunk from getting into the filter and/or cleaning the mechanical frequently, the bio material should stay relatively unclogged. People have strong opinions about periodically rinsing the gunk out of the bio media in filters. I've never had issues with giving bio materials - balls, scrubbies, Poret foam, etc. - a quick rinse in tap water in my deep sink (in any of the half dozen or so places I've lived). Maybe your tap water has unusually high levels of chlorine or chloramine and you want to go through the extra effort of using tank water? Knock yourself out.
Good luck... and do more water changes.
Hello; Yes to two things here. I also rinse my bio-media with tap water from time to time. Been doing so for decades. There are just times when a gentle swish does not do the job.
The other thing is there are a few of this sites members who have gotten really strident and argumentative about cleaning with tap water. There are two basic arguments against the practice. That you kill off some bb and there may be some tap water residue remaining after a rinse.
The killing off of bb is very likely correct and while all may not be killed, I just assume that all are indeed killed off. That is why I strongly suggest doing a thorough rinse with tap water to only a small portion of filter material at any one time. Another thing I do is to grab a bb loaded sponge filter base that I keep in filters to throw in a recently cleaned filter.
So if your filter is indeed gunked up to the point of needing a good clean and considering that your tank is described as overstocked, then some extra care needs to be taken. I would likely do just a "gentle rinse in old tank water" for most of the bio-media the first time. This probably will not get the bio-media clean but may buy some time. A main point being to not clean all the media at any one time.
If you change out the mechanical media then do not rinse any bio-media that day. If you rinse bio-media do not change mechanical media and so on.
The other potential issue of tap water residue is so much easier to deal with. The argument being that the small amount of tapwater remaining on the rinsed media might have enough chlorine/chloramine to be a problem when the media is put back into a tank.
My thinking being that if I do the rinse at the same time as a water change then I will be adding some water conditioner (prime or such) to deal with the many gallons of tap water anyway. So the tiny amount left on rinsed media will be taken care of same as the tap water by the Prime.
Good luck
Chances are - and I've yet to experience a situation otherwise - the concentration of chlorine or chloramine in your tap is low enough that the impact on the bacteria / archaea is not significant and quickly replaced by new "bugs." Remember that bio materials caked in crud don't have ideal flow or health.
But I really don't want to get into another discussion about cleaning bio-media. Do whatever makes you happy
I don't have any canister or HOB filters. Only air-driven boxes, sponges, Poret and pump-driven "dumps" (overhead sumps). I try to switch out the fluff in the boxes weekly or more often and the the fluff in the "dumps" as often...I also siphon the gunk that somehow evades mechanical filtration in the "dumps" when it appears... Takes moments and - in my perspective - removes the kind of uneaten food, poop, etc. that left to rot (or pile up inside a canister) turn into nitrate.
But I really don't want to get into another discussion about cleaning bio-media. Do whatever makes you happy
I don't have any canister or HOB filters. Only air-driven boxes, sponges, Poret and pump-driven "dumps" (overhead sumps). I try to switch out the fluff in the boxes weekly or more often and the the fluff in the "dumps" as often...I also siphon the gunk that somehow evades mechanical filtration in the "dumps" when it appears... Takes moments and - in my perspective - removes the kind of uneaten food, poop, etc. that left to rot (or pile up inside a canister) turn into nitrate.
