Nitrates won't go down

[Tate]

After my cycle I did 50% change then it went down to 40 then I did a 25% then it was at 60 ppm why did my nitrates not go down

[Scelzin1]

When you do water changes what type if water are you using? If tap make sure they don't have nitrates in them already

[MarinaClown]

Tank must still be cycling.

[Tate]

I am using rodi water and my nitrites and ammonia are at 0 also

[Tate]

I took out all my bio balls and scrubbed my sponge on the intake of the overflow I don't know what the problem can be

[TheTodd]

It seems odd that it was at 40 and went up to 60 after a water change. Have you tested the water you are adding during water changes? Mix a small batch and test just like you would your tank water.

[gleach]

Maybe 50% was to much?

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[TheTodd]

50% after cycling is okay. It should drop the nitrates quite a bit if what is being added has no nitrates.

[dmolavi]

have you double checked those tests? what brand test kit?

[Tate]

They are api master test kit and now after waiting the test is around 160

[Tate]

Maybe the water is just so filled with nitrates they won't go down?

[Tate]

And I just did a 30% water change

[TheTodd]

You have to test correctly or the readings will be inaccurate. 10 drops of bottle #1...shake like crazy for a 30 seconds ( or is it a minute?). 10 drops of bottle #2 ( bottle needs to have been shaken well prior) and shake for a minute...wait 5 minutes and check out color.

High nitrates are good at the end of the cycle. Were they 160 after the change? If so, do another and probably closer to 50%.

I kinda look at it like chocolate milk...if you take a cup of that and remove 50% and add 50% white milk, you have lighter milk, but there is still chocolate. You want as little chocolate (nitrates) as possible. There can't be too much that it would not come out if new is not being added.

[gleach]

Get a refugium?

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[TheTodd]

A refugium will not bring nitrates down to zero and that is not really a necessity. If he has one set up already, then throw some Chaeto or Culerpa in and it will help in the long run. Lots of people don't use them. There will still be nitrates and PWCs will still need to be done.

[Tate]

I ran out of salt and got a small bag and mixed our whole tub and filled the tank and I don't want to keep on removing water if nitrates don't go down

[gleach]

Would pre mixed water from an lfs be a better choice for this guy? Anybody? I don't know if you are using ro/di and I've heard it can cause issues if you are using tap depending on where you live. Don't know for sure but I thought my book stated tap water depending where you live can contain elements that can mess with certain perameters.

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[Tate]

I am using rodi water

[TheTodd]

They should go down with a large water change. I would test the water prior to adding, just to see if it has any nitrates. It shouldn't, but a test couldn't hurt.

Did you remove the shrimp?

[TheTodd]

Test the water you will be adding, not what's in the tank.