nitrate

[dazzy6882]

my nitrate has been reading 12.5mgl for about 6weeks now no matter what i do i cannot get to drop to 0 no ammonia present what is the cause changed 50% and added seachem prime as recommendedon the forum but still no change to nitrate my tank has been cycling for 10 weeks now talk about confused .com

 

[Ian086]

my nitrate has been reading 12.5mgl for about 6weeks now no matter what i do i cannot get to drop to 0 no ammonia present what is the cause changed 50% and added seachem prime as recommendedon the forum but still no change to nitrate my tank has been cycling for 10 weeks now talk about confused .com

Do you mean Nitrites??

 

[dazzy6882]

no nitrate 12.5 mgl ammonia reading 0.25

 

[Ian086]

no nitrate 12.5 mgl ammonia reading 0.25

Are you using test strips or liquid test kit. What are the readings,
Ammonia
Nitrites
Nitrates

 

[Masha]

As long as your ammonia and nitrite readings are 0, all you need to do is keep nitrates lower tan 20 or thereabout. That's assuming your tank is cycled. If you are still waiting for it to cycle, don't worry about the nitrate level too much. The important levels to watch are ammonia and nitrite. (I mean - you obviously need to keep nitrates down, but presumably you are doing frequent water changes anyway, if you are doing a fish-in cycle)

You use the Tetra nitrate test kit, right? It's scale goes 0 then 12.5 then the higher levels. I suspect that even quite a low nitrate leve, e.g. 8 or whatver, shows up as 12.5 on that test. I've never had lower than 12.5 and I do large water-changes, and my fish are all perfectly fine at those levels.

 

[jpchin]

i would be more worried about your ammonia level at .25. you need to do a water change of about 50% asap. the prime water conditioner will help make the effects of the ammonia less toxic for your fish but that only lasts for about 18 hours. you need to test morning and evening and if you still have any reading that isn't 0 you need to carry out another water change. i would think one in the morning and again in the evening. this will help your fish weather the spike in the ammonia.

is your tank cycled?
how many fish do you have?
what size is the aquarium?
what are your water parameters now? ph, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia?

with this information someone is more likely to have an opinion to offer.

 

[Ian086]

i would be more worried about your ammonia level at .25. you need to do a water change of about 50% asap. the prime water conditioner will help make the effects of the ammonia less toxic for your fish but that only lasts for about 18 hours. you need to test morning and evening and if you still have any reading that isn't 0 you need to carry out another water change. i would think one in the morning and again in the evening. this will help your fish weather the spike in the ammonia.

is your tank cycled?
how many fish do you have?
what size is the aquarium?
what are your water parameters now? ph, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia?

with this information someone is more likely to have an opinion to offer.

I think all those water change suggestions are a bit OTT. .25 ammonia is not as dramatic as people make out. It can easily happen after feeding. It can also be tricky to distinguish between 0 and .25 on the API colour chart. Also test strips could give you this readings....

 

[Mumma.of.two]

As long as your ammonia and nitrite readings are 0, all you need to do is keep nitrates lower tan 20 or thereabout. That's assuming your tank is cycled. If you are still waiting for it to cycle, don't worry about the nitrate level too much. The important levels to watch are ammonia and nitrite. (I mean - you obviously need to keep nitrates down, but presumably you are doing frequent water changes anyway, if you are doing a fish-in cycle) You use the Tetra nitrate test kit, right? It's scale goes 0 then 12.5 then the higher levels. I suspect that even quite a low nitrate leve, e.g. 8 or whatver, shows up as 12.5 on that test. I've never had lower than 12.5 and I do large water-changes, and my fish are all perfectly fine at those levels.

Agreed. You are not going to get a reading of 0 nitrate in the tank unless it's very heavily planted. Nitrate is the end result of the nitrogen cycle so will continue to climb until it's removed by plants or a water change.

When are you testing your water? Right after a water change?

 

[jpchin]

i stand by the water changes until the ammonia is at 0.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

I have to agree that .25ppm of ammonia isn't going to do anything. It could mean a number of things. The test kit could be slightly out. The colors are hard to read at times. The tap water contains small amounts of ammonia. Or the chloramine in the tap water is giving a reading for ammonia after the conditioner is added. Just because the test kit reads .25ppm doesn't mean its actually .25ppm either. The test is registering ammonia but only to the nearest ppm on the chart if that makes sense. It could be 0.1ppm or 0.3 or whatever but still come up as .25ppm. These home test kits aren't that accurate.

 

[dazzy6882]

57 litres ph 8 5 raasburas and one betta

 

[Mebbid]

i stand by the water changes until the ammonia is at 0.

Take a look at this link Jpchin

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

Have you tested your tap water for nitrates? It's common for there to be a low level in tap water which would attribute your minimum level of nitrates that you're seeing.