[shaun1982]

hey guys

i need help with my small tanks. i have a 55ltr tank what my fish are feeling the effect of nitrates and ammonia..

i did 50% water change already. what else can i do. i lowered the PH for lower the nitrate..

is it really this year taking care and maintaining small tanks. i dont really have these problems with 4ft + tanks. and i do the normal routine of weekly water changes

but these smaller thanks, i have shellies and i do 2 weekly water changes but today i checked the levels and the nitrate is very high. very purple. the ammonia is abit green

i ran out of ammo lock, which i have to try and buy tomorrow. what about nitrates. how else to lower these.

 

[aquaphile]

I may well be wrong here (and I usually am), but irrespective of the tank size, I work on the basis that ammonia and nitrite are only related to adequate fitration and proper cycling, and nitrate is related to the regularity of water changes.

How often is the filtration changing over the water volume per hour?

Cheers

 

[shaun1982]

hi

well the tank has a cannister filter rated at 500 lph..

i should maybe add a internal filter to help

 

[remarkosmoc]

I may well be wrong here (and I usually am), but irrespective of the tank size, I work on the basis that ammonia and nitrite are only related to adequate fitration and proper cycling, and nitrate is related to the regularity of water changes.

And bioload. What is the quantity of stock?

Tank was cycled properly right (I assume so if you have high nitrates)

 

[Chris2500DK]

My guess would be overfeeding, since you get the nitrates the filtration can't be completely bad.

 

[shaun1982]

what do you mean quality of stock?
do you mean the fish

in the tank, i have a pair of Neolamprologus kungweensis

i think it may be over feeding...
the tank was cycled.

in my cannister i have noodles and it looks like pebbles or rocks.. dont know the actual name.

i removed any food lying on the sand and i took 30% water again

i will see what happens

thanks

 

[remarkosmoc]

quantity not quality. I"m wondering if the tank might be overstocked. Overfeeding is certainly a possibility.

 

[Laurel]

If you have food laying on the substrate, you're overfeeding. I feed my shellies twice daily(sometimes once or every 2 days if things get crazy), and there is NEVER any food laying on the substrate.

It sounds like by overfeeding, you're increasing the bioload of your tank and creating problems. I'd stop feeding for a few days, do another water change and only feed your fish what they can consume in 1 minute. You can do this 2-3 times a day if you're worried the fish aren't eating enough, but chances are, they are.

 

[shaun1982]

hi

sorry bout that,
i have a pair in each tank.

i will try that. i will feed them tomorrow..
it looks like they are abit better. my nitrate and ammonia has gone down quiet alot..

i will do another water change later today

 

[shaun1982]

my nitrate and ammonia levels are great now.

but can i ask some advice

for small tanks
other than minimise feeding and weekly water changes what other ways to keep low levels of ammonia and nitrate..

i actually do 2 water changes a week for my shell dwellers but what other ways?

i have a small cannister filter, i added a internal filter just then. does extra filters help cause it holds the good bacteria?

what other ways..

thanks

 

[remarkosmoc]

I would say that water changes while necessary for other reasons, shouldn't be a factor in your bio filtration. That is to say you should be able to maintain zero ammonia and nitrite without the water changes. Extra filtration does help. If you overstock/overfeed in a smaller tank there is less margin for error but other than that there isn't really much difference between managing the nitrogen cycle on a small tank versus a big tank.

If there is one single thing that could be done to give you extra biological capacity, I would say that adding a biowheel to the output of your canister would be beneficial.

 

[shaun1982]

ok thanks..

i looked up what those bio wheels are. they look like hang on filters? you said add a bio wheel to the output of my cannister? do you mean attached to the output nozzle or inside the filter?

i dont think *** ever seen any shop sell those..