Nitrate

[Trainer_Ruby_]

I have nitrate of 100 so I did a 80% wc last night when I tested it this morning it's almost the exact same. There's nothing dead and no wast on the floor. Where could it be coming from and how do I fix it?


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[Eggheadfish]

Try testing your tap water and cutting back on feeding. Are you shaking the bottle per the instructions?

 

[Trainer_Ruby_]

Yes I follow the instructions to the letter. I use a stopwatch to get as accurate as possible


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[Delapool]

Do you have canister or very large filters? If I want halve my nitrates at least, I do a canister filter clean.

 

[dcutl002]

One thing that may help is adding some floating, fast growing plants. Hornwort is an excellent plant to soak up those nitrates. When I started my tank I also had problems with Nitrates no matter how many water changes I performed. I added a bunch of floating plants, which sucked up those Nitrates like a sponge. The tank has been up and running about two years now and I have no problems. I have removed most of the floating plants, but I always keep a small bunch just in case. They grow very quickly so you will always have to thin them out or they will take over and shade the other plants.


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[Trainer_Ruby_]

One thing that may help is adding some floating, fast growing plants. Hornwort is an excellent plant to soak up those nitrates. When I started my tank I also had problems with Nitrates no matter how many water changes I performed. I added a bunch of floating plants, which sucked up those Nitrates like a sponge. The tank has been up and running about two years now and I have no problems. I have removed most of the floating plants, but I always keep a small bunch just in case. They grow very quickly so you will always have to thin them out or they will take over and shade the other plants.


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I had hornwort and still had a bit of nitrate. Should I add more?


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[dcutl002]

Let it cover the top. As Nitrates subside gradually remove the hornwort. Cabomba and Duckweed will also work.


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[Trainer_Ruby_]

Hornwort is in and I'll check on Sunday to see where the nitrate is when I do my water changes


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[Tigerbarb12]

Also test your tap for nitrates, my tap shows about 5ppm nitrates before it even goes in the tank, but i have well water

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[Trainer_Ruby_]

Nitrate in the tap is about 5. The tanks seems to be gradually decreasing I'll get more hornwort tomorrow and add it


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[candymancan]

If you have city water youre tap should be at 0ppm for nitrates, as nitrates are poisonous for humans too..


Did extra gravel vacuuming,,. move all stones or wood you have vacuume under them.. and revacuum the tank again and then clean out your filters... And do another big water change and the nitrates should be gone.

 

[trennamw]

What was your water change schedule before they got to 100? When was the last nitrate test and what level was it?


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[dcutl002]

Nitrate in the tap is about 5. The tanks seems to be gradually decreasing I'll get more hornwort tomorrow and add it


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Hornwort is a fast grower. It will get to the point where you will have to throw some away.


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[Caliban07]

The maximum ppm on the api scale is 160ppm so it would be quite difficult to estimate 100ppm. Perhaps you have a higher concentration of nitrates than you originally thought?

I would do another water change or enough to get it back down. That way you can gauge how fast it's rising.

Most common causes of high nitrates are over feeding and over stocking. What's you full set up?


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[Trainer_Ruby_]

What was your water change schedule before they got to 100? When was the last nitrate test and what level was it?


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I did 30% on Sunday 15% on. Wednesday and 20% any time a fish died. Tests are before water change and the day after. It's typically low but it seems to have spiked massively


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[Trainer_Ruby_]

The maximum ppm on the api scale is 160ppm so it would be quite difficult to estimate 100ppm. Perhaps you have a higher concentration of nitrates than you originally thought?

I would do another water change or enough to get it back down. That way you can gauge how fast it's rising.

Most common causes of high nitrates are over feeding and over stocking. What's you full set up?


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1 juvenile dojo 6 corydoras 3 sail fin mollies 10 zebra/longfin danios. They get as much food as they can eat in 2 min the rest is taken out as best I can corys get 3 sinking wafers at night flakes in the morning and at night


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[coralbandit]

Smaller waterchanges remove less nutrients.
Every time you add new/fresh water you dilute the waste and make it even harder to remove in any volume.
Larger waterchanges(not less then 50%) will be most helpful for you.
The % of water changed is the % the nutrient will be reduced.
50% water change =50% reduction in nitrates.

 

[Trainer_Ruby_]

So I Should do 75-80 until it's gone then do 50% regularly from now on right?


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[coralbandit]

Measure you nitrates first.
Then do a 50% waterchange(make sure new water matches old{temp,ph...}).
Then measure nitrates again in like an hour.
You won't necessarily need to do 50% every week but it will not hurt anything.
You just do your test weekly and see if you need to do a water change,and how much.
Nitrates are best around 20 and under, you do NOT need to get them to zero.

 

[Trainer_Ruby_]

Alright. I'll do another water change today and scrub the filter in some warm water and give everything a good cleaning. I noticed yesterday the inside of my tank has a slimy coat is that normal to get with snails? I got a bit of an infestation las time I put hornwort in the tank. Or should I scrape that off?


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