lowering nitrate levels

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Yes, media in 110's were brand new and i cleaned the bio balls off before I added them. I may just have to keep doing water changes until the nitrates get down unless there is a better idea. I guess I dont understand why there are so many bio balls when the water only trickles over the middle of them. This pic may help with what it looks like. Once the tank is cycled what is the proper way to maintain the wet/dry filter?

filter.jpg

filter.jpg
 
finally got my water parameters, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, roughly 50 nitrates, and ph roughly 7.1. I did a 50% water change and got the nitrates down from over 100 to approx 50 now. I cleaned my filter pads in the wet/dry filter which was dirty which could have been causing the nitrates. Bio balls are free of gunk and seem ok. Should I just keep doing water changes until I get a steady level of nitrates under 20 or so? Is this part of allowing my tank to cycle properly? My fish seem fine just the bass isnt eating like a typical Pbass does by filling his whole mouth up. Hopefully I am getting somewhere. Any info will help! thanks!
 
ksmith088 said:
finally got my water parameters, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, roughly 50 nitrates, and ph roughly 7.1. I did a 50% water change and got the nitrates down from over 100 to approx 50 now. I cleaned my filter pads in the wet/dry filter which was dirty which could have been causing the nitrates. Bio balls are free of gunk and seem ok. Should I just keep doing water changes until I get a steady level of nitrates under 20 or so? Is this part of allowing my tank to cycle properly? My fish seem fine just the bass isnt eating like a typical Pbass does by filling his whole mouth up. Hopefully I am getting somewhere. Any info will help! thanks!
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whatever you do, dont clean the bioballs. this is where the good bacteria lives. They will get a litle dingy looking, but as long as your keep up with the filter pads in the wet dry you shouldnt have any issues with crazy nitrate levels caused by the bioballs. I also have a 220 and I run a 55g sump with bioballs and love them. Even with fresh filter pads is the water still only partially covering the balls with water? it should fairly evenly distribute the water across all of them. how big of a pump do you have? not enough water volume across the drip tray could result in the water only going down the middle of the tray I guess.
 
I actually just took a look where the water drips down and the water is evenly dripping across all the bio balls. Would it be wise for me to get ride of the gravel and go to a sand bottom?
 
really just depends on what you prefer. both have their pro's and con's. I have switched to PFS and now I run it in all my tanks!

But just out of curiosity wht pump are you running?
 
To be honest I am not sure. I got the whole entire set up off craigs list for a total of 300 hundred dollars including tank, stand, pump, filters, lights, etc. Pretty much everything. Here are some pictures if it helps you determine what I have. I have always used power filters and have zero experience with wet/dry. pump 1.jpgpump label.jpg

pump 1.jpg

pump label.jpg
 
I would not change from gravel to sand AT THIS TIME. Once your tank has established a good bacteria colony in a few weeks, you can then start removing some of the gravel during your water changes.

Do you have a ball valve on the output of the pump? If so, I recommend using the output ball valve to control the flow from the pump.
You should never use the intake ball valve to control the flow of water INTO the pump as it is possible to 'starve' the pump of sufficient water.

As long as your Nitrate level is below 50ppm, you should be OK. Do you have any live plants in the tank?
 
Thanks for the input! I do not have a ball valve on the output of the pump. I will stop using the intake ball valve to control water flow though. Should I even worry about controling the flow into the tank. Seemed the more flow would mean more water circulating. I do not have live plants because I was told the fish I have would eat them. Pbass and Gar. I have read that plants do lower nitrate levels though. Any plants you would recommend that would work in sand well? I am going to eventually switch over to PFS instead of the gravel for the low maintance. I also noticed my bass doesnt eat as well since I switched to gravel.
 
Too many things you need to learn to put in one post. Read the stickies on cycling, filters, etc... There's a lot of good information in there.
 
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