What is the safe level of nitrAte?

[Fishless cycle]

Lol - I read it as lone so no worries!

I'll do another 25% change. I cycled my tank using pure ammonia and it tool about 10-14 days when I woke up one morning and no ammo or nitrite was showing. Then I tested it again with ammonia and still no sign of it in 24 hours so the step by step guide I read said that it was cycled and I should do a 90% water change to get the nitrAtes down. I did this but i didn't check if they had actually come down. If I had tested it first I would have waited before adding the fish. ho hum

Oh well, I'll do a 25% water change tonight and clean the gravel...

Also do I need to put the lights on in the tank - they are SO bright and the fish freak out in the morning so I am just using the room light. Is that enough? I reckon my plants will have to be replaced with plastic ones but with the fish be okay - as I think they might prefer it less light.

I have a 22litre tank with bumblebee gobies - i have 5 of them. There is no ammo or nitrite in there. I check every day (a little overly protective I know). I'll check the nitrAtes in that tank and do a WC if needed.

No I haven't cleaned the filters - I thought I should not do that and only in tank water.

 

[Fishless cycle]

You can use warm tap water. Just be sure to dechlorinate. don't sweat the nitrates too much. If you keep up on regular water changes things will be fine. Have you tested the water straight from the tap to see if it already has nitrates?

I'll do that now.. Thanks.

 

[Hholly]

Since you just added fish you can wait till there's a bit of poop to clean the gravel. You don't want to over clean at this point because you want your bb to have a good foothold. Don't rinse your filter media for a while either. When I asked about your cleaning gravel, I thought it was an older, established tank.

 

[jhawk__]

Lol - I read it as lone so no worries!

I'll do another 25% change. I cycled my tank using pure ammonia and it tool about 10-14 days when I woke up one morning and no ammo or nitrite was showing. Then I tested it again with ammonia and still no sign of it in 24 hours so the step by step guide I read said that it was cycled and I should do a 90% water change to get the nitrAtes down. I did this but i didn't check if they had actually come down. If I had tested it first I would have waited before adding the fish. ho hum

Oh well, I'll do a 25% water change tonight and clean the gravel...

Also do I need to put the lights on in the tank - they are SO bright and the fish freak out in the morning so I am just using the room light. Is that enough? I reckon my plants will have to be replaced with plastic ones but with the fish be okay - as I think they might prefer it less light.

I have a 22litre tank with bumblebee gobies - i have 5 of them. There is no ammo or nitrite in there. I check every day (a little overly protective I know). I'll check the nitrAtes in that tank and do a WC if needed.

No I haven't cleaned the filters - I thought I should not do that and only in tank water.

The room light would be fine if the tank light is to bright, maybe turn it on for a few hours each day just to give the plants a little light, and that's good that you didn't change the filters! That's a newbie mistake most people make and it screws the whole tank up sometimes.

I'm also protective about my parameters don't worry lol, I check my daily! My ammonia has been high in my nursery tank so I've been flipping out about it to! Lol

 

[Fishless cycle]

It's already on 10ppm but I've got to wait 5 mins so will let you know.

 

[Aqualady40]

10ppm is definitely GREAT I would not go lower if it were me.....nitrates are good as long as they are not too high...so I would stop right here...good luck

 

[Fishless cycle]

10ppm is definitely GREAT I would not go lower if it were me.....nitrates are good as long as they are not too high...so I would stop right here...good luck

Ah, but I'm testing my tap water not the tank water!

 

[Fishless cycle]

Since you just added fish you can wait till there's a bit of poop to clean the gravel. You don't want to over clean at this point because you want your bb to have a good foothold. Don't rinse your filter media for a while either. When I asked about your cleaning gravel, I thought it was an older, established tank.

I think there will be a bit of uneaten food from yesterday and this morning but and maybe some dead plant leaves from over the past couple of weeks when i was cycling but i got some out before I placed the fish in the tank yesterday.

 

[Hholly]

10 isn't too bad from the tap.

 

[Fishless cycle]

You can use warm tap water. Just be sure to dechlorinate. don't sweat the nitrates too much. If you keep up on regular water changes things will be fine. Have you tested the water straight from the tap to see if it already has nitrates?

My hot water comes from an immersion heater and I'm not sure stale the water is in the tank. If it was a combi I probably would, heated direct from the mains.

My nitrAtes on the tap water are about 30ppm!!!! What should I do? help!!!

 

[Hholly]

Just keep your tank fairly clean. Grow plants. Test from a different tap. Someone on a different thread said in their old house it was different from different taps.

 

[Fishless cycle]

Just keep your tank fairly clean. Grow plants. Test from a different tap. Someone on a different thread said in their old house it was different from different taps.

Thanks - will do. Re the tap, I have one tap from the mains which is the one I tested and the other taps are off the storage tank. I'll try it though.. thanks.

 

[Aqualady40]

yeah I agree with Holly just get some nitrate eating plants......sorry your going through this.....good luck

 

[Fishless cycle]

yeah I agree with Holly just get some nitrate eating plants......sorry your going through this.....good luck

Wow that sounds great. Nitrate eating plants? Do you know which ones? I don't trust much the lfs tells me I'm afraid (once bitten twice shy etc!)

I really appreciate your help.

 

[jhawk__]

30 ppm is pretty high for tap. Im not sure what you could do about your tap being that high. Put some water conditioner in when you do water changes. That might help.

 

[Link119]

Anacharis is a good nitrate eating plant if you let it float. Just make sure that you dont dose excel with it because it melts if there is excel in the tank.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Nitrate in your tap water is a good excuse to have a planted tank. The fish will freak about the light in the beginning. Remember this is anew environment for them and they are stressed from the move. Put the light on a timer so it comes on the same time every day. They will get use to it. Ambient light from the room isn't going to be enough for your plants. Hornwort and duck weed floating in the surface are good for nitrate uptake. Since they have access to the co2 in the air while floating they will grow faster than fully submerged plans.

 

[Fishless cycle]

Nitrate in your tap water is a good excuse to have a planted tank. The fish will freak about the light in the beginning. Remember this is anew environment for them and they are stressed from the move. Put the light on a timer so it comes on the same time every day. They will get use to it. Ambient light from the room isn't going to be enough for your plants. Hornwort and duck weed floating in the surface are good for nitrate uptake. Since they have access to the co2 in the air while floating they will grow faster than fully submerged plans.

Thanks for this. I've added some RO as you suggested in the other thread and its already brought my nitrate down so very excited about that Thank you

I am going to look online to see if I can find a dimmer light as my tank has two long T5 bulbs which seem way too bright. I know they will get used to it but I'd even prefer a dimmer switch too which I could gradually turn up/down - a little more realistic. But I need to make sure they are bright enough for my plants too though. I've also added a nitrate eating filter that the lfs recommended - hopefully it will work and its not just a gimmick!

 

[Andrewz00]

you can do PWCs as offten as you want... ive been known to do 3 x 50% on a 90gal tank in one day... i give it about an hour between.

Nitrates being around 40-60 isnt horrible... 30 out of the tap is... ehh, ok... time for a planted tank!!

 

[Fishless cycle]

you can do PWCs as offten as you want... ive been known to do 3 x 50% on a 90gal tank in one day... i give it about an hour between.

Nitrates being around 40-60 isnt horrible... 30 out of the tap is... ehh, ok... time for a planted tank!!

Thanks for that - I've added some RO and the nitrate has reduced to less than 40ppm so relieved. I was worried! I will do another pwc tomorrow too. I think I'll look into plants too