Super High Nitrate 160ppm +++

[feinhorn]

My african cichlid tank is going though are really really high nitrate spike and i am losing fish. It is the only thing that is out of wack, ammonia and nitrites are 0. I have added all new fish to the tank since i had a heater malfunction that killed my whole tank (raised temp to 102 degrees and killed everything) I need to get the nitrates down because I think it is killing the new fish. I was thinking about using distilled water but I think it might be to soft for africans?? HELP PLEASE Tests show the nitrates at at least 160ppm but could be higher, that is as far as the test goes.

 

[Zagz]

Do water changes as many as necessary over the next 2 days to bring the nitrates down. I would start with 75% for the first change then do another one tomorrow morning again. How many fish did you add at once? You could very well expect an ammonia spike if there were several fish added at once.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

How often do you do water changes? There's nothing that will get rid of nitrates except water changes. You need to do weekly water changes to keep the levels below 40ppm. but for now, do as recommended above, 75% water changes over the next 3 days, then check your levels again. If still a little high, do another. Then do weekly PWC's. What size tank and how many fish?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Don't use distilled water either, you need the buffering capacity. Just do 75-80% water changes over the next 3 days and see where you stand.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Agreed with Zagz and lone. Lots and lots of water changes. Test daily to monitor progress.

 

[feinhorn]

I have about 10 baby cichlids in a 70 gal. This is an established tank for well over a year. I only waited two days between removing all the dead fish and adding the new ones. Since is was still established I would have thought that it would have been ok. My tap water has between 5 and 10 ppm on nitrate in it. I haven't tested the water for a long time till I got the new fish so don't know how long this issue has been going on for. I fell down on the PWC's too but I am back to weekly now after this!!!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I believe this is exactly the reason for the high nitrates, the dead fish that were in there. They give off lots of ammonia, which in your cycled tank, is converted to nitrite, then nitrate. That's the reason of such high nitrates. Make sure there is no more remanents of dead fish, and do several PWC's of around 75% over the next couple days to bring it down, then you should be back to your normal routine. PWC's are the only way of removing the nitrates, other than a heavily planted tank.

 

[feinhorn]

I did a large 75% water change yesterday and I am doing one again right now.
I also planted some ferns. The nitrates went down a little yesterday maybe
down to 80ppm but they are back up again. Could it be something in the
filter? I cleaned the filter pretty well before I put the new fish in.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

It'll take a couple water changes, as some of the nitrates caught in the gravel will come out and level out with the rest of the tank. Just do a couple more changes and see where you are.

 

[Zagz]

Yes unfortunately it will take a few water changes over a few days to get the nitrates down. Be grateful, if your tank wasn't cycled you'd be suffering a huge ammonia spike right now.

 

[feinhorn]

The nitrates seem to be decreasing a little at a time. Looks like the water changes are helping. I think the nitrates are about 60ppm right now. Should be lower by monday. Can I actually hurt my tank by doing so many water changes? I did notice about 0.25 ppm ammonia but I think it will subside soon too. Thanks for the help.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

No, you can't hurt the tank at all. I do 75% PWC's weekly. Could do it daily if I wanted. As long as you dechlor the water, you won't hurt the tank at all.

 

[StngStr]

Why not do a couple 75% water changes right in a row? As in drain 75%, fill it back up, drain 75%, fill it back up, drain 75%, fill it back up. Not waiting days between them. This should get the nitrates back down to a safe level right away and then just monitor it every day and do a 75% PWC as needed until the tank stabilizes. If you do this, make sure the new water is the same temp each time, and make sure the PH is also the same. Don't want to stress them out with a drastic temp change or PH change. Don't forget to add some declor each time too.

I'm by NO means an expert, but since water changes (assuming temp/ph aren't drastically different) don't harm the fish or your beneficial bacteria levels, is this a bad idea or good?

 

[StngStr]

oops...i see that this thread is 2 weeks old. maybe the problem is fixed already?

 

[7Enigma]

StngStr,

The concern with changing the parameters too quickly is that you might stress the fish more than the nitrAtes in the water. Unlike ammonia and nitrIte, nitrAte is much less toxic (though at greater than 160ppm and higher it most definately is). Fish can adapt to live in very high nitrAte water (although they are more susceptible to disease). Changing any factor drastically in a really short amount of time is never a good thing, be it pH, water temp, hardness, etc. (again unless we're talking ammonia or nitrIte which will just kill them). The procedure he was doing (75% PWC every day) will give enough time between PWC's that hopefully the fish will not become too stressed.