ammonia, nitrite, PROBLEMS HELP PLEASE

Question
How do I bring down the Nitrate no.2 in my fish tank? I have a 150 gallon. tank with about 10 fairly large fish I have done about three water changes with in the last 6 days and still cant get the nitrate down everything else is reading good as in 2nd nitrate on test strip is 0 hardness is 150 chlorine is 0 alkalinity is 80 pH is 7.2 The first nitrate on the test strip is the one I'm having trouble with its between 100-200 which is causing a hazy look in my tank...HELP PLEASE Ok I have been waiting for a response from someone else and haven't heard anything back but here is some more info .. I went to the fish store today and purchased some ammonia remover and did as the directions instructed me to do ml per 10 gallons..tested it two hours later and the nitrate is still high I'm still waiting on my ammonia test strips in the mail from drsfostersmith.com website.But I'm sure its also high my nitrate as been lingering between 80-160 I'm really stumped for ideas and cures Which I did forget to add in I did a boo boo that started all this crap which was I changed the filters and vacuumed the gravel in the same day bad move will never do again but I'm running Two dual filters which hang over the back if that is any needed info....I don't know what more to give you and hope to hear something back from you soon I really appreciate the help Thanks in advance


Answer
Hi Michelle,

Ammonia removers aren't going to bring the nitrate down because nitrate isn't ammonia and nothing actually removes anything from your tank except for water changes.

At this point if your nitrate is over 100 you need to do a serious gravel cleaning as you have too much decay sitting around.  You also need to do a large water change, at least 75%.  Just be careful as this will be stressful for your fish.  Make sure the water is conditioned and is the same temp.  You might want to add a little API Stress Coat for the benefit of the fish.  I would also start permanently using a product called Tetra's Easy Balance.  You cannot go 6 months in between water changes like it claims but it does help keep the nitrates to a minimum.

I would also add a Phosphate remover, Fluval makes a good one and these can go in any filter system and I would also add some NitraZorb, you can find this at any pet store.  The phosphate remover and NitraZorb should be considered temporary.  You should never use these long term as you will never know when you are having a real problem.

You will need to do 20% water changes every other day until your level is down to 5-20 ppm, where it should always be.

Changing filter pads and gravel cleaning in the same day did not lead to this.  That may have caused a temp ammonia spike but it would never cause nitrates that high.  Nitrates are the product of broken down waste.  There is far too much waste in the tank.  You either aren't changing pads frequent enough, aren't cleaning the gravel enough or aren't doing frequent enough water changes.  In a 150 with 10 large fish (are you overstocked because this will also do it) you should be doing weekly gravel cleanings and 25% water changes.  You should also be overfiltering your tank.  If you have filters that use disposable cartridges you should insert a Hagen BioMax white rock bag.  This you will never change and never throw away.  This will store the beneficial bacteria that eats ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.  This way when you chuck a cartridge you have the rest of the bacteria still stored in the biomax insert.

Watch your fish during this process.  Nitrates should never be over 20 ppm and this high could cause a multitude of diseases.

Good luck : ) April M.