Dead Fish and Nitrates

[ganiel]

Hi. Will a couple of dead fish increase my Nitrates? My Nitrates level spiked to 20 ppm from 0 in two days and I have 2 missing, presumed to be dead fish.

 

[Flreefer]

Dead fish will definitely increase your nitrates!

 

[ganiel]

Thanks for the reply. Need to search those fish and do a 25% water change then.

 

[mikestanked]

Im sure that dead fish will spike the nitrate, but i recently had a azure damsel go "missing" and maybe thats why my nitrates went up. but i have a chocolate chip star fish and a blue tuxedo urchin, plus a handful of hermits, could they have eat'n it? i wasn't paying attention for about 2-3 days then noticed that my azure was gone, not behind my tank and my cats weren't sick. so basically im asking if a fish dies and my "clean-up crew" takes care of he mess will it still spike the nitrates?

 

[Flreefer]

First off, yes, your CUC could definitely clean up a Damsel in a couple days time. You will still get some nitrates from it, while it was decaying in the tank, but the CUC taking care of it is far better than it wasting away into your water column. Best option would be to remove anything dead immediately, but the CUC is there for exactly that, when we don't notice or can't find a missing fish.
Rough guesstimate, they probably consumed about half of the nitrates that were on their way into your water.

 

[mikestanked]

What about a dead hermit crab? There has been one in my tank for about 2 days now.

 

[ganiel]

Thanks for the replies. I just wished I discovered this Forum before I even started my aquarium Please correct me if Im wrong, dead fish will give off ammonia which in turn be converted to Nitites and then to Nitrates? Or it dead fish will straight give off Nitrates? Im very new to this hobby and Im just armed with "Saltwater Aquarium for Dummies" book when I started

 

[Flreefer]

What about a dead hermit crab? There has been one in my tank for about 2 days now.

Pull it out, anything dead will release ammonia, leading to higher nitrates. The amount is dependent on the size of the animal.

 

[Flreefer]

Thanks for the replies. I just wished I discovered this Forum before I even started my aquarium Please correct me if Im wrong, dead fish will give off ammonia which in turn be converted to Nitites and then to Nitrates? Or it dead fish will straight give off Nitrates? Im very new to this hobby and Im just armed with "Saltwater Aquarium for Dummies" book when I started

Yup, you got it. Sorry, I should have been more clear about the cycle. Ammonia-Trites-Trates.

 

[ganiel]

Thanks for the confirmation. I made a mistake last Saturday, I overloaded my tank in 1 shot by adding 7 Blue Damsels and 3 Talbot Damsels. Hard to say no to my two sons (2 and 4 yr olds) and spoil their excitement. Now have to pay the price....$30 worth of saltwater lol