nitrate quick question

[clockradio]

I did a pwc yesterday due to my nitrate being a high. I checked again today and it looks like its about 40ppm. is this ok or should I do another pwc. if so how soon can I do it? eveything else seems normal.

 

[rich311k]

You want to try toget it under 20 ppm. You can do another water change today. Your fish will love you for all the clean fresh water.

 

[Zagz]

You can do a pwc every day, IMO you can't overchange the water. How often do you feed your fish? I had a problem with nitrates and didn't realize I was overfeeding my fish. I cut back on the feedings and the nitrates stay below 20 ppm now.

 

[clockradio]

You can do a pwc every day, IMO you can't overchange the water

Really I was curious about that. I was always afraid that I might do some damage if I did it too often. As far as feeding, I feed them twice a day and just enough so theres nothing left after 2-4 min. Is there some other measurement I could use?

I'm actually looking foward to doing a water change. Got a new python, any reason to use it.

thanx y'all

 

[clockradio]

oh I forgot to ask, should I vacume the gravel everytime or like every week? I know its a dumb question but rather be sure.

 

[rich311k]

As long as your nitrates are high I would vacuum the gravel. Once they stabalize once a week is fine.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I would do 30% water changes daily for the next three days. That should get your level down. How often are you currently doing water changes?

 

[clockradio]

I do them weekly at about 50%
is this enough or should i change less % more often

 

[Lonewolfblue]

That's all up to you. As Zagz stated above, you can't overchange the water. A single large PWC a week, or several small ones, same results. The fish will love you when you do it.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I would do several larger water changes over the next few days to get the level down. Then maintain the level by doing changes twice a week. With the fish that you currently have, I can't imagine why the Nitrates would be so high unless they are being overfed.

 

[bosk1]

I recently had to do 4 50-60% pwc's within just over a 24 hour period. I was in emergency mode, but still...no harm to the fish, and they really seemed to enjoy the water changes--they would come and frolic near the python as the new water was coming in.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What test kit are you using?

 

[bosk1]

Me, or the thread starter? If you were asking which one I am using: AP liquid 4-in-1 kit.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The thread starter.

 

[clockradio]

thanks for the help y'all
the nitrates are down to what looks like 20ppm but i'll do another pwc today just to be sure
again thanks

 

[clockradio]

I'm sorry, I didn't notice the second page.
I use the Ap FW Master Test Kit. I try to test at least weekly. I guess I must be over feeding unless I'm screwing up the test. Either way I'll do a pwc today.

 

[rich311k]

Sounds like you have things back under control. How much and how often do you feed?

 

[clockradio]

I feed twice a day. Mostly some shrimp pellets and flakes. I feed about 6 pellets and about 3/4 of those little rubber tiped baby spoons. What do you thnk?

 

[rich311k]

Maybe just feed the pellets once a day and cut back a little on the flakes. See how the nitrates do. How large are the angels? Any pics?

 

[nomadofthehills]

Have you tested your tap water? Some have nitrates in them!