Nitrates in my 55 g freshwater aquarium?

Question

I have a 55g aquarium with a variety of freshwater fish (about 20).

The nitrate levels are dangerously high. I've vacuumed the aquarium twice in the past week, and added Nitra-Ban three days ago, but, there is NO improvement.

I took the charcoal out of the filter, because I've been medicating the fish, too.

I can tell this is negatively affecting the fish, but, what can I do to improve the situation right now? My tap water tests fine, but the water in the aquarium is nasty.

Should I empty half of the water out of the aquarium?

Thanks so much!

I do have some live plants in the aquarium. This current set-up is not quite a year old. The aquarium, itself, was purchased used, though. I power cleaned it with water only when I bought it.

The fish are tiny, mostly, neons. There is an algae eater and two goldfish. I hate the goldfish (nasty dirty), and they are HUGE, but I don't have anywhere to put them. They are huge ... like six inches from nose to tail... any suggs?

Answer 1

To begin getting control of the problem you will need to remove approximately 25% of the water (50% is too much and will shock the fish even more)

But before doing this you will want to remove any rocks or other "ornamental " items you have placed on the gravel bottom. Then stir the gravel to get up any food and fish waste.
Allow all this to settle back down onto the gravel surface. Then vacuum up this debris while removing only 13 to 14 gallons of water (25% of the water in the tank)
.
Replace with fresh water. (Also replace the filter's element or cartridge and run it as usual)

You will need to perform the above procedure every 3 days until the water is fairly clear after stirring the gravel.

In the meantime, feed the fish less food. Any uneaten food will contribute to spiked nitrate/nitrite/ammonium levels.

Having too many fish in the tank can also produce elevated toxins.
A good rule of thumb is, you should have only 1 inch of fish for every gallon of water in the tank (55 inches of fish in your case. A safer limit would be around 50 inches). Reducing the number of fish will certainly benefit the fish and you.

I hope this will help. Good luck!

Answer 2

Yes, well, do small water changes, like 10% every day for the next 5 days. Doing it all at once can shock the fish,.

How old is your tank? Old tanks can develop what is called Old Tank Syndrome, with dangerously high nitrate levels. In this case, a full tear-down is required, because of the problem lies with the gravel. Although changing the filter sponge / carbon may help, also.

Do you have plants? You could get some, if not, to help regulate. Hygro and Java fern are good for this purpose.

Try getting a few plants and doing daily water changes for a week, then see where you're at.

Answer 3

20 fish is a lot.. especially if they're 2+ inches... The aquarium is telling you have have too much.. reduce your number of fish by giving it away or returning it or get another tank...get rid of the heavy polluters like goldfish, barbs, or pleco. and you need to do drastic change of water... do a 33% water change every 2-3 days... let the new water sit for 2-3 days before adding to the tank.

Answer 4

How high is dangerously high (100+ppm?)

Forget trying chemicals when trying to reduce nitrate levels.

If it were my tank, I'd do an immediate 50% water change and follow up with daily 25% water changes until nitrates were reduced to or below 40ppm.

Once nitrates are down to 40ppm or below, conduct regular weekly 25% water changes.

Answer 5

You could try purchasing some ammo-lock, it adjusts the nitrates so they aren't as dangerous to the fish. You can get at most pet stores.