Nitrates Dandgerously High!! PLS HELP!

[borat]

hi guys,just wondering if any body could help me? I'm really worried about my fish! I have an 8by2by2 240by60by60tank 1000ltrs with two 45cm giant gouramis, and eight 10cm tinfoil barbs. The problem is the nitrate. I use the api test kit which starts at yellow for zero then it goes orange then red for really high nitrates. Mine is always dangerously in the red all the time. I havent lost any fish but i can tell they are nor growing! I have two fluval fx5's running full of noodles! No ammonia or nitrite. PH just above neutral. Whenever i feed or change water it goes cloudy! Doesnt matter how much or how often i change water, nitrates wont stay down. Yes i bought a new test kit. Am i having a mini cycle because of not enough filtration for such a bio load? Would a large trickle filter filled with bio balls help with bio load so i can do large water changes? PLEASE PLEASE HELP thanx

 

[foldem]

If you are getting nitrates it means that your bio filtration is working. Where abouts in AUS do you live? test your tap water to see what kind of nitrate reading you get.
How often are you doing water changes?

 

[packer43064]

Mine will also go to the red. Just at 40ppm though which isn't that bad. Or do you mean the dark red which is like 80ppm and more.

 

[borat]

Melbourne keysborough. i did man nothin ????? Its the cloudy water thats makin me think about extra trickle???

 

[borat]

Dark red! I change 1/3 every week

 

[FISHY FINGAZ]

you might need more turnover?

 

[jcardona1]

If you are getting nitrates it means that your bio filtration is working. Where abouts in AUS do you live? test your tap water to see what kind of nitrate reading you get.
How often are you doing water changes?

i dont think its accurate to say his bio filtration isnt working. if he has nitrates, its because his bio IS working and is producing nitrates as the by-product.

i would say it means that this tank is lacking maintenance...

 

[foldem]

i dont think its accurate to say his bio filtration isnt working. if he has nitrates, its because his bio IS working and is producing nitrates as the by-product.

i would say it means that this tank is lacking maintenance...

Read my post again ... I said if he is getting nitrate his filtration IS working

 

[foldem]

i think two fx5's should have turn over covered. Maybe it's the big fish producing too much waste... what do you feed and how often ?

 

[TwistedPenguin]

Ok. You've got 2 Giant Gourami that are 1 1/2 ft long, plus 8 Tinfoil Barbs that are 4" long. 240 g 'sounds' like a lot but you've also got a couple of huge fish in there with huge bio-loads. And you're only changing 30% of the water once a week. I've got the same size tank with a 12" Oscar & 10 Clown Loaches and I change 70% of the water once a week. Nitrates get up to 7-8 ppm the day of the water change (I feed a lot). This is just an example for comparison but you've got 2-3 times the bio-load and you're doing less than 1/2 the amount of water change. You tested your tap and it had zero nitrates. Filtration has nothing to do with getting rid of nitrates, good filtration only turns ammonia & nitrites into nitrates. I bet if you start doing 50% water changes twice a week for a few wks your nitrates will start coming down fast. Then after that just do a 70-75% water change once a week. Really-it'll work. (Assuming your water is safe enough that you can do 70% weekly).
That's my take on it.
(Oops, it's '10' Clown Loaches in there, had to correct that).