MoraRocks
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
If the water changes don't fix this I will definitely try the salt. ive used it for ich before and have no problem trying something to help.
High Nitrates wont go down
- Thread starter MoraRocks
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Salt will not help with high nitrates nor will it 'balance' your water. If you do not have fish with a medical condition that warrants the use of salt, do not add it.
Can you please also retest your tap for nitrates? Unless your feeding very heavily or there's incredible amount of waste and debris in your substrate, daily big wcs should be dropping your nitrate levels. Do you have public or well water?
SandyCheeks
Aquarium Advice Freak
I personally wouldn't change the gravel or make any changes until the nitrate problem is solved.
Could there be something wrong with the test kit itself that could cause the Nitrate reading to be way off, like maybe the bottles are old or expired or something?
Do you have any test strips to do a quick test comparison, or a friend who could lend you another test kit to try?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Good advice!!
I missed the gravel change part and agree changing it right now would not be a good idea until the tank situation is straightened out. Even taking a sample of the tank and tap water to a decent lfs for some comparison testing would be worthwhile here to rule out problems with the test itself. You also can run a comparison test on some distilled water (which has zero of everything) to see if your getting a zero result or something else (which would indicate a test issue).
I agree with Sandy. Sounds like a bad test kit. I would try test strips. They may not be real accurate but they are good enough for what you are doing.
On the salt. Proper dosage is 1TBS per 5 gallons. And it helps prevent nitrite uptake which is important when your tank is cycling. It also makes it difficult for diseases to grow in your tank
On the salt. Proper dosage is 1TBS per 5 gallons. And it helps prevent nitrite uptake which is important when your tank is cycling. It also makes it difficult for diseases to grow in your tank
MoraRocks
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
its a brand new test kit and I test my goldfish tank as well and the readings are good. im doing all the tests now after w.c. I have well water. the nitrites and ammonia are 0 the nitrAtes are 20ppm. that's why im confused.. i vaccum the gravel but maybe not enough?? im just trying to figure out whats going on here, my Oscars are pouting again and im very worried about them now... i have two caves for them, a bubble wand in the back, and no plants. anything to help please
i will post water tests and dilution tests as soon as im finished
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ah ha! I did not know you have another tank. So, this rules out an issue with the test itself. So, we need to figure out why the nitrates are off the chart in this particular tank.
Do you do weekly (or more frequent) good gravel vacs? Is there alot of debris floating around the tank after a water change? Do you swish your filter media in conditioned water on a regular basis? When was the last time you cleaned the filter housings/tubing themselves? Is there anything in your tank that can trap debris/waste?
Do you do weekly (or more frequent) good gravel vacs? Is there alot of debris floating around the tank after a water change? Do you swish your filter media in conditioned water on a regular basis? When was the last time you cleaned the filter housings/tubing themselves? Is there anything in your tank that can trap debris/waste?
phin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
preventing "nitrite uptake". Thats a new one.
That's an accurate description of what happens, and its beenvery well documented academically.
But yea, I think you should do several back-to-back large water changes (at least 50%) and measure your water after each. Have you cleaned your filter lately?
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MoraRocks
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
okay, the last 2 months has been every week or 2 weeks vacuum. theres not much floating debris when i change the water, just a little bit. if i don't have the vacuum out i use the net to catch it. i have gravel, and two caves one is rough and the other is very smooth but i don't believe they could hold much of anything.. i clean out the tubing and housings every month. its been about 3 weeks. Hot water and a toothbrush.
-"Do you swish your filter media in conditioned water on a regular basis?"
i was never told to do anything like that, you mean the actual carbon filter?
All filter media, be it cartridge, floss, sponge, pad, chemical or biological. Every time you do a water change swish the stuff in old tank water to clean off any funk and then put it back.
phin
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well color me pink and call me cindy. I looked it up and yeah, salt does that. I don't remember that being mentioned at all in the great salt debate thread. I guess its a moot point most of the time since nitrites aren't present in a cycled tank, but I'll be darned, there actually IS a scientific benefit to running salt in your FW tank.
Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Theres alot of academic research on . sing salt in the tank, some are just too stubborn to look into it (not pointing fingers) heres a good article
http://www.myaquariumclub.com/salt-in-a-fresh-water-tank...-blasphemy-240.html
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
Cindy,
The salt thread was more focus on the regular use if salt in aquariums. Salt has definite uses for preventing infection and reducing nitrite toxicity (and only nitrite), and is pretty commonly used as such, but people love to adopt absolute positions on things and stick to that.m
The salt thread was more focus on the regular use if salt in aquariums. Salt has definite uses for preventing infection and reducing nitrite toxicity (and only nitrite), and is pretty commonly used as such, but people love to adopt absolute positions on things and stick to that.m
aqua_chem
Aquarium Advice Addict
That article is about as far from academic research as you can get. He's pretty wrong on a couple points, provides no references, and suggests dosages 10x what even the manufacturers suggest, almost to brackish levels or beyond. It's just generally bad advice.
Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ive looked though it the only thing hes wrong about is dosage.
severum mama
Aquarium Advice Addict
Once the aquarium is cycled, there is no need to use salt on the regular. It is useful for preventing nitrite poisoning (a moot point in a cycled aquarium, as nitrite will read 0 in a cycled aquarium by definition), and for treating ich.
If the author of that blog post honestly believes that "the difference between the two is very little" regarding marine salt and table salt, he or she should really do some more research. So much of the information in that post is just false.
If the author of that blog post honestly believes that "the difference between the two is very little" regarding marine salt and table salt, he or she should really do some more research. So much of the information in that post is just false.
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Angel_fish
Aquarium Advice Activist
Agreed, i would say 1/2 a tsp per gal lol not a cup. I gotta have salt though as i have shrimp. Though i thought alot of what he had to say was good advice as salt can help so many things including nitrates. I like salt during the maturing cycle, it makes it "smoother", levels dot get so wild.
severum mama
Aquarium Advice Addict
That is simply not true.
Shrimp do not need salt, unless you are keeping brackish water species, or species which require brackish water for breeding (in which case, you would need marine salt, NOT aquarium salt or table salt). I have kept many species of shrimp, and have several breeding colonies at this time.
Salt does nothing to help with nitrate levels. Nitrate is the end product of the cycle (bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate) and is removed via water changes. Once again, the only effect that salt has on a cycling aquarium is to help prevent nitrite poisoning. It does not affect levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate.
There is so much wrong with that blog post other than the recommendation to add a cup a gallon of salt.
Shrimp do not need salt, unless you are keeping brackish water species, or species which require brackish water for breeding (in which case, you would need marine salt, NOT aquarium salt or table salt). I have kept many species of shrimp, and have several breeding colonies at this time.
Salt does nothing to help with nitrate levels. Nitrate is the end product of the cycle (bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite, bacteria convert nitrite to nitrate) and is removed via water changes. Once again, the only effect that salt has on a cycling aquarium is to help prevent nitrite poisoning. It does not affect levels of ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate.
There is so much wrong with that blog post other than the recommendation to add a cup a gallon of salt.
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
+1
Sound advice! Its very possible the excess nitrates are sourced from the filter media here. Simply swishing the media to remove excess debris and waste over the next few days along with the wcs may be all that is necessary to bring the nitrate issue under control.
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