# cant get nitrate under 20ppm



## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

hi i have got a bit of a nitrate spike at the moment nitrate jumped up to 80 ppm with in a few days so i done a 25% waterchange and gravel vac like normal re tested the water the next day nitrate was still at 40ppm so i done a 50% water change and cleaned the filter media and another gravel vac. when i tested the water the next day it was at 20ppm so i done a 25% water change i re tested the water today and its still at 20ppm. should i do a nother 50% water change ? was wondering if this could be a stocking problem i have a 
30us gal tank 
aquaone 750 cannister filter 
4 x 4" cyrtocara moorii 
2 x 3" yellow labs

i feed twice a day for 30 seconds and net up any food left straight away .


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Test your tap water. Your tank is extremely overstocked.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

tap water 5ppm ! wat would be a good stocking level want to keep cyrtocara only tank have been meaning to take yellow labs back just havent got round to it yet


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Add some plants to help soak up nitrates and just keep doing water changes weekly. Larger water changes work better than multiple small ones - prove this to yourself by doing the math. I'm guessing that your second nitrate reading after your reading (the one that was 25% when nitrate was 80ppm) was a mistake since removing 1/4 of your water won't reduce your nitrate by 50%.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

yes was mistake. should be the other way round 50% and then 25% .


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

fish man chan said:


> tap water 5ppm ! wat would be a good stocking level want to keep cyrtocara only tank have been meaning to take yellow labs back just havent got round to it yet


You can't keep cytocara in a 30 gallon tank. You can keep yellow labs.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

its just a grow tank till end april when a order me new one 60x24x18 90 gal


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

That tank is still quite small.


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

fish man chan said:


> yes was mistake. should be the other way round 50% and then 25% .


That makes more sense. It's really hard to keep a small tank in line with a big bioload though. Plants help but they aren't a long time solution. Glad you're getting a bigger tank for the fish you have.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

it is two small going to take the yellow labs and one cyrtocara back add some plants hope fully that should be ok til a get my new tank. i didnt no they were cyrtocara when a got them am new to cichlids and there are so many types out there. i have tried to vent cyrtocara think i have 2 male 2 female so will just take one male back .


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Can you go bigger than 60" when you get your new tank? Those Blue Dolphins are going to be big fish when they grow up - up to 9". A fish like that needs a lot of room so as not to feel cramped.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

no i cant go any bigger as i live in a upstairs flat and i dont own the flat so am not going pay for the floor boards to be reinforced its a shame as i would love to get a bigger tank than i am.


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Then I hate to say it but I think you should take the blue dolphins back and keep the labs.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

minium tank size for dolphins is 4 foot , 5 is beta ,6,is ideal. i feel a 5 foot tank is ok for 3/4 dolphins not perfect but how many things in life are perfect realy ?


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## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

You can get a 100g tank 72" long and the extra weight would be negligible. Besides depending on where the tank is located the floor can probably hold a lot more than you think.


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

you don't need to feed your fish that much feed less


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

a tank in the uk witch is the size of the one i think u mean is 72"x24"x18"= 118uk gal / 141 us gal 
the tank i want is 60"x24"x18" / 79 uk gal /94 us gal so theres not alot of diferance 
i couldant find any tanks 83 uk gal / 100 us gal and 72" long in the uk 
could u post the lxhxw u mean ?


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## b3w4r3 (Dec 14, 2012)

Mine is 72"x17"x21" high. I got it back in 98 but I think it's a pretty common size here in the US.


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## fish man chan (Feb 6, 2013)

ah see where u comeing from floor would probly be ok with that size . but 72" in the uk is difrent with the tank, stand, lid, water, rock ect is over half a tone 500+ kg and the floor just wont take that long term in a upstairs flat in the uk.i have been told off a friend who is a builder 500+ plus kg i would need the floor beams rienforced witch costs £2,000 plus uk pounds with the new setup ie:tank, stand,filters, ect are £1,500 when u add it up £3,500 pound =$5,432 us dollar just to much


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