Thorichthys Meeki, Thorichthys Maculipinnis & Hypsophrys Nicaraguensis progression thread

MarvGT

Candiru
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Jan 27, 2014
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No problem, most likely female. Some thorichthys species in the helleri group can be sexed that way. This mixteco blue (or whatever it’s classified as now) female is an example. You won’t see it in meeki or pasionis.
I agree about the nitrates. That stock shouldn’t produce a huge bio load at their size in that size tank. If I were you I’d get that down. The thorichthys won’t do well w/ nitrates that high. IMO meeki is the only thorichthys that can tolerate nitrates that high.

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Great photos and thanks for the information.

Thanks for the advice C.Breeze that’s definitely more thorough maintenance regime then I have dared previously On the basis I was concerned I was going to destroy the biological bacteria in the filters. I will clean one of the canisters (last cleaned in February) and hope that brings the nitrate down.

thanks all for the advice, I’ll keep you updated on how it is going.

Cheers
 
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Rocksor

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What’s the nitrate from your water source?


thanks TJ. I tested the water on 6th and nitrates were 40ppm. This was 4 days after a water change of 30%. On the 7th I cleared some detritus from the bottom of the tank (still some left over from previous inhabitants and I think mainly small bits of wood coming from the boxwood in the tank). I tested the nitrate again the next day which was 40ppm. My theory is that by moving decor and sand around I have released more nitrate into the water which caused it to still read high. This morning I have completed a 50% water change and expected to see a big drop in nitrate but test still shows around 30-35 ppm.

In a couple of days I will remove some more decor, try and remove the remaining detritus which is collecting in the hard to reach areas of the tank and check one of the FX6’s sponges as I’m guessing that’s holding a lot of the nitrate.

I have always struggled to know how to keep the right balance between keeping nitrate down in a canister filter and destroying the biological bacteria. I generally just take the trays out a couple of times a year, clean the sponges with tank water and rinse through the biological media without moving it.

Is this enough? Anybody who uses canister filters and able to keep their nitrates down to acceptable levels consistently that could give me some advice?

Many Thanks
I clean each of my canisters every 3 months and at least 1month apart from each other. I rinse my filter pads in tank water and squeeze repeatedly them to remove the detritus. Basically the pad becomes it’s natural color again instead of brown. I rinse my ceramic media to remove the detritus in between. My canister prefilters get rinsed once a week. I’m able to keep nitrates below 20ppm, and never had a mini cycle in the last 10 years or do doing that
 
Last edited:

MarvGT

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2014
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United Kingdom
What’s the nitrate from your water source?




I clean each of my canisters every 3 months and at least 1month apart from each other. I rinse my filter pads in tank water and squeeze repeatedly them to remove the detritus. Basically the pad becomes it’s natural color again instead of brown. I rinse my ceramic media to remove the detritus in between. My canister prefilters get rinsed once a week. I’m able to keep nitrates below 20ppm, and never had a mini cycle in the last 10 years or do doing that
I haven’t tested recently but recall that nitrate was pretty low straight out the tap. I will do a test to double check though. Thanks for the advice, I’ll let you all know how it goes.
 

Toiletcar

Goliath Tigerfish
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This happened to me before. Couldn’t figure out why my levels were so high. First I had a 3D background trapping unseen waste behind it. Then adjusting how often I clean out my canister. Nitrates were 40ppm w/ the background then 20ppm w/ not cleaning my canister as often as I should have. The result was getting it down to 10ppm. My point is is sometimes it’s all about finding the source of a problem and finding that “sweet spot” in stocking and keeping water params in check.
 

MarvGT

Candiru
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Jan 27, 2014
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Thanks for all your advice everyone. I cleaned out one of the FX6’s and cleaned sponges, trays and canister with tank water and replaced approx 50% of the water. I was surprised how much had built up in a relatively short amount of time.

So using the API Nitrate test kit I tested 3 water samples expecting to see a big contrast between them. I’ve posted a picture below. From right to left, tank water after filter and water change, tap water and finally tank water before filter clean and water change.

As you can see there isn’t much difference at all. Although photo doesn’t show too well the first two from left to right were quite similar maybe around 20-30ppm and far right around 40ppm. I’d be quite surprised if this was accurate as that seems extremely high nitrate straight from the tap for my area. Is API that accurate or should I be looking for a different brand of test kit And if so what do you recommend?

thanks again

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MarvGT

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2014
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United Kingdom
Thanks for all your advice everyone. I cleaned out one of the FX6’s and cleaned sponges, trays and canister with tank water and replaced approx 50% of the water. I was surprised how much had built up in a relatively short amount of time.

So using the API Nitrate test kit I tested 3 water samples expecting to see a big contrast between them. I’ve posted a picture below. From right to left, tank water after filter and water change, tap water and finally tank water before filter clean and water change.

As you can see there isn’t much difference at all. Although photo doesn’t show too well the first two from left to right were quite similar maybe around 20-30ppm and far right around 40ppm. I’d be quite surprised if this was accurate as that seems extremely high nitrate straight from the tap for my area. Is API that accurate or should I be looking for a different brand of test kit And if so what do you recommend?

thanks again

View attachment 1460169
sorry I got that wrong, far left = after w/c, middle = tap and far right = before w/c
 

Rocksor

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Nov 28, 2011
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Thanks for all your advice everyone. I cleaned out one of the FX6’s and cleaned sponges, trays and canister with tank water and replaced approx 50% of the water. I was surprised how much had built up in a relatively short amount of time.

So using the API Nitrate test kit I tested 3 water samples expecting to see a big contrast between them. I’ve posted a picture below. From right to left, tank water after filter and water change, tap water and finally tank water before filter clean and water change.

As you can see there isn’t much difference at all. Although photo doesn’t show too well the first two from left to right were quite similar maybe around 20-30ppm and far right around 40ppm. I’d be quite surprised if this was accurate as that seems extremely high nitrate straight from the tap for my area. Is API that accurate or should I be looking for a different brand of test kit And if so what do you recommend?

thanks again

View attachment 1460169
is your water source near farmland? Runoffs from agriculture into the water source will cause higher nitrate readings. This is not the same test used for drinking water (nitrate-nitrogen).

I just noticed that you are from the UK. It's not unusual for areas of the UK to show these nitrate readings.
 

MarvGT

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2014
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United Kingdom
So I live on in the main town on an island in the UK. I googled some info and found a 2019 report from the water board and apparently Nitrate levels are between 3.6 and 30.8 NO3/L and a quick look at my catchment area it looks like I could be at the upper end of that reading.

was thinking about the salifert nitrate test kit to use a comparison, anybody recommend these at all?
 

MarvGT

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 27, 2014
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United Kingdom
Hi all, I thought I’d give you an update on the nitrate situation and show you some progress so far.

So, I went ahead and bought the salifert nitrate test and tested my tank water a couple of days after the last w/c which read 15-20ppm, I compared this to the API test which showed 30+ppm. I also tested my tap water on the Salifert and it showed around 15ppm.

Yesterday I tested the tank, 6 days after the last water change and it was showing 25ppm. I completed a 50% w/c today and the parameters were as followed:

Temperature - 25.9°C

Nitrate - 5-10ppm

Nitrite - 0ppm

Ammonia - 0ppm

PH - 7.5

so hopefully this means I have the nitrates under control now and the tank water certainly looks very clear and the fish seem healthy and are growing and starting to show some color.

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