rosebud

hello my 50 gallon tank has now been cycled for almost 1and half months but my reading for nitrates is on the high side and i cant seem to get it lower than 40 my ammo and my nitrites are both at 0 any ideas .......

Butterfly

What do you have in this tank? Any live plants? How often do you vacuum and do water changes. Daily 25% water changes will help take the Nitrates down.

griffin

also, what's the readings for nitrates in your water source?

tan.b

i'd suggest some live plants as they use up nitrates. any algae? there's a high chance your high nitrates may encourage algae if you've good lighting. keep an eye on that. is your tank overstocked? more than 1inch of fish per gallon of water can push up the nitrates. keep doing 50% daily water changes til they are back below 20. of course checking the water out of your tap isnt high in nitrate or the water changes will make no dif at all!! have you plecos in there or gold fish? fish with a high body mass like these are high waste producers and therefore will produce high nitrates. let us know how you're doing in your battle with the nitrates...

rosebud

thanks for the input yes i have a couple of live plant in there ... don't think i am over stocked i have
4 female guppies =8
1 upside down catfish=5
4 black phamtons= 8
1 female dwarf gourami= 3 ( which only went in last night due to spawning with male in big tank)
total of 24 ...........
i have 2 other tanks one which is almost finished its cycle the hospital tank (10 gallons) and a big tank running for almost 2 months (86 gallons) nitrates seem fine on the big tank in between 10 and 20 i would say.......
i have vacuum this tank only 3 times since it has cycled the 3rd being only yesterday but still no change in the nitrates.i have been doing water changes every 2 days for the last week about 30%...... could it be that it is a small tank and they are harder to maintain (someone had said this to me).....

tan.b

a 50gal isnt that small so it should remain quite stable. is there anything decaying in it like a vanished fish or dead plants? any leftover food (do they finish their feed in 2-3 mins?). failing that i guess it just means lots of water changes to reduce it . what test kit are you using? the strips are known to be inaccurate. if using liquids....are they in date and are you shaking them well before use and following the instructions EXACTLY. if it says shake bottle for 1min, do just that. i'm clutching at straws really to find a reason so suggesting things i'm sure you've checked already....but worth mentioning anyway!! i like to have a ramble once in a while!! did you check the tap water at the tap to ensure your tap water isnt naturally high in nitrates?

giordanopg

I'm having a similar problem.

http://www.fishlore.com/Forum/index....3645#msg113645

Thanks for the advice.