multiple issues

[mainuh]

maybe someone over here can help me my tank has been up and runnin for about a month now and suddenely started getting cloudy so i started doin w.c. everyother day and now when i test water params. they come back ph7.0 nitrite5.0 natrate 20 ammonia is low any help would be great what could be causing a nitrite spike it has'nt been 24 hours since last water change

 

[Conner]

1. What size is the tank?
2. What kind/how many fish are in the tank?
3. Did you cycle the tank before adding fish?
4. What kind of filter are you using on the tank?

It sounds like your tank never cycled properly. If there are fish in it, then you need to keep doing daily water changes to prevent ammonia or nitrite poisoning, or else move the fish to another tank until this tank gets cycled properly.

 

[fishtank888]

Check to see if your filter is changed out. See if you can get a filter that has those black rock type part of it. Those should take care of the nitrate issue.

As far with extra nitrite in your tank, check to see if you had clean out the rocks for any bio mass that the fish had left behind, if that is the case, then you need to clean that out and flush it. Make sure you don't have too much plants in the tank as well, since if those dies it will produce nitrite as well.

Good luck.

In my tank, I have nothing except a log and a few stone. One LMB and that's it, water is always clear even when the fish feels like being a pooping machine that week. I do w.c. every week, about @25% and this not because the water is dirty, it's just that I am trying to simulate the conditions it came from, the river. Where it came from always has a tide change.

 

[Conner]

There's nothing on the market right now (that I know of) that will remove nitrAtes from an aquarium... the only way to get rid of them is through water changes.

As for nitrites and ammonia, it sounds like his biological filtration hasn't been cycled properly. The numbers are too high for just a mini-cycle, unless he's got it hugely overcrowded or had a large die off.

As for plants, they are great at removing excess nutrients from the water, as long as you keep them alive. Pretty much all you need is enough light and some fish that poop, and there are plenty of plants that would flourish under those conditions.

We really need the information I asked for above to give any real advice...

 

[Toddo]

As far as removing nitrAtes from water, there are several ion exchange resin products available that do the job very well.

I am currently using Rena Bio Chem Zorb and Fluval Lab Grade Nitrate Remover. They exchange nitrate ions for chloride ions to reduce nitrate levels. To reactivate them, you soak them in sodium chloride.

Also, algae scrubbers do a great job of removing nitrates.