Please Help - Nitrates too high? Fish are dying ...

missnikki

missnikki

Medium Fish
#1
Feb 13, 2011
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#1
55 gallon freshwater approx 20 fish living in tank.

Did a filter change yesterday and fish had already been looking sickly ... also did 25 % water change ... just tested with my test strips and all other stats are fine, only Nitrates are too high at around 200. (PH 6.5ish - it usually hovers between 6.5-7 PH) Lost two rummy noses - one yesterday, and one today.

One of my sharks looks like he is trying to get out of the tank, and one looks like some scales on its face are coming off ... I thot PH might be bad, but I tested and it's at 6.5. Sharks are definitley most irritated out of all the fish.


Any ideas? How do I lower the Nitrates a bit??
 

missnikki

missnikki

Medium Fish
#7
Feb 13, 2011
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#7
Water changes daily until symptoms dissappear? There's nothing on my test strips for ammonia ... just PH, nitrites, nitrates, carbonate, general hardness ...
 

missnikki

missnikki

Medium Fish
#8
Feb 13, 2011
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#8
Last night when I did the water change, I put tap water solution in, but I think I may have put a little bit too much - if that's the case, should the water changes still help? Or could that raise the ammonia too ?
 

Purple

Purple

Superstar Fish
#9
Oct 31, 2003
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Hampshire UK
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#9
It does sound like you have a mini-cycle going on, and that the ammonia reading will be through the roof

Next time only change one filter at a time - give it a few weeks before you change the other one

All you can do for now is stop feeding and keep changing water - 50% at a time at least once a day - make sure there is no uneaten food in the tank but don't stir things up trying to find it - just what you can see.

Tap water isn't the best, but it won't hurt half as much as the situation you have going on in there right now. Fresh tap water should be pretty much neutral, and will lower any chemical levels you have going on, so it's good to change a lot and often in a situation like this. If you put a tap water conditioner in and over did it, a 50% water change with no conditioner should help.

I'm afraid you are going to loose more fish before this is over, but hang on in there and keep posting what's going on
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#10
Jun 2, 2010
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Yelm, WA
#10
The most important things to be testing for are ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and a liquid test kit is best because in the long run it is cheaper. The strips according so some, can work, but they are hard to keep accurate for the very reason of the humidity. It is inevitable that your hands are wet when you remove them or some fall on the counter or the vial gets left open - at any rate it gets contaminated. A liquid test kit even with multiple tanks lasted me a year and it was the test liquid for ammonia that I use up.
 

aakaakaak

aakaakaak

Superstar Fish
#11
Sep 9, 2010
1,324
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Chesapeake, Virginia
#11
Nikki, you never did get that liquid test kit we suggested you get, did you?

My suspicions would be either a mini-cycle or you forgot the dechlorinator, or the water you're adding has changed at the tap. You need to know for sure what you're looking at in your water. Take your water to someone with liquid test kits and buy one when you can.

In the future please don't change both filters and do a water change at the same time. You increase your risk of breaking your cycle.
 

nanu156

nanu156

Large Fish
#12
Mar 8, 2010
745
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Detroit, Mi
#12
I would do 50%am and 50% pm until you get your hands on ammonia test kits once you have those test your levels and post them we will tell you what to do from there.

When i syphon out of my tanks I take the end of the syphon and put it into a garden hose (just jam it in there a good 6"+) then run the hose right outside, that way I don't have to do so many buckets. :)
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#13
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
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Vancouver, British Columbia
#13
nanu156 said:
I would do 50%am and 50% pm until you get your hands on ammonia test kits once you have those test your levels and post them we will tell you what to do from there.

When i syphon out of my tanks I take the end of the syphon and put it into a garden hose (just jam it in there a good 6"+) then run the hose right outside, that way I don't have to do so many buckets. :)
Click to expand...
Only do that if you are sure you won't accidentally siphon a fish lol . . . . .I've siphoned fish before - my tetras are particularly spazzy . . . .
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#14
Jun 2, 2010
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Yelm, WA
#14
Thank you Nanu!! I think you just solved my bucketing problem. I have 6 tanks and no longer the ball of fire I was in my younger days. I think I can cut a "tiny" hole in the screen - hubby will never notice! Problem solved!
 

nanu156

nanu156

Large Fish
#15
Mar 8, 2010
745
0
0
Detroit, Mi
#15
the syphon I have has a plastic screen/fish saver over the hose part where the hose attaches to the syphon. Got it at walmart... cheapie... the hose on my syphon is just a tad smaller then the garden hose so it jams in there pretty securely, I tie a dish towel around the place where the two meet to catch any drips. If you need to do a really great gravel vac this isn't the best choice (I find the garden hose cumbersome), if you are just changing water it works really well.

I believe home depot sells the hose for syphons by the foot if you wanted to just replace the hose from the syphon all together with something longer, this link is for a 20'er but i bet with some searching you could find one that is 50' or longer. Watts 7/16 in. OD x 5/16 in. ID x 20 ft. PVC Tubing - SVHF20 at The Home Depot

Just take your syphon with you to the store so you can check the fit :)
 

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