Nitrates

[MikeyD]

I have a tank that has fish in it. I've done a 50% water change last week on friday because my nitrates were at 80 ppm here we are 3 days later and my trates are still at 80ppm. Even after I did the water change it was still at 80 ppm. What the [moderator edit] is going on? Is there anything I can do besides start all over again

 

[davePM]

I have a tank that has fish in it. I've done a 50% water change last week on friday because my nitrates were at 80 ppm here we are 3 days later and my trates are still at 80ppm. Even after I did the water change it was still at 80 ppm. What the [moderator edit] is going on? Is there anything I can do besides start all over again

More water changes! It could be that the nitrates are maxing out the test, so you may need to do several changes back to back to reduce the level of nitrates enough to be able to properly test. Also make sure you are testing properly ( which test kit are you using?), you must shake that second bottle like your life depends on it! And when you have shaken it enough, shake it some more!!

 

[tlkng1]

WE had another member with the same issue...come to find out his nitrates were normal. He was using the API test kit and hadn't shaken the 2nd bottle when he first did the tests..it changed the concentarion of the reagent in the bottle. He finally took a tube of his water to his LFS and had them test it...nitrates were normal.

As Dave said, multiple changes back to back. If those don't work, it has to be in your replacement water or the test kit is off.

 

[joy13]

What kind of food are you feeding? If it is frozen make sure you rinse it well in tank water or ro water. Did anything die in your tank? How old is your tank? Another thing is what kind of sand do you have or is it crush coral? Feeding the fish shortly after the lights come on is suppose to help keep the nitrates down as well it gives the fish and CUC time to eat the food. What kind of filter are you using and are you using bio balls?

I did battle with nitrates for a couple of weeks because a fish died in the overflow. I did get it under control but it seemed to take forever. I didn't have any fish in the tank at the time because they were in QT. I did daily small 5 gallon water change for about a week and a half straight. My tank is about 40 gallon it is a corner tank so I am not 100% sure.

 

[MikeyD]

I am using the API test kit. It used to test ok. I'm using live sand. I have a fluval 305 in a 40 gallon tank. I feed the fish pellets, and frozen brine, and arcti-pods for my mandarins. I have about 40 lbs of live rock. I'm thinking of changing the filter pads instead of rinsing them as well as all the carbon and biomax. I do not use bio balls. I'm thinking I also might clean the filter inside and get all the crud out. I have in the tank 3 mandarins a male and female green mandarin and a female spotted mandarin as well as a coral beauty angel, two clowns, a yellow watchman paired with a tiger pistol shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, sand sifting starfish and numerous nassarius snails and blue and scarlet hermits.

 

[Jlsardina]

I'd save yourself a lot of aggravation and take a sample into your LFS to test your nitrates. Check the easy things first cause it could be as simple as your test is off. Then move to more complicated issues

 

[Spartachris]

Yep. My API kit went bad too. I tested my tap water with it and discovered it was wrong, as the test indicated we were six times the limit. Not so.

I don't know why the API kit went bad. I always shook mine. But a new kit is probably the solution.

 

[MikeyD]

Well I work at petsmart so I'll use one of our tests tomorrow. Lol. If it turns out the test is bad I will pick up a new test. But the weird thing is I also have a 20 gallon and the nitrates are always testing between 10-20 ppm. But I'll check again. I'm just gonna clean the filter system really good and change some of the foam and I have 5 gallons of water already mixed up so I might as well change it out while I'm doing this

 

[MikeyD]

I will keep updating

 

[MikeyD]

Test is bad. I took a sample to work with me and I'm at 20 ppm. Still gonna scrub the filter and stuff though.

 

[Jlsardina]

Test is bad. I took a sample to work with me and I'm at 20 ppm. Still gonna scrub the filter and stuff though.

Lol. See? Was an easy fix!

 

[MikeyD]

Yes yes it was. Thank you all for the help