High Nitrates

[Damiri]

I have been battling very high nitrates in our 120gal tank. At one point they were at least 160ppm, now they hover between 40 and 80 - hard to tell which exact shade on the scale the sample matches but it seems a shade lighter than 80. So this is still high. I am vacuuming, doing water changes and put more plants in but i cant get it to go down. My other readings are:

ph 7.2 (i have a dyi CO2 supplementation)
ammonia - 0.25 (keeping steady, cant get it to go down either)
nitrites - 0

since Nitrates are a product of Nitrites conversion, isnt it strange that my Nitrates are so high and Nitrites are at zero?

The fish seem to be all doing ok, although i did lose a very young albino pleco last week. My synodontis also occasionally stands on his tail in the corner, which i find very strange. He started doing it when i used Flourish Excel to battle black beard algae but keeps doing it even after i stopped dosing more than 2 weeks ago. I am stumped, does anyone have any insights?....

 

[dalto]

What number and type of fish are in the tank and what it your water change routine like?

Nitrites being 0 is normal in an established aquarium. The ammonia is converted to nitrite and the nitrite is converted to nitrate on an ongoing basis.

The fact that your ammonia is .25 is a little strange. What are you using to test ammonia and when are you doing the tests?

 

[Damiri]

we have 5 mollies, 4 platys, 4 swordtails, 5 guppies, 6 cories, 6 plecos, 2 synodontis and 2 other catfish that i am not sure what they are, and 6 zebra barbs. Ah and 12 neon tetras... Most of them are still small

i change about 25% of water weekly but when i discovered high nitrates few weeks ago i did several 30 to almost 50% water changes. I have an API water test kit where i basically compare the color of water sample to the color chart. I dont have a set testing routine but i do it a couple of times a month.

 

[dalto]

As long as those plecos are small I can't imagine that putting a huge bioload on a 120g tank.

As long as you didn't test immediately after a water change you should not have any ammonia reading in your tank.

Is it possible there is something in your tank that it hidden somewhere decaying?

Also, have you checked the nitrates in your tap water to ensure they are not coming from the tap?

 

[Damiri]

hmmm.... hopefully i am not missing any fish but something rotting would help explain the readings. I checked my water supply and there were no nitrates so they must come from something in the tank. I will try to feed my fish less. It is possible i am overfeeding.

 

[Potluck]

0 nitrite is exactly what you want, if you're using strips to test with they are very inaccurate and you need to get a liquid test kit if possible, to high nitrates will lower fishes immune system.

Filters if you don't clean the sponges /filter floss whatever you have in there in tank water you syphoned from the tank they will hold nitrates because of all the food, waste that's trapped, also what do you condition the new water with? What type of substrate ? Dirt /sand / fine gravel / big gravel etc etc

What are you dosing fert wise?
What is your water change schedule and how much (%)?
What filter(s) are on the tank? canister, hob what size, make, model?
how many plants and what are they as if you're dosing a huge amount for say anubias/ferns slow growing plants you don't need to as they will grow from the waters nitrates (fish food/fish waste)

I was in the same boat about a year ago, I changed my gravel (really thick) to fine gravel and now my nitrates stay at about 15-20 even dosing weekly.


You do have a lot of waste producers as plecos do just that, people think ammonia comes just from waste but that's false, fish are constantly secreting ammonia no matter if they are using the bathroom (lol)

I would do 2/25% water changes a week not 50% at once like one on Monday one on Thurs check water parameters on sat and check nitrates, you will get nitrate creep but if you have nitrate hogs for plants they should feed on it, they should also feed on the ammonia as well, if you don't have an api freshwater master liquid test kit I would get one.

Check filters and see if they are gunked up if so just clean the pads/sponges/floss whatever you have in there and swish media lightly in TANK WATER not tap water and put them back in the filter but this all depends on what filter you have to as if you don't have proper filtration you won't be able to keep up with the bio load of the tank.

If you're not treating the new water with prime or another good water conditioner I would grab a bottle I just got a big bottle off Amazon for like 9 bucks and the small bottle lasted me about a year.

 

[dalto]

I just got a big bottle off Amazon for like 9 bucks and the small bottle lasted me about a year.

This is a sure sign that you either need more or larger tanks.

 

[Potluck]

This is a sure sign that you either need more or larger tanks. [emoji38]

Not really as I dont have the room for them

 

[Yherbert]

I could have written the above verbatim. I need help too. I have 120 g tank with 22 cichlids and 2 plecos. I routinely change my water weekly and sometimes biweekly. I always dose with prime and sometimes add QuickStart. Help!!! My nitrates are at 80 ppm

 

[dalto]

I could have written the above verbatim. I need help too. I have 120 g tank with 22 cichlids and 2 plecos. I routinely change my water weekly and sometimes biweekly. I always dose with prime and sometimes add QuickStart. Help!!! My nitrates ate at 80 ppm

What are the 22 cichlids, how large are the weekly water changes and what are you using for filtration?

 

[Yherbert]

The 22 cichlids I haps and peacocks I change from 30 to 40% of water each time

 

[Yherbert]

Each time

 

[dalto]

Are they all full size adults? 30-40% per week might not be enough for the that many fish. Changing 30% of the water only removes 30% of the nitrates.

Some things you should check

• Make sure there are no nitrates in your tap water
• If you are using canister filters or any filter with the potential to trap a lot of waste make sure you are cleaning them regularly as biological waste trapped in the mechanical media will break down and generate nitrates
• It is possible that the bio-load in your tank simply warrants bigger changes. A lot of cichlid keepers do 80-90% changes. One of the downsides to overstocked tanks is increased maintenance.

 

[Yherbert]

I have 120g. 2 ac 110 hob. 1 fx6 -1

 

[Yherbert]

Marineland 360 and a sponge filtration

 

[Yherbert]

Ok. Thx

 

[dalto]

That is a lot of filters.

Also, are you sure your tests are valid? The API test kit, is known to read high if it is not cared for properly. Or sometimes, even if it is cared for properly.

 

[Yherbert]

I use the API test strips I repeated the test. The results were same, high nitrates reading 80 ppm.


I was told overfiltration was good.

 

[dalto]

I use the API test strips I repeated the test. The results were same, high nitrates reading 80 ppm.

Did you test your tap water to make sure the nitrates aren't in your tap?

I was told overfiltration was good.

It is good.

 

[Yherbert]

I'm going to test my tap water ina couple hours.

Oh I did a water 30% change yesterday. I put a cup of rock salt in water. I will retest water tomorrow.