Overcome by nitrates!!!

[Guest]

Wow.. i did my weekly water test today and my nitrates were at 40!!! Usually they are around 10 and never more than 20. I always do a weekly water change of about 30%.. sometimes more if i feel its necessary. And i test my water weekly ... usually before the water change and only afterwards if i had a problem. Like today i will check it afterwards to see if the nitrate has gone down.. lol. But any clue as to the sudden spike? The only thing ive added recently was 3 guppies and an angelfish.. not much of a bioload... I guess i can cut down on feeding but im usually pretty stingy with that too.

 

[greenmaji]

do you turn off the filters durring feeding?
how much do you feed?
it sounds like something may be decaying somewere in the system..

 

[Guest]

i usually turn down the flow on the filters during feeding, should i turn them all the way off? I just cleaned out my filters and they weren't really that dirty... i know my bioload is always pushing it but i was just surprised when it turned red.. LOL. (the nitrate test kit).. actually im testing it again right now...

 

[Guest]

after about a 70% water change they are at 20 :? still not low enough if you ask me but im gonna do another water change tomorrow... becuase if i leave it like that it will be up to 40 by my next water change. I want to get it down to 5-10 that way it can go a week without a water change.. man this is frustrating... whats surprising is i dont' have an ammonia or nitrite spike.. those are still sitting at zero.

 

[greenmaji]

do you have any decorations on the substrate that you do not sypon under?

you might want to consider bi-weekly water changes or larger % waterchanges weekly (at the rate of increase you've seen latley that might not be the best idea though)

 

[gfink]

Also check your tap water. Something could have happenned to your source.

 

[workfortheman]

Also check your tap water. Something could have happenned to your source.

I was thinking this too. You could get real zealous and call up the water supply company and check on their nitrate levels the past couple of weeks. They are known to spike on occasion!
Otherwise, it sounds like something rotting in the tank. Dead fish/plants, food, how old is the tank?

 

[Devilishturtles]

it sounds like something may be decaying somewere in the system..

Which I'd think would cause a NH3 spike if anything. I bet it's your tap water.

 

[Jchillin]

after about a 70% water change they are at 20

That speaks volumes about the source. Going to have to agree that the water source is the most viable culprit here.

 

[Guest]

well they were 40 before the water change and 20 AFTER the water change... im checking my tapwater right now though...

 

[Guest]

pH- 7.6
Ammonia- between 0 and 0.25
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate - between 0 and 5.0

 

[Jchillin]

That's the answer. Since your tap is showing the trace, stands to reason that it will increase over the course of the week. The fact that you had 20ppm after a 70% water change kinda spelled that out.

Iss it possible for you to get the test results from your water supplier? That may be able to identify the amount of chloramines and other trace substances.

 

[Guest]

what difference would it make? yeah i would know but i can't afford to do water changes any other way so i guess i will just have to live with it until i move. I have a pur filter for my tap that i use to drink out of but other than that...

 

[Snuffleupagus]

Hey Ashley, what happened to the fourth clown loach you used to have? Not that I'm suggesting that it's rotting somewhere, I'm just curious what became of the poor little fellow.

 

[LAGlocker]

Hate to say this but you could always put some duckweed in the tank if you have decent lighting, that stuff will suck up nitrates fast. Of course then part of your weekly or biweekly cleaning will be removing alot of duckweed, but you wont have the problem of high nitrates.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Can duckweed survive in low lighting?

 

[Guest]

Hey Ashley, what happened to the fourth clown loach you used to have? Not that I'm suggesting that it's rotting somewhere, I'm just curious what became of the poor little fellow.

he just passed away one day... maybe it was because of high nitrates? Who knows. but the other 3 are doing great.

When i uesd to have a lot of anacharis floating and planted i never had high nitrates.. maybe i should get some more? But it was always clogging up the filter I guess i can get a bunch of it and see if it makes a difference though... i do need some floating plants in case my guppies decided to give birth anytime soon.

 

[QTOFFER]

Get some Java moss. It grows well even in low light conditions, nothing will eat it - even the snails, and it will soak up your excess nitrates like a sponge. If yopu attach it to something away from the intake, it shouldn't clog up the filter.

 

[Guest]

i have Java fern and i had some Java moss but i really didn't like it.. i thought it was incredibly ugly and it was always clogging up my filter.... i had it tied to driftwood and i had some tied to a piece of slate... also i have two filters so there are two intakes, and they have sponge prefilters over them now (didn't used to)

Java fern is growing on my driftwood now. but even if i do get the anacharis.. which i know grows ok in my tank... has anyone ever used Tetra easy balance or something like that ... it has something in it that's supposed to reduce nitrates and reduce the need for frequent water changes... of course i would still do my normal water changes im just wondering if anyone has ever used it.