Live foods causing nitrates?

[Copachick]

Would feeling my fish too much live food causing my high nitrates?
We dont overfeed by any means... but lately we have been giving them brine shrimp or live black worms instead of the flakes..
Could that be a cause of our super high nitrates?

Just a thought...

 

[hippy guy]

Not sure, but I wana find out also. I assume if its still alive, it shouldn't be a huge issue, but I'm not expert

 

[Termitehunter]

It could. But it's probably not the food but the waste. Live food would be loaded with more proteins than most flake food. The fish your feeding it to need to be able to digest it. This may cause there waste to produce more ammonia as it breaks down slower. More ammonia = more nitrites = more nitrates. Waste produced by processed foods break down in the water much faster than non.

What kind of flake are you feeding? I feed Spirulina flake and Hikari pellet as a staple, then feed frozen 2 to 3 times a week. But my Fahaka puffer eats frozen and live as a staple.

The long intestinal tract of some fish need veggie based food more than anything else. SA/CA cichlids are mostly protein hogs and have a shorter tract designed for protein.

 

[rich311k]

Food is eaten and produces waste, or goes uneaten and produces waste. If your nitrates are high, feed less and change more water.

 

[jetajockey]

Sometimes tap water has nitrates in it also, so it's worth testing as well.