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hey all,i went to do my fornightly water testing on my tanks,and only in 2 tanks,my nitrates are way upthis happened once b4 but it was ages ago,but they were not this high,and i thought it was just 1 off thing,but all this time later,its happened again,so i went to my lfs and got some algone(the pouches that abosorb the nitrates)and ive got them in properly as it says on the conatainer so lets hope they help,now why is this happening,on these 2 tanks,my filtartion is greatand they are both vacumed once a week,and im always doing wc,also when i went to my lfs to get the algone,the lady said that a waterchange would be good,but all it did was make the nitate level go even higher,and i read in the info sheet(after the wc made them even higher)that many tap water supplys contain nitrate,so it makes it difficult to lower them by doing wc,abviously,this has happened after the wc,but how did they come to be high in the first place,this is what i cant figure out,in my nitrate test kit,the info sheet says that tanks that are not that well looked after,or if the filters arent cleaned out regularly,they usally end up with high nitrates,but as i said above,i look after them well,also ive tested everything else,and all is well,ph 7.0,zero nitrite,zero ammonia,ect,ect,does anyone have any ideas,why they have shot up so fast and so high,also ive havent changed nothing,i done everything as i normally do,feeding,wc,vacuming,genrall upkeep of the tanks,and what bad effects can high nitrates have my fish,in these 2 tanks,its fh,ba,gt,pleco,bnHELP ME PLEASE

Do you rinse the filter in old water every so often?
Cleaning the filter with chorinated water will kill all the good bacteria and may cause a mini cycle.

Also, perhaps you are taking a little too much of the bacteria out of the gravel by vac'ing every single week?
I just do a section and not all at once when I do it.

When my nitrates are high it is usually a signal for me to do a part wc as the water is polluted. After the wc I have retested and the levels are lower. I believe there should always have some small level of nitrates of say 5 as an indication of live water.

Fish are fairly tolerant of nitrates, but I have found they are less tolerant of nitrites or ammonia.

I started this about one Hr ago heavy rainstorm equals a power outage.

Now for your problem. Being in Aust at the moment the local water boards are doing some nasty things to the water to counteract the drought and low water storage's. Also being low and warmer weather some nasties are coming through our water.
Both of these concerns will/can give you a very sudden mini/full cycle extremely quick. These problems kill all the good bacteria in your filter and tank.
That is how it happened to me several years ago and just recently. The first thing I noticed was sudden deaths all scaleless fish, 3 pictus, 1 big CL, all new young Yoyos

The method of fixing this problem is certainly no more water changes as then all you are doing is introducing no of the same problem.

The product I used last time is no longer made but the same company is making Stress Zyme and it works. Double dose it for the first time then follow all instructions carefully. You can also add Melafix this does help in the recovery of the fish.

Now how to stop it getting into your tank is the easy part. A local importer also has the same problem plus many of his clients. The solution is to take the water from the HW service as hot as you can store it till it cools down then add it to the tank. This will kill some of the nasties. I also increased the aeration and since this treatment not a single death and water is now OK.

I hope this helps.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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ahhhhhh,thanx keith once again your the man,i new it was bad advice when the lady at the lfs said to more water changes,as i said after i done that boom it went even higher,well ill grab some stress zyme,and get it in there to,i do have stress coat but no stress zyme,also will high nitrates do any damage to my fish,so far they seem as normall(touchwood),active,,nastyall the normall stuff,my blue acars even layed eggs and hatched fry,right in the middle of the spike,my female fh tooall the fish in these 2 tanks except 3 are all hardy cichlids,but there is 2 bns and 1 large plec,and so far they still seem normallbut i cant stop worrying i love my fish except for my girlfreind and daughter,they are my life,i keep looking at the 2 tanks kicking myself for doing that waterchangeoh and you must be dead right about the water in sydney mate,the clorine smell that is coming from our water is so strong,so i would hate to think what else they have doubled up on?
ok so let check of the list
1,NO MORE WCS,for the mean time anyway.
2,get some stress zyme,double dose it the first time,then folow the instructions CAREFULLY.i also just added a half dose of melifix in the 2 tanks.
3,take my water from the hot tap(for the next wc when my water is back 2 normall),then let it cool down,then add it to my tanks
4,if you say too,i could increase my airation,but i honestly dont rekon ill need to,because in these 2 tanks,i run 2 big round circle airstones in the 55gal,sitting on the gravel,and 29gal,it has 2 of those round cylinder type airstones stuck on the back wall.
so is that all i need to do keith,i just hope i can find a fish store open this close to xmas,well ill let you know how i go,thanx again keith,and to brengun aswell
ps,keith,do you think i should move my water testing to weekly instead of fornightly,i just cant help but think,if i was testing weekly,the nitrates mite not have spiked high like they have,and i could have started treating it earlyer,whatda ya think....

To be honest do as many tests as you want to. I also did a HW change today. I waited 14 days since the last water change and so for everything looks OK.

It took hrs for the water to cool down but for next weeks water change I stored the water today (Sun) ready for next week.
If you want to do a test 24 hrs after the water change and also mid week just to check how it is going.

I hope this works for you.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Is it possible that the nitrates are coming from your tap water? have you tested the tap water to see if there is a nitrate reading?

Also, you keep mentioning that the nitrates are "up"... what does that mean? what range of readings do you normally have and what is the reading getting to ATM?

G_T

Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

I forgot to mention if it is one of those water born nasties you have and is killing all your good bacteria.
As well as the treatments you are doing, it would be advisable to turn off the tank lights (this could help in reducing the stress factor) also reduce the feeding reason being if you have a small amount of good bacteria all you will be doing is increasing the problem.

What happened to me and many others in our general area the tank is actually going through a cycle again.

I hope this makes sense to you.

If it is a chemical coming through the water supply exactly the same thing will happen it could/will kill all your good bacteria.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

if funny you say that keith,i think my tank IS recycling,due to my wc rotine,being a bit much water(i just found out,as it turns out,im killing them by trying to look after them to much im told)and to close together,with the filtration im using,it was to muchi done some reading on the net,that also said, when doing wcs to induce a spawn(i WAS doing that to),not to go over board and do to much,as things like this happen,and i think thats exactly whats happenedplus to back this up theory,i just done a bunch of tests on my tapwater,to my surprise its excellent,excepct for the strong smell of clorine,the ph,is spot on seven,0.0 ammonia,0.0 nitrites,0.0 nitrates,all was fine,so i have to ajust my wc rotine,its gotta be that as my water is....well its great,i was expecting it to be bad,so thanx again keith.
now,gone troppo.on the test kit i use,its a colour card with the small numbers next to the colour,my nitrates,are normally,around,0.3-0.4ppm,the first 2 colours on the card a light yellow,and a really light orange,(if you understand what im describing)and the last time i tested it,they had shot UP to 40ppm,witch is nearlly a dark red,so now do you know what i mean mate?,when i say they are way up,basicly talking in numbers.