hi I was wondering why my nitrate so high even after water change? I got 2 110HOB and 1 fx6. I clean one of my Hob every water change and my fx6 every 5 month. I only got 1 fish and only feed it once a week. any idea? my tank is a 125g tank
Your details are very sketchy. You'll get a lot more questions than answers. For starters though you need to test your tap water for nitrate, that would be a good starting point.
I'm curious what size fish you have in your 125 to warrant only one feeding per week too.
If its true he has a jardini that he feeds tilapia to as it wont eat pellets. But wow that question is very vague.
Like said above how often are w/c done? Whats nitrate of your tap? How high is high? How old is the test kit? If there is enough junk in the canister it could be contributing to the nitrate problem. I think 5 months is too long, at least every 6 weeks is ideal.
A canister cleaned only once every 5 months becomes a nitrate factory, the buildup of gunk in the can that metabolizes, produces nitrate. (one of the reasons I stopped using cans).
From TFM:
Laxness in cleaning filters often underlies high nitrate levels. Remember that the media in the filter merely trap wastes, food particles, and detritus. Until you clean or replace the media, the dirt is simply out of sight, but it’s still adding to the nitrate load of the water.
Best way to put it is how often do you empty your trash can? Small can daily, medium can weekly, large can monthly, but man the smell from the monthly large can would kill a horse! Same idea with canister filters. You put trash in you gotta take trash out. Too long and dead horses man...
nitrates dictate water changes, if nitrate is 20, do a 90% or fin level water change, this will not hurt your fish. that is the most basic and most important part of keeping fish.
That being said, tank size, fish size need to be known to help you further.