Serious Nitrate Problem

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aweav

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 20, 2007
Messages
18
I never really check Nitrates Before I got on these Forums so I went and got a test Kit. I am reading 200 ppm. That has got to be terrible but yet my fish are completely fine. How large of a water change is safe? And what would be the ideal number to have this at. Also is there anything else that can be done to fix this problem?
 
How often do you change water? What size tank do you have and what is it stocked with?

Since I dont know how long the nitrates have been that high I would recommend smaller say 15% changes everyday for a week or so to bring the nitrates down slowly. Your fish have gotten used to the higher levels and a quick change could adversly effect them.

In the future, water changes are the best way to keep nitrates under control.
 
Ive been doing about 20% every 2 weeks recently, but before I was kinda lacking in the water changes because I wasn't having any problems.
Tank specs:
60Gal unplanted
5 Buenos Aries Tetras
3 Dwarf Neon Rainbows
2 Bleeding Hearts
1 Red Hooked Met
1 Silver Dollar
1 Black Skirt Tetra
1 Krib
3 Rosy Barbs
2 Angels
2 Emperor Tetras
1 Paradise fish
4 Various Gouramis
1 Rubbernose pleco
1 "tiger striped" Loach
1 Gold Wonder Kili
1 Spotted Climbing perch
 
My advice would be to proceed cautiously.
As Rich said, "Your fish have gotten used to the higher levels and a quick change could adversely effect them. "

Firstly, the answers to a few questions would help us give you the best possible advice.

What kind of test are you using - paper strips or liquid? You should retest again - sometimes testing right after a water change causes weird readings because stuff gets kicked up.

Can you have the test repeated by your lfs? This confirm whether or not your initial reading was accurate.

What kind of filter do you have and when was the last time you cleaned it?

When you do a water change, do you vacuum the gravel every time? Plecos are poop factories, and poop=nitrate.

What is the nitrate level in your tapwater? Leave a sample out for a few hours and test it. You may have high nitrates in your tap, especially if you use well water or live in a heavy agricultural area.

If you do indeed have 200 ppm nitrate, you would want to eliminate the cause (insufficient filtration, dirty filter, dirty gravel, high nitrates in tapwater, etc)
Then, you would want to do small water changes so as to avoid shocking the fish.
Throwing in a cheap, low light, fast growing plant would help absorb excess nitrates naturally. Java moss would probably do great in your tank - you'd be scooping out and tossing a handful every week. Beware, adding any more light to a tank high in nitrates will cause an algae bloom. That's why I'd suggest Java moss to start since it will grow in nearly any lighting condition.
 
Right now i am using the dip test strips when testing the water again with the strips i got the same thing. I was about to do another water change when i checked it so I hadn't done anything yet.

My filters are a hang on the back Whisper 60 and an Underground filter. I changed the filter media about 2-3 Weeks ago. As far as vacuuming I have been a little lax on that too.

The Pleco is only about 1.5" right now so I don't think he is a really big deciding factor (although I'm prolly wrong there too)

Im going to test the tap water and see what I get and try to get a sample to my Lfs tomorrow.

As far as java moss I will have to try that too. Although never really did anything with live plants so I will prolly be posting about that soon too :)
 
I can speak from experience on this as I had a similar situation as you in that I never had tested my Nitrate levels and when I did realized they were off the charts. I too had a Undergravel Filter and that is most likely part of the problem. Since they suck the fish waste down into the gravel where it is then broken down by the bacteria it turns into a Nitrate factory. For the stocking level you have in that tank a UGF doesn't provide adequate filtration and the only way to avoid the nitrate buildup is more frequent water changes and or plants. When I switched from a UGF to a canister I pulled up the plates from the UGF and the quantity of mulm/poop down there was scary. My nitrate levels dropped down to a respectable 10ppm quickly after that.
 
That thought had crossed my mind but i was hoping it wouldn't come to me having to pull that thing out of there. I can't imagine the mess Im going to make in the process, but if its going to get the nitrates down then I might have to consider doing it some weekend. I also pulled all the ends off my plastic plants and stuck them in the filter cause they were being uprooted. Well at least this gives me a reason to tell my wife so I can go buy real plants.
 
The dip strips can be notoriously inaccurate. Before worrying about removing an UGF, you need to get an accurate nitrate reading. As mentioned the fish are used to the ntirate level and if it is high you need to lower it slowly so as to not shock and stress the fish.

I personally don't like to use UGF's, they do make a mess when removed, but using filter floss in a HOB filter and changing it regularily will help clear up the mess quickly.
 
yeah i have both HOB and an UGF. The HOB is one that has the like a coarse sponge then floss with carbon in the middle. Is there a home test you recommend that isn't dip strips. I usually rinse the filter in the HOB out every 2 weeks and replace once a month or so. Yeah before i remove the UGF I will exhaust all other options.
 
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