Nitrates too high??

[JWitter]

I have lost 2 glo fish in the past few days, a third is barely hanging on, it is being pushed around by current in the tank but will not swim. I did a 50% water change 3 days ago. I checked the nitrates today and they are above 80ppm. Is this affecting the fish? My bristlenose also died a day after water change. All other fish are health and active.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Linwood]

80ppm will generally not kill fish, though it is getting a bit high. Did you check other parameters. Sometimes when things go wrong, they can cause a spike in ammonia and/or nitrites which are very toxic, and you might then also see higher nitrates as well.

Anything unusual on the fish, discolorations, behavior other than what you mentioned?

 

[JWitter]

Other parameters seem fine, I have a platy and gold doubloon that look pregnant. All the other fish are active and eat well. The glo fish used to stay in a group, but towards the end they all stayed separate from one another and the other fish. The remaining glo fish looks like it is struggling for air and keeps getting stuck to the filter intake tube.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ImACoolguy]

Do you use test strips or a liquid test kit? Test strips are known to be inaccurate.

Like was said 80ppm is high but it will not kill hardy fish. I'd say there is an underlying problem.

Safe level of nitrates is 20ppm so keep doing those water changes till it comes down.

It may sound dumb but I'll admit I forgot one time.... Do you use water conditioner? Most of us on AA use Prime because it will detoxify any heavy metals, chlorine, and ammonia.

Hope this helps!


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[JWitter]

I have an API liquid test kit, I use prime, but I also have well water so barely anything in it to begin with. I am at a loss as to the cause. I am very careful when I work on or in the tank

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ImACoolguy]

I have an API liquid test kit, I use prime, but I also have well water so barely anything in it to begin with. I am at a loss as to the cause. I am very careful when I work on or in the tank

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

I would keep up doing water changes till it comes down.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[Caliban07]

I have an API liquid test kit, I use prime, but I also have well water so barely anything in it to begin with. I am at a loss as to the cause. I am very careful when I work on or in the tank

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

When you say there's nothing in you well water, have you actually used the API test kit to test it. If you have but haven't recently I would test it again ASAP.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[BBradbury]

High Nitrates

I have lost 2 glo fish in the past few days, a third is barely hanging on, it is being pushed around by current in the tank but will not swim. I did a 50% water change 3 days ago. I checked the nitrates today and they are above 80ppm. Is this affecting the fish? My bristlenose also died a day after water change. All other fish are health and active.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Hello JW...

There are nitrate reducing products available. Acurel has a cut to fit poly fiber padding that works very well to improve filtration in general. Also floating plants are helpful. Anacharis and Hornwort help keep the tank water a bit cleaner between water changes. I typically change out half the water in my tank, but have recently upped it to 60 percent. The more water you replace and the more often you do this, the better.

B

 

[Linwood]

OK, but to come back to the original point -- you need to get a handle on two things. And frankly while there are ways to handle nitrates other than water changes, your best long term solution is (b) find out why they are so high and do something about it, and (c) do water changes until then.

Notice I left out (a) Determine if this is really your problem, and that may need to come first. 80ppm is not going to kill your fish, but that's 80ppm 3 days after a water change, before that were they 800, or also 80? Finding out how long it takes to get back up high is important.

Let me elaborate a bit with an example, assume you did a 50% water change at that time, and 3 days later they were 80. If they had been 160 before the water change, it means in 3 days they didn't increase at all. If they had been 80 before the water change, it took them to 40, and they increased 40 in 3 days, which is a fair amount.

And as pointed out by someone else, check the tap water -- I was talking with a friend who found his own well water excessively high in phosphates, others have high nitrates. Make sure.

Excessive nitrates that are not originating in the added water are almost certainly coming from fish waste - too many fish, too much feeding of them, accumulated organics in the substrate or filter that are rotting, plants rotting, a dead fish that you didn't notice, etc. Fixing these is the only real key to stability -- you CAN try to keep up with nitrates with excessive water changes, or worse with chemical treatments, but the best and least expensive option is to find the cause and correct it.

One thing I'd suggest is start keeping a log and for a while (shouldn't be necessary long term), test the water regularly for nitrates (and occasionally nitrites and ammonia just in case), including the day of, and day after water changes. See if the math makes sense -- 50% water change should pull them down 50%.

Also... don't test within 24 hours of adding Prime, as it may throw off tests (for an amusing aspect of it, read the last lines of their FAQ, where they claim a beneficial effect but do not know how it works FAQ Here. Generally with well water you shouldn't need prime (unless it's a municipal or other system adding chlorine to well water), and if you are needing prime without chlorine you have other issues.

But... to the original point -- absent indications of really high nitrates, you may need to look elsewhere for the cause of death. AND deal with high nitrates.

 

[JWitter]

Thanks for the input, I did not test the water before the water change ( my mistake there) one of the dead glo fish is M.I.A. that may be causing an issue. I just purchased a gravel cleaner and plan on tackling that today ( I've been told to only vacuum part of the gravel each time) I will also do another 50% water change today. I do use prime water treatment when I add any water. Never straight well water, I did test the well water with my API kit to make sure there were not major issues with it. Other than that I am not sure why only the glo fish died and all the others seem to be doing very well. Thanks again for all the input I will work on getting the situation under control today.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Linwood]

I just purchased a gravel cleaner and plan on tackling that today ( I've been told to only vacuum part of the gravel each time) I will also do another 50% water change today.

I'm not sure where that recommendation comes from, perhaps the idea is that you are removing the beneficial nitrifying bacteria, but short of removing the gravel itself I do not see that being an issue. Perhaps others can comment, but not sure there's a reason not to vacuum more thoroughly.

I do use prime water treatment when I add any water. Never straight well water, I did test the well water with my API kit to make sure there were not major issues with it.

I do not know that it is hurting anything, but if your well water does not have chlorine (and I would think no home well would), then why are you adding Prime to the water?

99.99% of the time Prime is there for the purpose of neutralizing chlorine. It can be used to treat other things, but unless you have some specific aspect you are treating with it, I would say stop. I don't think it is causing your death problem, but it could be throwing off some of your water testing, and seems just a waste of money.

I very much believe in being a minimalist - don't add stuff you don't need; this minimizes unexpected side effects. Don't let the marketing scams convince you that you need half a dozen additives if you have good old water.

A dead fish under something could easily account for your high nitrates.

 

[FishyMamma]

Sounds like it really is the nitrates. This article says even 20-50 is a concern:
http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/keeping-up-with-nitrate.htm


Keeping my sleeves wet...
Sent via Carrier Goldfish

 

[Linwood]

Sounds like it really is the nitrates. This article says even 20-50 is a concern:

The nice thing about the internet is that confirmation bias is alive and well. You can find a basis for anything, somewhere.

The only "safe" answer for nitrates is probably zero, but the freshwater generally accepted answer is that the truly toxic level is about 400ppm (ref Tom Barr here and lots more info). Bad things happen well under that, of course, and varies by type of critter.

I am not suggesting that 80ppm is "safe" or good, but am suggesting it is very unlikely that it killed your fish. IT is much more likely a dead fish caused your nitrates.

In most of today's relatively crowded, lightly or not planted tanks, keeping nitrates under 20 is going to be tough. For some people their tap water starts about 20. For those doing higher tech planted tanks, they dose nitrates to bring them up over 20.

But zero is always a better number. I'm not discouraging water changes to get it lower. But it's kind of like the "Doctor, my arm hurts when I do this" joke that ends "don't do that" -- solving a symptom, not the cause, is not a solution, even if it does make you feel better.