So to make a long story short, my Nitrites and Nitrates are incredibly high. i have and established tank and have had fish in it for about a month. There is no ammonia. nitrate is past 5 ppm and my nitrates are around 80ppm. They have been like this for about 2 weeks. i have been doing 50% water changes about every 4 days. does anybody have any advice to get this problem fixed??

Can you tell us a little about your tank (size, occupants, filter, etc...)?

Does not sound like an established tank to me. Sounds like it is cycling still. The nitrogen cycle takes 4-6wks usually if you start it with fish and since the cycle didn't start until you put the fish in the tank...you look like you have a ways to go.

You need to do a 50% water change daily until the nitrites get down to around the 1ppm level. Still not good, but usually an attainable goal when cycling and most fish can endure it. Stop feeding for now until it comes down.

Once your nitrites and ammonia are zero, more than likely your tank has finished cycling. An etablished tank is about 4-5 months beyond the cycle, IMO. Some believe much longer periods.

one month will not make a tank "established". It can sometimes take 6-8 weeks before a tank is fully cycled.

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

My levels were all zero for about 2 weeks with just a trace of ammonia. it all started when i put 3 rocks in the tank from lake superior. i had scrubbed them under very hot water but never boiled( it was before i knew about boiling). my tank is a 35 gallon hex. i have a marineland 200 filter. So my level will continue to fluctuate for 4 months?

Did you test the rocks? You need to make sure they are aqaurium safe. You can test them by pouring vinegar on them or use a ph up/down product (not that I recommend using them). If they smoke, you shouldn't use them.

If the rocks weren't safe or they are safe they would not cause any problems you are seeing right now. It sounds to me you're experiencing a normal cycling tank. You will probably be finished ia another week or so, but just a guess.

Your levels should not fluctuate, even if the tank is not what would be termed "established". I wouldn't worry so much about whether or not your tank would be considered established or not. Get it through the nitrogen cycle and time will make the rest happen.

What fish are in the tank?

I testeed the rocks and they passed. i also boiled them 2 nights ago just to make sure. i have 2 kennyis, a blue acara, a firemouth, and a pleco. i am still very new into this hobby and i thought i had a god handle on thing to watch, do, and to look out for. now im not so sure

You've been doing fine so far and we are always here to help. Get the water changes done to get the nitrites under control and you will be on the downward slope. Once the tank has finished getting through the nitrogen cycle it is just settling into a regular maintenance plan to make sure things stay problem free.

I do 5 gal water changes once a week. i add my water treatment, waste control, and benneficial bacteria. So from what im understanding is that i need to do 50% water changes daily to keep my nitrites down to 1 ppm and that i shouldnt have that much longer to go before itts done cycling? also 2 more questions that just popped into my head. Do i have any room left in my tank for 1 possibly 2 more fish? i looked it up and the total length of all my fish is 29 in. fully grown. i should have room for more right? And is there any way to change my substrate now or should i wait a while? i used the gravel that came with it and its got blue and purple and pink, now im looking for a more natural look. Thanks for all the help so far!

1) reduce the bioload

and

2) even more importantly increase the nitrAte consumers.

for 1 stop adding food until nitrItes go down

For 2 add live plants.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Stop adding anything but dechlor. You will have a difficult time finding plants they wont wreek havoc on I would think, but there are some out there I hear. Increase your water changes to 50%.

So do not add the waste control or the bacteria? till the levels go down or for good? And do 50% water changes weekly or just every day till the levels go down? And the reason why i havent added plants is ive read that cicklids eat them.

Yes that is true. Cichlids eat plants just like the fish consume macro algaes in marine aquariums. What you can do is seperate the fish from the plants by using a refugium. Which can be nothing more than a partition so a small tank area is for the plants and the fish have the rest of the tank. A more complicated method is to have a seperate container to form the refugium and sump and circulate the water from the display to the refugium/sump. But that is a lot more worry, complications, and expense. Yet it is very common on marine setups.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I'm not even sure what waste control is, lol. It doesn't sound good though and would not add. You need waste during the cycle. I would do the 50% until the levels are good and then once a week once the cycle has completed.

So do i need live plants or can i stick with plastic? and the waste control stuff is made by Nutrafin, and it says is Resuces organic waste, digests waste in filters gravel, helps reduce aquarium maint. and synergistic effest with Cycle( nio clue what that means. just tested and my nitrites are at 2ppm doing a 50% right now? Does anybody have any help for me about my previous question about the substrate and a extra fish or 2?

By the way, you only need to keep the 50% changes going daily until you get the nitrites around 1ppm, no change needed if it stays there. After the cycle completes then do shift to weekly. You can change your substrate but it were me I'd wait until the cycle finished. There is a planted all black substrate you can put in that doesn't even require rinsing, but does cost a little more. As far as adding fish, not sure. The one thing I do know is you need to wait a while. You're a little heavy for what is going on. Let things settle out and then re-evaluate. Do it now and you'll possibly create more issues than you have right now.

i did do a water change about 6 hours ago. Levels are fine now, i klnow thats not very accurate but i just wanted to see. and when you say let things settle do you mean let the fish that are in there get used to the right levels again or let the tank settle down? and how long? 2 weeks? a month?

Let the tank settle. A tank that has just completed the cycle is still fairly vulnerable. I would wait at least two weeks, if you can manage. Will give you time to figure out what your normal weekly maintenence is going to be like.

I can manage. Like ive said before im new to this and i didnt realize how exiting it is to have your own trpical fish survive, and having to be patient haha. All ive been doing from week to week is water changes, should i be doing more? Ive vaccummed the gravel once.

Vacuum gravel is good every couple of weeks, but never the whole tank at once. But do not start doing that until after the cycle completes.

Many people have successful tanks with plastic plants but the plants do nothing to balance out and stabilize the tank. But they do look good.

IMHO live plants are extremely good for the tank itself. They will consume the wastes while adding oxygen to the water. And when something goes bump in the night the plants "kick in" to return the tank to normal operation.

I don't agree with any chemicals for waste control. The best thing during cycle is to keep the bioload as low as possible which I do by adding 1 fish and not adding food for a week. I get no ammonia spikes and only very low nitrIte spikes the lass 1 day that way. I also heavily plant the tank right from the start.

Cycle is another product for cycle control. Again IMHO at best unnecessary. (Use your immagination for at worse. )

You can change your substrate at anytime. It would be best to drain the tank into a plastic container, take out the existing gravel, add the new substrate. Plant the plants. Then refill the tank with water poured over a saucer.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden