Water Test Results

[black hills tj]

Hey Everyone,

This is the first complete water testing that I've done since the tank has been setup 2 years ago. Since then I have only periodically checked the PH.

PH:between 7.2-7.6
NITRATE:between 20-40
NITRITE:0
AMMONIA:0

So everything looks good except nitrates. I just recently added some live plants. I haven't PWC'd since Wednesday due to some melafix dosing for a tetra with tail rot. Will do a 50% PC this coming Wednesday. Althought Nitrates are pretty high, the fish seem fine.

What affects will high Nitrates have? What will reduce high Nitrates other than PWC's? Should I do a small(10%) PWC to try to reduce the Nitrates even though I've been dosing melafix for a case of tail rot?

 

[LandGhoti]

You're fine on the nitrates. Check again tomorrow and see what the reading is. Anything above 40 I would do a PWC.

 

[Zagz]

I agree you are fine on the nitrates as long as they stay below 40ppm. Ideally you want nitrates of 10-20ppm but live plants will eat up some of the nitrates. When nitrates get extemely high the fish are poisioned the same as with high nitrite. With 40ppm you are not going to poision your fish.

 

[Pleco]

If you have shrimp nitrates over 20 can be deadly for them. I'm not sure if you have any, but just a FYI

-Pleco

 

[black hills tj]

Thanks for the heads up. No shrimp but I'll keep that in mind.