Hey guys,

I just did a test on my water.

my ph is about 6.4
my nitrates was over 40ppm.

I know these are dangerously high, what can i do to help pull them back down to normal conditions before i buy an Oscar?

Thanks.

what type of fish are you keeping? If it's Oscars, 6.4 is just about perfect. As for your nitrates, don't put them in the same category as ammonia or nitrite. Nitrate is nowhere near as toxic and fish are not going to drop dead just because the nitrate levels get a little bit high. Nitrate has to get very high before it becomes a problem, and even then , a fish would have to be in it for quite a period of time before they'll start dying.

However, nitrate should be kept as low as possible, preferably below 40. If your nitrate levels are soaring then there could be various reasons why this is happening. First of all, is your tank big enough for the fish you have? Are you giving your fish too much food? and finally, the most common reason for high nitrates, Are you carrying out enough water changes?

If you can get back to us, we could probably sort your problem out quite easily

In the tank is 1 convict ciclid, 2 yabbies.

Mmm thats a bit odd, the LFS told me 6.4 was a bit too low and should be at 7.

Ammonia wasnt too bad, neither was nitrites.

I think my dad has been over feeding them. Iv changed the feeding to once every 2 days, and only corn, no more fish.

And with water changes, im a bit unsure of correct procedure, also i havent done them as much as i was away.

how much % change etc?

Thanks

pH is a very complicated subject. It is something that nobody should mess with the mess they have the expertise to do so. You really should accept what comes out of your tap. there are means and ways of altering the pH but really, you shouldn't do so unless you know what you're doing.

The pH of 7.0 is neutral, this means it's neither acidic, or alkaline, If you keep different fish from different parts of the world, than a neutral pH would probably be a preferred level to keep it at. however, you have got Convict cichlids which are quite happy with the pH level of 6.0 all the way through to 8.0. Captive bred fish are more than capable of adjusting to different levels.

you worry me when you say you ammonia and nitrite wasn't too bad. Does that mean you had a reading of both ? these two toxins are very dangerous to fish, they must not rise above zero.

As for water changes, a 30% water change once a week is more than enough to keep your nitrate levels under control. However, this does depend on how you stock your tank. People who keep too many fish can expect to run into water quality problems at some stage.

just remove the water and then replace it with fresh water. If you've only got a small tank, using buckets won't take very long. If you got a very large tank, taking a hose pipe straight from the tap is probably the easiest and quickest way of replacing the water. I would advise you to turn your filtration system off when you replace water using the hose pipe method. Make sure that you put a water conditioner that will remove chlorine into the water before you start replacing the water. Also treat the whole tank, not just the water that you are putting back in again.

Oh yeh my ammonia and nitrites werent alarming. the LFS guy had said that. But nitrates were too high.

When you say water conditioner that takes chlorine out.. what brands are good?

Should i also put cycle in both the new water as well as my tank when i do water change?

definitely shop around for water conditioner, some of them go a lot further than others. The one I'm using at the moment is manufactured by Waterlife, it's called Haloex. 30ml treats 300 gallons, so if you get a big bottle, it lasts for ages. You could also get stuff that is made for ponds, interpet are quite good. again, a bottle goes a long way, in fact I think a 500ml bottle treats around 2000 gallons. However, one of our members pointed something out there anyone using these particular products must take into mind, very concentrated so I would advise mixing well with water before pouring into the tank. also, if the instructions tell you to use 10 mL for every 50 gallons, I would advise you to use only 8 mm

when you mention cycle, are you talking about bacteria in the bottle?I think Nutrafin make one. I haven't used cycle, but I've used stability before. You normally puts a certain amount in full the first few weeks of cycling an aquarium. You can then add it every time you change some water. Unfortunately, it's not a miracle like some people think, it went instantly size of your tank. From my experience using it on a 20 gallon tank, it did actually work extremely well, however I've never used on a large tank before. By all means keep using it and just follow the instructions.

regarding the ammonia and nitrite,They both must be zero, that is the only acceptable level, please find out what is?