Any Fishkeepers out there.

[Lord Duckhunter]

My little lad has been keeping tropical fish about 8 months. All of a sudden he has started to get high Phosphate levels and we dont really know what to do about it. I was wondering if any forum members had any advise for him.

 

He has an 80 Ltr tank, with about 20 fish in. He has an RO water maker, and the water he puts in shows no Phosphate at all. When he tests the water from the tank, it shows a level of about 3.He changes 10% of the water weekly and 20% once a month.

 

Does anyone know the cause and the cure of his problem, as we keep getting conflicting and confusing advise.

[Arizona]

Do you have any live plants in the tank? They help keep the balance with phosphates, nitrates etc. Another thing could be cleaning the filter. When you do it's best to use water from the tank, not tap water, as tap water will kill a lot of the bacteria in the sponges. Also make sure you're not over feeding them.

[Lord Duckhunter]

He's got about 3 live plants. I dont think he's overfeeding because the nitrate levels are perfect. He feeds them once every 3 days. I'll get him to clean the filter and see if that can bring them down. He gets the water tested once a month and it's been ok until now. What's confussing him is he is doing nothing different.

[JustMike]

yes, definitely clean out the filter. As Arizona said above, live plants are essential. Also try adding some aqua salt. Are the fish dying?

[JustMike]

also, when i 1st got my tank (180 litre thing) i turned into a crazy scientist, checking everything, every day. Now i just leave it, apart from doing a 20% water change every 2 weeks and cleaning out the external filter once every 4 mths or so

[ericofarabia]

Android is the keeper of the fish at the moment is he not

 

Damn ... Lounge .... sorry folks.

[Lord Duckhunter]

yes, definitely clean out the filter. As Arizona said above, live plants are essential. Also try adding some aqua salt. Are the fish dying?

 

 

That's the strange thing, no fish have died except when he's tried to add a couple of cat fish on 2 separate occasions. They swam round like they were drunk for a couple of days and then went off to meet their maker. We were told that the water was proberly too hard, so that's when he started using RO water. He tested the water for phosphate 2 months ago and it was fine, tested again last night and it was high. I tested the RO water for him today and there was none at all, so it's something in the tank ( I know that's obvious, but we are novices)

[Viking Warrior]

speak to marsdinho. he knows about tropical fish he may even throw ina tank

and some fish now hes up grading to chameleons

[hamster]

Has he noticed any change to the plant's appearance? That might point towards or narrow the search.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Has he noticed any change to the plant's appearance? That might point towards or narrow the search.

 

I've just had a look and the plants seem to have some sort of "fur" on them, not sure what it is, there is also a lot of algie, which he hasn't had a problem with before. He's asleep now, so I can't ask him how long it's been like this, but I'll check with him in the morning.

[JustMike]

I've just had a look and the plants seem to have some sort of "fur" on them, not sure what it is, there is also a lot of algie, which he hasn't had a problem with before. He's asleep now, so I can't ask him how long it's been like this, but I'll check with him in the morning.

 

the fur is hair algie, which is caused by too much light. You can buy stuff that gets rid of it. If you have more green algie than before, check your filter.

[JustMike]

also, when you change your water, what do you add to it?

[Lord Duckhunter]

also, when you change your water, what do you add to it?

 

He adds some sort of minerals to the RO water called Re-Mineral Tropic, it states on the label No Phosphates.

[JustMike]

He adds some sort of minerals to the RO water called Re-Mineral Tropic, it states on the label No Phosphates.

 

i use 2 things, cycle (which matures the aquarium after a water change) and aqua + (which improve the tap water quality) not say that these are the right things for your problem but i have used these since i had the tank (about 1 year) and everything is fine.

[mack rill]

My little lad has been keeping tropical fish about 8 months. All of a sudden he has started to get high Phosphate levels and we dont really know what to do about it. I was wondering if any forum members had any advise for him.

 

He has an 80 Ltr tank, with about 20 fish in. He has an RO water maker, and the water he puts in shows no Phosphate at all. When he tests the water from the tank, it shows a level of about 3.He changes 10% of the water weekly and 20% once a month.

 

Does anyone know the cause and the cure of his problem, as we keep getting conflicting and confusing advise.

 

Phosphate is not a killer, if the ro water has no phos double the water changes to dilute it.Have you added new rocks or silly ornaments lately? Rocks can leach Phos, The only test kits you need are PH, Nitrite and nitrate,

PH adjusting is easy, just do it slowly, Most tanks show a nitrate level as long as the test shows pink and not to darker red you will be OK. NITRITE is another matter its one stage down from Ammonia and is a killer, The test must be clear, if not water change until it is and find the dead fish or what is rotting in the tank. If you have a layer of shingle on the bottom of the tank stir it while you do a water change, or get a tank hover, It don't take long for the gravel to be full of Fishi****. If you are getting an algae problem Half the time the lights are on. Remember the more Fish the more water changes,

Water temp can be a bugger in the summer, it should be between 70- 76 or 20-27 in the other ickis, The hotter the water the lower the oxygen content.

Have fun its a wonderful hobby. Mack the skate:cool:

[Lord Duckhunter]

Thanks for all the advise.The internet is full of confussing info, so I thought some of people on here would be more like us and would have been through the same.

 

As I said, he hasn't lost any of the existing fish, just ones added lately (4 of them, and all catfish)). He does have a couple of silly ornaments (he is only 10) and a few rocks, but they have been in there since he started, and 2 months ago the Phosphate was fine.

Whats confussing him is he has stone suckers that hang around the bottom,and an ugly misreable looking thing, that looks like Avram Grant ( I think it's called a clown plec, but not sure) who hangs around the bottom and they are all fine, but as soon as he adds catfish,who pick at stuff on the bottom( he's tried bronze and Albino ones), they dont last very long.

 

 

What he's done is clean the filter and replace one lot of carbon, changed 20% of the water and is going to change 20% in 2 days time, followed by another 20% 2 days after that, he's turned the lights from 10 hours to 6 and I've also told him to cut down on the Algie wafers for the Avram Grant thing.He's tested for Nitrate and it's fine, it's just a lot more algie than he has had and high Phosphate. Fingers crossed he can sort it out and add some catfish.

[ericofarabia]

Phosphate is not a killer, if the ro water has no phos double the water changes to dilute it.Have you added new rocks or silly ornaments lately? Rocks can leach Phos, The only test kits you need are PH, Nitrite and nitrate,

PH adjusting is easy, just do it slowly, Most tanks show a nitrate level as long as the test shows pink and not to darker red you will be OK. NITRITE is another matter its one stage down from Ammonia and is a killer, The test must be clear, if not water change until it is and find the dead fish or what is rotting in the tank. If you have a layer of shingle on the bottom of the tank stir it while you do a water change, or get a tank hover, It don't take long for the gravel to be full of Fishi****. If you are getting an algae problem Half the time the lights are on. Remember the more Fish the more water changes,

Water temp can be a bugger in the summer, it should be between 70- 76 or 20-27 in the other ickis, The hotter the water the lower the oxygen content.

Have fun its a wonderful hobby. Mack the skate:cool:

 

I thought it was more a lifestyle down your way .

 

Would the amount of natural sunlight on the tank have the same affect as artificial light on algae growth?

[mack rill]

I thought it was more a lifestyle down your way .

 

Would the amount of natural sunlight on the tank have the same affect as artificial light on algae growth?

 

Yes it is advisable to have your tank out of natural sunlight, if your setup gets sun by day and lighting in the evening for your pleasure, you are over feeding the algae, High Phos will also give you algae blooms, plant as many live plants as you can, have loads of snails this will help balance the tank.If algae is becoming a real problem leave lights off for a week, (no food no algae)

[hamster]

Don't rinse your filters in tap water, you'll lose all the benefit of the good things that thrive in them and actually benefit the fish tank environment. Just rinse gently them in some of the water that you are decanting.

[JustMike]

Thanks for all the advise.The internet is full of confussing info, so I thought some of people on here would be more like us and would have been through the same.

 

As I said, he hasn't lost any of the existing fish, just ones added lately (4 of them, and all catfish)). He does have a couple of silly ornaments (he is only 10) and a few rocks, but they have been in there since he started, and 2 months ago the Phosphate was fine.

Whats confussing him is he has stone suckers that hang around the bottom,and an ugly misreable looking thing, that looks like Avram Grant ( I think it's called a clown plec, but not sure) who hangs around the bottom and they are all fine, but as soon as he adds catfish,who pick at stuff on the bottom( he's tried bronze and Albino ones), they dont last very long.

 

 

What he's done is clean the filter and replace one lot of carbon, changed 20% of the water and is going to change 20% in 2 days time, followed by another 20% 2 days after that, he's turned the lights from 10 hours to 6 and I've also told him to cut down on the Algie wafers for the Avram Grant thing.He's tested for Nitrate and it's fine, it's just a lot more algie than he has had and high Phosphate. Fingers crossed he can sort it out and add some catfish.

 

no problem, good luck with it.

 

haha, i have 2 plecs and yes they do look like avram grant!

[Arizona]

I've got a seperate tank just for Lake Malawi Cichlids, I'd recommend them. A variety of very bright colours and markings and they are fairly robust, which is why the rainbow crab is in there now. They are none-community fish though and like more alkaline water. If you've got the space and money for a 200L tank, they do look good.

[LVSaint]

There had to be at least one Pompey response

 

I sort of gave up on testing levels when I had a fresh water tank. They all seemed happy enough. I hadn't done a water change in over a year. I think the tank had found a natural cycle with the constant filter running. I think they adapted to it and they didn't seem to be in discomfort...well I hope not anyway.

I was always shocked with the amount of tiny snails that just emerged from the substrate all the time.

 

I hope you have better luck with some new bottom feeders...I know I never did..and they were cool little buggers too..and useful.

[sydney_saint]

Android is the keeper of the fish at the moment is he not

 

Damn ... Lounge .... sorry folks.

 

Took 5 responses before a skates mention, we are letting our game slip.