question about my girlfriends tank

[yardman4ev]

Ok, here we go, my girlfriend has a 55 gallon setup, and her fish are dyeing one by one, she has lost 8 in the past two weeks, so im asking for some input here, she runs a sump filter, has a skimmer running, her temp is always constant, ph, amon and nitrite are all normal, but her nitrate is off the chart!!! she cant get it to come down, she did a water change and used distilled water, her salinity is always good, and still, nitrate is super high, i dont know the actual number, but she said, it is so high, doesnt even register on the chart!!! water is kinda cloudy too, so smell to the water either ya know? any info would be helpful, thanks!!!!:help: :help:

 

[jonny bolt]

I'd get some Marc Weiss Bacter-Vital in there quick to help neutralize those 'trates.

 

[mbrands]

Originally posted by yardman4ev
Ok, here we go, my girlfriend has a 55 gallon setup, and her fish are dyeing one by one, she has lost 8 in the past two weeks
Sounds like her tank might be overstocked. I've only got 5 fish in my 55. If she lost 8 over 2 weeks, how many are remaining??
She should try to do more frequent water changes with RO water. I'd suggest 10% weekly.
What type of substrate (bottom) does she have? Crushed coral? Sand? Crushed coral is known to "trap" nitrates.