three of my fish tanks (2 salt, 1 fresh) my nitrate levels are through the roof!

[redsea]

So in all three of my fish tanks (2 salt, 1 fresh) my nitrate levels are through the roof! Anyone have any suggestions on how to lower them other than water changes and feeding less? I tested the water that I use for water changes and that barely has any.

 

[FTMMWS]

How high are they?Above 40?

 

[redsea]

How high are they?Above 40?

Yes, but what I don't understand is all of the fish are alive and acting normal. Also that black spot is missing from the angelfish. Thanks for your time.

 

[JVS__RAMBO]

Get GFO from bulk reef and if you have a sump get some chaeto morpha algae that will soak up those nitrates and phosphates. (this is for saltwater, not sure about fresh)

 

[carey]

For freshwater you can use nitrate reducing products which arent useable in saltwater. Fluval mnakes something called clearmax I think and it;s supposed to help with fw nitrates.

I would suggest some serious water changes in the sw tank though if youre above 40 in trates. Even back to back if necesssary. You need to get to a manageable point and go from there. Are you using ro/di water or tap water?

Also what exactly are you feeeding? Flake food has nitrates and phosphates in it and frozen food cubes often do as well. If you use cubes you can thaw and rinse the food with ro/di water to make sure you arent adding an un necessary trates.

 

[FTMMWS]

Could also try running some chemi-pure..
Maybe look into starting up an algae scrubber(for both FW and SW)...they are wonderful
Glad the spot is gone,,i would still watch it..If its in a system with high trates ,that is very bad for angels..They need pristine water ..good luck

 

[FTMMWS]

Yes, but what I don't understand is all of the fish are alive and acting normal. Also that black spot is missing from the angelfish. Thanks for your time.

Most hardier fish can be fine in very high trates (100+) ..but definitely not your angel..

 

[redsea]

Ok thanks for your help everyone! I plan a water change tomorrow on my tanks.

 

[Pschmitt]

If I may - a lot of people think high nitrates are ok in FW aquariums. I on the other hand think not. I do just as much water changes on my FW tank as I do on my SW using RODI with RO right. It has made a world of difference since I'm not using carbon and really only clean my Eheim filter every 3 months. On my reef I also don't use carbon, but heavy skimming and also weekly PWC's. One of the plus sides using RODI water is that you can dial in the PH and GH of your replacement water to suit whatever you have in your FW aquarium and keep it there consistently. If you have a unit why not use for both tanks?

 

[redsea]

Ok so before I had to leave I did a 25% water change on my FW, and vacuumed the gravel. I checked shortly after and the nitrates were still pretty high. Also last night I replaced my filter cartridge. Did I test too soon, or are my nitrates still high? Also to clean my tap water, I have a cylinder like filter that the water goes through to clean it. I am not sure of this is RO/DI water. If it isn't does anyone have any good RO/DI systems they recommend? Thanks!

 

[redsea]

Also yesterday morning I did a very small PWC on my 34 salt