stumped

[troubleinlittle]

so i recently got back into the hobby of fish tanks. had great inital water tests and started my aquarium.
to say the least the nitrates are off the charts and the only thing living still is a plecostimus. i currently added two live aquarium plants to see if this assists in the nitrates removal.

things ive tried , 100 % water change, thorough rock rinse and vacuum, adding bacteria as prescribed to no changes, using "prime concentrated conditioner for marine and freshwater". bought a whole new water filter system , added two blubbers running on a 40 gallon aquarium pump. lowering the water temps down to 72.4 degrees. partial water changes to no success. i just cant figure out what in the aquarium is causing the nitrates to blow up...

any and all input would be welcome, and as i understand their are no stupid questions were all learning here.

thank you to all and lets dig in to the situation

 

[briang384]

so i recently got back into the hobby of fish tanks. had great inital water tests and started my aquarium.
to say the least the nitrates are off the charts and the only thing living still is a plecostimus. i currently added two live aquarium plants to see if this assists in the nitrates removal.

things ive tried , 100 % water change, thorough rock rinse and vacuum, adding bacteria as prescribed to no changes, using "prime concentrated conditioner for marine and freshwater". bought a whole new water filter system , added two blubbers running on a 40 gallon aquarium pump. lowering the water temps down to 72.4 degrees. partial water changes to no success. i just cant figure out what in the aquarium is causing the nitrates to blow up...

any and all input would be welcome, and as i understand their are no stupid questions were all learning here.

thank you to all and lets dig in to the situation

What kind of filter do you have??What kind of media are you using??

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[Nixy]

Ffaf


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[troubleinlittle]

well rocks, i forget the filter but its a tetra whisper 10-30 (new one) , a light house , some larger rocks, dont know the plant names , if i could attach a picture might make it easier to show the media in the aquarium. dont remember the plant names exactly, one is live and is a fern( put in tank yesterday) and the othe ronly grows 4 inches in height and is kinda bean sprout like ( installed yesterday) the 40 gallon bubbler i dont recalll the name of but it can run dual hose out of the pump it has a heater by top fin. was a top fin 20 gallon filter, switched to above a week ago. a smaller tree like figure . and a couple fake plants in various height.

 

[troubleinlittle]

i know this is a saltwater forum, didnt realize that right away, i figure you guys may know more about fixing the issue of nitrates better than me trying to resolve in a freshwaterr tank. all input welcome... i really want help with this as im stumped.

 

[Jon0807]

i know this is a saltwater forum, didnt realize that right away, i figure you guys may know more about fixing the issue of nitrates better than me trying to resolve in a freshwaterr tank. all input welcome... i really want help with this as im stumped.

That is some very critical information that needed to be said at the beginning. That said, we also need more information. How long has the tank been running? How did you cycle it? Did you test for ammonia and nitrites? What do they test at now? Exactly what is your nitrates testing at?

 

[troubleinlittle]

That is some very critical information that needed to be said at the beginning. That said, we also need more information. How long has the tank been running? How did you cycle it? Did you test for ammonia and nitrites? What do they test at now? Exactly what is your nitrates testing at?

yes numbers read 80 nitrites, 10.0 nitrates, 150 water hardness,80 alkalinity,p.h 6.8, about three weeks the tank has been runnning, i have to siphon hose the tank to cycle the water, the siphon hose tumbles the rocks to clean the rocks, when i did the full water change i completely siphoned the tank dry, rinsed the rocks thouroughly , testing the tap water before putting into the tank finding safe levels across the board for water perfection, i filled the 20 gallon tank to the top line of the water heater , letting things settle , to test again finding the nitrates went through the roof, after being at safe levels outside of the aquarium. the only things alive in the tank are a plecostimus, and two plants. and my apologies for not giving enough data.

 

[troubleinlittle]

nitrites are 10.0, the nitrates are the other number according to the bottle readings.

 

[Reefpuck]

Pleco is a freshwater fish.

Might want to do some general reading on some of the stickies in this forum.

Lot of unknowns here.

 

[homer1475]

Sounds like an uncycled tank.

I think some general reading about how to cycle a tank are in order(FW or marine the process is still pretty much the same).

You don't mention an ammonia level? Nitrogen cycle goes Ammonia - Nitrite - Nitrate - nitrogen gas, but we usually do water changes to rid the system of nitrates because the conversion to gas is slow and most times does not keep up with the production of nitrates.

 

[VoltzNSalt]

Sounds like an uncycled tank.

Agreed...

 

[ReeferNoob4ever]

How long has the tank been up? Are you sure your testing equipment and techniques are sound?