160ppm nitrate!!!!

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by Max Chiarella, Dec 31, 2009.

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  1. Max Chiarella

    Max Chiarella Bristle Worm

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    are water changes the only thing i can do???
     
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  3. pecco22

    pecco22 Peppermint Shrimp

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    honestly before anyone can really give you a good answer to that, they will need alot more info about your setup, equipment, stock, water params, and more. so fill us all in on what you have and someone here will be able to point you in the right direction.
     
  4. Max Chiarella

    Max Chiarella Bristle Worm

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    Ok i got a 29g aqua euro USA a pair of clowns an anthias a hawk fish and a diamond goby. and a CUC. my water perams are fine except the nitrate
     
  5. s10lowrider1994

    s10lowrider1994 Feather Duster

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    How old is your tank and what kind of filtration do you have? How often and what are you feeding your fish? I'd recommend a water change at least every other day to bring the levels down.
     
  6. Max Chiarella

    Max Chiarella Bristle Worm

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    bout a year old. and all the filtration is built in
     
  7. s10lowrider1994

    s10lowrider1994 Feather Duster

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    Some of the built in filtration on certain systems can aid in high nitrate levels. We had an Eclipse 15 gallon and the built in filtration was useless, we were cleaning the filters every other day and doing weekly 20% changes just to keep the levels below 20ppm. We upgraded to an Eheim 2236 canister and it brought the levels down to 0 almost immediatly. How often are you doing water changes and cleaning the media in your filter? Also what media are you running?
     
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  9. Max Chiarella

    Max Chiarella Bristle Worm

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    5g water changes every two weeks. i have carbon, bio balls(lol) and porcilin things
     
  10. s10lowrider1994

    s10lowrider1994 Feather Duster

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    When is the last time you cleaned the media? Some of those little porcilin things such as the bio max, substrate pro etc will trap a bunch of gunk and pump your tank full of nitrates. Also you could up the water changes to 5 gallons a week. Is your tank the one that has the built in skimmer?
     
  11. Max Chiarella

    Max Chiarella Bristle Worm

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    no but i do have one but its not set up
     
  12. s10lowrider1994

    s10lowrider1994 Feather Duster

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    The skimmer would help out alot with the nitrates. You should definitly rinse all of the media though if it hasnt been done recently. What are you feeding the fish and how often? Alot of times nitrate spikes are due to over feeding (theres a good thread on here somewhere about the import and export of food and waste and the effects they have on your water)