Add some bio to the tank, what r u running for filtration?
This tank has been running for a year now, but I have yet to get the ammonia to stay at zero and I do at least one 50% water change per week. I had lot of rocks on the bottom and I took them out because I noticed that they were collecting fish waste that I was not getting then with the gravel vac. I do have sand (3M color quartz) and I try to use a stick and stir it up to get everything out.
I have a Marineland Model 4 sump with my 210 with dual overflows. There are two filter tray stacks and two bio wheels. I have been adding pond stability to get some more bio in there, but I haven't been adding it daily. I do wash my filter trays with tap water which I know some people say not to, but the bio should really be in the bio wheels? That and I only do this about every 6 weeks.
I thought maybe there must be some kind of a problem that I keep having this problem. Nitrite is always zero and my Nitrate fluctuates between 5 and 20 ppm. I think after water changes it goes down to about 5, but I do massive water changes (over 50%) to try and get the ammonia down.
I also have two Marineland Maxi Jet I think 4500 pumps and they are the second fastest pump they sell. I am pumping quite a bit of water.
I have never replaced the fine blue filter media pieces because they seem to clean really well in my sink and turn from the brown to blue again, but I have replaced the coarse filter a few times.
I also use two active carbon pillows to get the Massivore Delight smell out of my water when I feed and also to make the water clearer.
I did just buy a new API kit... so let me try that now and see if it matches my old one.
