40 to 50 ppm i did a water change. Nitrate is still high

[pettygil]

40 to 50 ppm Nitrate. I did a water change in my 6.5 gallon betta tank. The betta that wont eat is safe, butt betta that will eat is 40 to 50 ppm. i did a 50 percent wc and the Nitrate still did not come down, so I did a 15 percent WC and that nitrate is still high. how did I get the Nitrate down?
And yes. I am using Spring Water!

 

[Andy Sager]

40 to 50 ppm Nitrate. I did a water change in my 6.5 gallon betta tank. The betta that wont eat is safe, butt betta that will eat is 40 to 50 ppm. i did a 50 percent wc and the Nitrate still did not come down, so I did a 15 percent WC and that nitrate is still high. how did I get the Nitrate down?
And yes. I am using Spring Water!

If your nitrate was 40 PPM and you did a 50% water change, your nitrate level would have come down to 20-25 PPM. While not ideal, not something to be overly concerned about. This is the result of the fish created ammonia ( since you are using spring water). Before this time, when was the last time you did a water change in these tanks?

 

[pettygil]

Wrong Chart. That made a big difference!

If your nitrate was 40 PPM and you did a 50% water change, your nitrate level would have come down to 20-25 PPM. While not ideal, not something to be overly concerned about. This is the result of the fish created ammonia ( since you are using spring water). Before this time, when was the last time you did a water change in these tanks?

I just did a wc today. Then I checked my nitrates and found high nitrates, I checked all my tanks today for Nitrates. Just one of the tanks has the high nitrates. But the ammonia is fine in all my tanks.
I shaked the bottle real good, so that is not the problem.
Wait a minute. I checked against the salt water chart instead of the freshwater chart, I get 10 to 20 ppm. I will keep an eye out on it. Like I said wrong chart, that made a bit difference. I did big wc today. So it come down, which it did.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Andy Sager]

I just did a wc today. Then I checked my nitrates and found high nitrates, I checked all my tanks today for Nitrates. Just one of the tanks has the high nitrates. But the ammonia is fine in all my tanks.
I shaked the bottle real good, so that is not the problem.
Wait a minute. I checked against the salt water chart instead of the freshwater chart, I get 10 to 20 ppm. I will keep an eye out on it. Like I said wrong chart, that made a bit difference. I did big wc today. So it come down, which it did.
Thanks for your reply.

I asked you, not including today's water change, when was the last time you did a water change?

 

[pettygil]

I asked you, not including today's water change, when was the last time you did a water change?

Sorry about that, the last time I did a water change was about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I am trying to remember. I see what your saying now. So prob I need to do WC every week. The tanks are small. I did put other tiny cory fish only 2 cory fish in with the betta. So my bedding would be a little bit bigger.

 

[Andy Sager]

Sorry about that, the last time I did a water change was about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I am trying to remember. I see what your saying now. So prob I need to do WC every week. The tanks are small. I did put other tiny cory fish only 2 cory fish in with the betta. So my bedding would be a little bit bigger.

There ya go. Yes, it seems like you need to do a change every 7 -10 days. Try testing it at 10 days and if it's high ( 35-40 PPM or higher) change the water and test in 7 days.
Yes, having more fish in the tank will increase the size of the biological filter but I seriously doubt it will ever be large enough to handle your tap water to the point that you won't need to be changing water every few days due to the higher nitrates being created. Look for deals on spring water. My market sometimes does a Buy two 24 packs and get one 24 pack free) or buy one refrigerator canister ( 2.5 gallons) get one 1/2 off.

 

[Colin_T]

If you do a water change on all tanks on the same day, you can get into a routine and simply do water changes one day a week. I did all my tanks on Saturday but you can choose any day to do water changes. Just pick one day a week and make that water change day. That should help keep the nitrates low.

And if the ammonia, nitrite or nitrate is high, do a 75% water change to reduce the level faster.