curious on tank levels

Question
Hi Karen,
I currently have 2 Red bellied pacu, a synadonis catfish, and one Pleco in a 300 gallon tank.  I am having a slight issue with cloudy water and have been taken 20% out every other day. I tested the water and my PH is at 6.2 Ammonia at 0 and the Nitrate is at 0.2, is there something I can do to get the PH up a little and the Nitrate down?  When adding water I add a additive to make my tap water safe for the fish.

Answer
Hi Amy,
Do you mean 'Nitrite' when you say nitrate? If your 'nitrate' readings are 0.2 there is nothing wrong with that. But if your 'nitrite' readings are 0.2 then there is a problem with your biofilter or your bacteria colony. They either aren't established enough yet to take care of the waste load of the pacus and catfish, especially if the tank is new. Or their population has been depleted due to a water chemistry change or use of chemicals other than water conditioner in the tank.

The pH level is kinda low. And I would check my tap water's pH to make sure the tank's low pH isn't due to dissolved organics producing acidic compounds and therefore lowering the pH. If water changes aren't done frequently enough, pH will naturally drop over time. With big polluters like you have, this is a highly likely problem.

You might need to do a bit larger water changes to have more an impact on the cloudy water issue (a bacterial bloom due to too many dissolved nutrients/pollution) and continue them for quite a well until your tank's environment stabilizes better.

Best of luck!
Karen~