Hello! I am completely baffled... I have a 75g freshwater aquarium with one Fluval C4 HOB filter and one Fluval 406 canister. My nitrates are through the roof (160ppm) no matter what I do... They have been this high for months and months... maybe a year.
After attempting the normal stuff to reduce nitrates like filter maintenance, big water changes, chemical filter media (Purigen), etc, I decided to go extreme.
I did 50% water changes for 3 days in a row with EXTENSIVE substrate vacuuming. No change (in nitrate levels). I cleaned and changed filter media in my Fluval C4. No change. I removed all substrate and replaced with gravel along with two water changes in same day (over 50%). No change. I changed all filter pads and extensively cleaned Fluval 406 (kept Seachem Matrix bio media). No change. I did another 50% water change. Still no change in nitrate level.
The tank looks crystal clear perfect. The fish are doing excellent (despite all those drastic changes). I am struggling to get the nitrates under control as I don't want to have the algae problem I have been dealing with in the past.
I have Seiryu stone (or maybe Ying Stone) in the tank... I didn't think stones could leach nitrates?? Could it possibly be the stone? Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!
After attempting the normal stuff to reduce nitrates like filter maintenance, big water changes, chemical filter media (Purigen), etc, I decided to go extreme.
I did 50% water changes for 3 days in a row with EXTENSIVE substrate vacuuming. No change (in nitrate levels). I cleaned and changed filter media in my Fluval C4. No change. I removed all substrate and replaced with gravel along with two water changes in same day (over 50%). No change. I changed all filter pads and extensively cleaned Fluval 406 (kept Seachem Matrix bio media). No change. I did another 50% water change. Still no change in nitrate level.
The tank looks crystal clear perfect. The fish are doing excellent (despite all those drastic changes). I am struggling to get the nitrates under control as I don't want to have the algae problem I have been dealing with in the past.
I have Seiryu stone (or maybe Ying Stone) in the tank... I didn't think stones could leach nitrates?? Could it possibly be the stone? Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!