Nitrates

[prostreet69camaro]

I am not new to aquariums but I have always had a problem with brown alqae. Also read alot of post on this site and the internet. I would like to get some of your suggetions.

My aguarium has about 20 fish in it and its a 58 gallon tank. Here is a picture.



So I redid my tank. Got rid of the small peebles and put in cichlid sand. Thouroghly cleaned the tank. Added flat rock. I have a fluval 306 with the media that came with the filter. Also have a powerhead. I also replaced the light bulb and put a timer on the light for it to be on 8 hours a day. I was leaving it on all day.

I have been doing 50 percent water change about every 2 weeks due to I work offshore and gone for 14 days. If I could get my wife to do it when I am gone that would be great but it aint happening. I tested my house water and it had no nitrates.

The nitrates were at 160 and I did the water change and checked the next day and they were at 80. I also added the API nitrate bags to the filter that they suggeted. I did not change the charcoal bags or ammonia pellets. When I cleaned the filter it was 5 weeks in the works and had a lot of brown which looked like food.

When should I change the ammonia pellets and charcoal bags?

Dirty tank with brown algae just starting. 5 weeks after new setup.





So give your suggestions. Sorry the post is so long.

[40GallonsOfDoom]

What do you use during water changes? I would suggest Prime if you arent using it already.

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Nitrates

Have you tested the water coming out of your taps? I wonder if there's nitrates in it already?

[40GallonsOfDoom]

Have you tested the water coming out of your taps? I wonder if there's nitrates in it already?

Yes he did. No nitrates.

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Nitrates

Right, missed that sentence. Oops

[SunnyHouTX]

Re: Nitrates

What's feeding like while you're gone? I'm amazed nitrates get that high

[Andrew_B]

test your tap water for ammonia. You have chloramines in your tap that has a form of ammonia. Bio cycle breaks down ammonia and ultimately raises nitrates in your water. So when you do WCs, you're taking out nitrates but re-introducing them

[40GallonsOfDoom]

It might be helpful to know all the chems etc you use. Also if those are real plants or not.

[troy tucker]

Could you be over feeding? do you have Live plants? What fish do you have? anything that eats algea?

[mnemenoi]

My guess is a tough water change schedule and likely some amount of overfeeding. When we water change our Tanganyikan tank we WC as much as possible (75%) and keep doing it every 2 days until you can drop it and see a significant reduction.

I could possibly understand the Nitrate bags, but really water change is more effective and the spoace in the filter would be more effective as biological filtration IMO. Charcoal and Ammonia pellets? Are you having issues with chemicals? I'd ditch both. They are for chemical filtration (think medication) and essentially just absorb Nitrates. As the Nitrates lower in the water column they leach out and raise it again. Again, I'd stick more biological filtration in the canister and not use it unless you have something your specifically targeting for chemical removal. Purigen is useful for pulling tannins and polishing the water.

Diatom algae is caused from a variety of sources. Low Light (even ambient room light), excess Silica, High Nitrates, ect. Another thing you could do to possibly lower your Nitrates minimally is add some Anubias and Java Fern. They are not a very effective strategy, but do help a bit. I very good water change while stirring up the brown algae over a few days can help. Adding a water polisher (Magnum HOT) can help as well. Usually green algae will outcompete the brown, but in Rift lake tanks the Aragonite subtrate and Holy Rock can cuase blooms occasionally. I can say once the Nitrates are better controlled it should get far better.

Hope it works out and I know the feeling of working offshore (I work a 14/14 as well), and do not know what I'd do without my lovely better half doing all the real work on our tanks. I certainly appreciate all her hard work and she is truly the person who keeps our tanks looking pristine.

[LooksLater]

Those charcoal bags should be changed out every time you come onshore. They do absorb nasties from the water but after they are saturated, they can actually become a nitrate sink- and start dumping them back in the water. This is why a lot of people thi the hobby rarely use charcoal...it's usefulness is limited, and can actually make things worse if it's not changed out regularly.

I'd also suggest using Prime, if you aren't already. IMO it's the best dechlor on the market.
Definitely watch feeding, try to cut back as much as possible.
Annubias and corkscrew val tolerate the high pH, if your fish will tolerate the plants that'll help soak up nitrates while you're gone.
Try to do a W/C right when you get home, and right before you leave. (My hubby's an offshore fellow as well- I eventually started doing water changes, and got sucked into the hobby...keep trying her! Hahhaha, ^^^^^there's my hubby now.)
Hope that helps!

[LooksLater]

Hope it works out and I know the feeling of working offshore (I work a 14/14 as well), and do not know what I'd do without my lovely better half doing all the real work on our tanks. I certainly appreciate all her hard work and she is truly the person who keeps our tanks looking pristine.

...And thank you, honey.

[40GallonsOfDoom]

You guys do water changes every 2 weeks? That seems like a lot.

[LooksLater]

Re: Nitrates

You guys do water changes every 2 weeks? That seems like a lot.

Us? Every week, actually. Though Suki's tank and the Tanganyikans are the only ones to get 50% or more. They're overstocked.

Sent from my C5155 using Tapatalk 2

[rage]

There are many good advices in this thread, I would combine and try to apply them all.

I would also try to reboot the tank anew and start with close to 0 nitrate as I can. It means changing out 100% water. Cichlids are tough, they can put up with changes very well. Just make sure to get the temperature up to close to normal and do not kill the bacterias currently present in your filter.
After that you can try to pinpoint the source that raises your nitrate.