Super High Nitrates Suddenly....

[kjbuente]

While I was picking up some supplies for my take, I notice Fluval ClearMax. Never Used it before, did not do any research, saw what it removed. Figured that since my tap water is normally high in Phosphates and Nitrates (~30PPM). I figured it could not hurt. The store was closing so I just picked it up and went home.

Just dying to see how this does, I go head and install it in my filter. I waited about an hour and check my nitrates. Thinking nothing has changed, but I realized that I had not taken my readings for the week. I went ahead and took a reading. Everything looked great, Ph=7.5 Ammo=0 Nitrite =0 then came Nitrate. Nitrate=+130PPM

It was way past the color chart the came with the kit (API Master kit). I thought that maybe the Nitrate test solutions went bad. So I tested my tap water. It reads right were it normally does ~30ppm, so the solutions are still good. I test some distilled water, 0PPM. I retest that aquarium water, same as before, off the chart. I also tested some water I had sitting out when I last did the water change, same as current tap. I think it's safe that I'm getting a good reading. And the week prior was perfectly normal.

I did a water change two days ago, little shy of 50%. It was one time, never been late on a water change. (Except when I broke my ankles, that was months ago). It's a 20G long moderately planted stocked with 5 Neon Tetras, 3 Cherry barbs, 5 ottos, and 2 platties. (Forgot whats ones, only about a inch and a half long). NOTHING has changed in the tank except for the Fluval Clearmax...

Thoughts? Except for pulling that stuff out and doing a massive water change...

Thanks

 

[librarygirl]

I'm not familiar with the product so I can't say for sure whether it's caused the issue but if nitrates were normal prior to adding it and now they're that high I'd remove it and do some water changes to get the values down to where they usually are. It's usually best not to add random chemicals to the tank unless they are needed and you know for sure what they do. Nitrate at 30 isn't terribly bad; some use Purigen in their filters to help lower nitrates. Also adding some fast growing stem plants might help too, such as hornwort.

 

[kjbuente]

I agree that I should of researched some before adding to my tank. I was just one of those days where thinking like that was not in the cards for me.

After a massive water change,(~50 gallons fresh to the ~24G volume). And some help from a friend. (Only a fellow fish lover will help in a situation like that at midnight). I have been able to get my nitrates below 20PPM. I added a few gallons of distilled water to help lower my tap water nitrates. I also dug around the tank to see if anything had died that I was not aware of. Nothing significant, just some dead plant matter was removed and that was just a few leaves.

As far as plants. I have two anubias plants and a good bit of water wisteria. (I pull about half a pound of that from my tank a month). They normally do a decent job on keeping the nitrates down to a acceptable range. I am looking for another fast grower like the wisteria, just not a fan on how hornwort looks.

The thing that has me confused right now is my nitrates are around 60PPM right now from overnight. Ill do another water change later today to help get that back down a bit. The other confusing thing is I added a fresh pack of that clearmax to some treated tap water and took readings to see if it was the reason of the spike, and everything read normally. So now I'm wondering if it was even the cause in the first place...

But the fish seem happy right now. The Neons have super bright colors right now, My cherry barbs are playing ion the filter output, and my ottos are grazing like crazy. I have not seen this much activity from them for months...

 

[Rivercats]

Is your substrate extremely dirty? Do you gravel vac? Also is your filter clean? These are both reasons why nitrates would still be high.

 

[kjbuente]

Is your substrate extremely dirty? Do you gravel vac? Also is your filter clean? These are both reasons why nitrates would still be high.

I gravel vac the gravel every week. Then once a month I connect my gravel vac to my canister filter,(Pulls more junk out than just gravity). While connected to the filter, I move the decor around to get to the places I normally cant get to. Next I clean or change the filter media so the junk does not decompose. After each gravel vac, I do at least a 50% water change. Every now and then I'll do a little more for good measure.

 

[Rivercats]

When is the last time you actually openned the canister? It may be time to open it and clean all but the bio-media in it. I open and clean my canisters every month, rinse my sponges, change my filter floss, but leave my bio-media alone. This very well could be where your nitrates are at.

 

[kjbuente]

The last time I cleaned the filter media was last Saturday. Though you do have me going down a rabbit hole now...

While the filter media was changed out recently, I think a design flaw maybe my issue. My filter is a DIY canister, There is a way for heavy deposits not to be captured. I could have some buildup there decomposing sending the nitrates up. Though I figured I would of seen a spike in ammo or nitrites. Either way, I'll pull the entire filter apart and check. Could not hurt, of course the bio media will stay in the tank while the rest of the filter gets a good cleaning.

 

[Rivercats]

I think it would be a good thing to do. Then do a WC and see if the nitrates stay low. Canisters are great but can also be real trouble if not tended to properly.

 

[kjbuente]

Well, there was not a whole lot of gunk built up in the bottom of my filter. But everything is now super clean. Changed out an other 50% of water as well. Nitrates currently at about 30PPM.

Hopefully in the morning, the nitrates will stay there. Just have to wait and see.

 

[Rivercats]

I'll be really curious to see if they stay down now too.

 

[kjbuente]

I did another test just a few minutes ago. Nitrates are about 60PPM. But I'd swear that my wisteria grew inches over night...

I think I'm going to have to uproot my plants and wash the gravel as good as I can get it with old tank water. I don't think that it will do to much, but it is the only possible thing to do I can think of.

The other strange thing that I have noticed recently is my fish are not eating as much food as they used to. Normally I wet my finger in water then dip it in the flake food. Then I use what ever the wet finger picks up to feed the fish. This is usually only a few flakes. In the past, any more than this went to wast. Now I see them eating, but ever so little. I remove the excess food within 10 minutes or so, that way it does not contribute to the nitrate problem. Perhaps I am stressing the fish out by the frequent water changes? I fear this may be the case.

 

[Rivercats]

I would just really try gravel vac'ing it really good. The fish may be off their feed somewhat due to the high nitrates. Also are you using any type of fertilizer? I'm just trying to throw out possibilities. Your not over stocked but if your fish are not eating alot try feeding them every other day and see if they eat better. Also can you put any fast growing stem plants in along with your wisteria? Using fast growing stem plants, wisteria, and water sprite can help with keeping nitrates low. Duckweed is great for lowering nitrates but is a royal pain to deal with. And as for WC's my fish always seem invigorated by WC's. I actually do 50% WC's weekly even on my 220g heavily planted tank.

 

[kjbuente]

Okay, I gravel vac'd and uprooted my plants to clean the gravel. I found some interesting things....

In my wisteria, I found several leafs in the middle that was brown and covered in slime under the leaf. I found at least 10 leafs like that. And in the middle of my anubias plant I found some food that apparently I missed, and a diamond. I have a homemade gel food for my ottos, apparently they have been tearing it apart and settling the the one place that I find it hardest to get to... Oh, the diamond is from my wife's ring. She lost the diamond when she was taking care of the tank when I was in the hospital a few months back.

I really like the water sprite, but I can't find it anywhere locally. May I ask for a good reputable place online to order? I also am going to have to find a good place in my tank to place it.

Hopefully removing the rotten food, and when ever that slime was. (I don't know why, but I have the leafs in my QT tank. I want to check to see what it is first before tossing it). Right now my Nitrates are about 20PPM, I'll check again later today to see if I see any increase.

 

[Rivercats]

Well that was nice you found her diamond! Interesting about the gel food tho. If your nitrates remain low you may have found your problem! As for water sprite you can check AA's classified section and even place a wanted ad. When I order plants from a company I mainly use AquariumPlants.com You might also want to call any of your local fish stores and ask if they can order some for you.