high nitrates

[farmgirl]

I'm having trouble with high nitrates and would like to know if there is a product that can chemically lower them. Living on the farm I have well water, and with all the wet weather we have had my tap water is coming out 60 plus on the no3 test. I can't really afford to do my pwc with bottled water as it is a 90 gallon aquarium. One of my boesmani rainbows is showing these signs - swimming at the canister output, discolored gils, color has faded, slight flashing around, and breathing from the top of the tank. I am doing pwc's, my test show 0 amonia, 0 no2 and 60-80 no3. I'm afraid he's being poisoned by nitrates. The thought of adding unnecessary chem's to the tank really bothers me, but losing fish to high nitrates bothers me more. Any ideas?? TIA.

 

[theotheragentm]

Plants. That is the best way I can think of it, but it would take time, and it sounds like you need a lot of water. You'd have to keep a separate tank with plants to suck up nitrates for a week or so and then pump the water to the larger tank.

 

[7Enigma]

Any of the ammonia/nitrIte/nitrAte products on the market should work. I think Nitrazorb is one but I could be making that up. Greenfish posted in the general forum about this product and another member said they have heard good things about it. Seems like it would be perfect for your tank.

Purigen will make your water crystal clear including completely removing tannins. It isn't the cheapest but at least it is reusable. It works awsome!
http://www.seachem.com/products/prod...s/Purigen.html

One thing you might want to do with these products is use them for say 12-24 hours after a water change and then remove them (if safe for the media). We don't recommend Ammo-lock and other ammonia absorbers because it starves the bacteria and creates a cycle when you remove the absorbers or they run out of effectiveness. By using it quickly for under a day the bacteria should be fine, and you should be able to get the numbers down to an acceptable level for your fish.

Plants if properly cared for can also help, but the key word is properly...otherwise you have more nitrAte as the plants wither in the tank.

This may be one of those rare circumstances where less frequent or smaller percentage water changes are warranted!

 

[roka64]

That sounds more like ammonia poisoning. Can you get your LFS to double check your water? What kind of test kit and how old is it?

 

[Zagz]

I agree with Roka, the nitrates in your tank are not so high as to cause those symptoms. I have rescued fish that survived in nitrate of 80ppm regularily. While they weren't the healthiest they did not gasp or anything like that. Ammonia or nitrite poisioning have the symptoms you are describing. Are you using a dechlorinator. Perhaps the ph is unstable? What kind of test kit are you using? Liquid or strips? Another thing you can do for your pwc's is let the water you intend to change with sit for a few days. All bacteria's will die off and then you can add to the tank.

I'd recommed taking some of your well water to your lfs for testing to be sure.

 

[7Enigma]

It may very well be none of what we are suggesting. The main problem in this case is that the RUNOFF from the wet weather is getting into the water system. It could be anything from pesticides and fertilizers to heavy metals or other baddies. This is why those of us with public water can tell after a large storm because our tap water will smell much more of chlorine (they are adding more than normal to take into consideration the possibility of slight contamination).

That's why I recommended something like Purigen; carbon would also do the job. They will non-specifically get rid of a bunch of stuff from the water even if you're not specifically targeting it.

Another reason why I would recommend fewer, smaller water changes for the time being. Feed more sparingly and make sure to vac out any waste/debris when you do a water change.

Goodluck.

 

[farmgirl]

Thanks guys, learned a good lesson here. I use a master test kit, it is fairly new, and i use it regularly. I do have my well water tested regularly, as I work in a nutritional lab with access to micro as well as other typical tests. My ph levels are high (8.4) but very stable. Unfortunately my local fish store is 1 1/2 hours away, and I doubt they can test any more than I can at work... I have learned that if I am expecting a lot of wet weather, I need to do all my pwc in my tanks before hand, as my well water will hold the high nitrates (and who knows what else) for approx. one week, then go back to normal, that is if the wet weather stops being wet! I did lose the rainbow but all is stable now. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate.