Need help with 80 ppm nitrate
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Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
So it climbed to 80 PPM after a few days even with the nitrate removal pad?
I just put the Nitrate pad today. I put in both my filters which is hang on back filters. I hope it works. I know I put the filter in my 6.5 gallon, it took care of the Nitrate.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
So this tank didn't have a nitrate pad in it? If that's the case, test the nitrates again in 48 hours.
Would you like me to take a photo of my test results? All I know is I have to get rid of these high Nitrates. I do not want my fish to die.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Your tap water may now have more nitrates in them so I'd check that before doing any more water changes. I don't need to see any pictures.Would you like me to take a photo of my test results? All I know is I have to get rid of these high Nitrates. I do not want my fish to die.
Also, I said to test in 48 hours . That's 2 days, not 3. You said in 3 days your nitrates went back up to 80 ppm so I want to see the number before 3 days.
I know you said you do not want photos but I do not have anyone to tell me if what I am seeing is correct. I just took a couple of photos. My cell phone is clearer for photos. Also I know you meant 2 days, that is 48 hours.
Looks close to 160 for nitrates, that is high I think for any fish. Well in 2 days I will let you know what the levels are.
The numbers are blurry So the first bar is 0 for Nitrate
2nd bar 5.0
3 bar 10 ppm
4th bar20 ppm
5th bar 40 ppm
6 bar80 ppm
7 bar 160 ppm
Now that I look at it, looks like 40 ppm
Just let me know what the color look closest to.
Looks close to 160 for nitrates, that is high I think for any fish. Well in 2 days I will let you know what the levels are.
The numbers are blurry So the first bar is 0 for Nitrate
2nd bar 5.0
3 bar 10 ppm
4th bar20 ppm
5th bar 40 ppm
6 bar80 ppm
7 bar 160 ppm
Now that I look at it, looks like 40 ppm
Just let me know what the color look closest to.
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I was reading online that Corys like very small Nitrates
I was reading online that Corys like very small Nitrates. I have at least 40 to 80 ppm, which will make Cory cats feel bad, or sick. I should have close to 0 ppm for cory cats to thrive. That is what I read about it, online.
I am going to have to get real plants, see if that helps. It should help, from what I know about it.
I was reading online that Corys like very small Nitrates. I have at least 40 to 80 ppm, which will make Cory cats feel bad, or sick. I should have close to 0 ppm for cory cats to thrive. That is what I read about it, online.
I am going to have to get real plants, see if that helps. It should help, from what I know about it.
If nitrate isnt in your tapwater then it is cycling from ammonia to nitrate. If a weekly 50% water change isnt enough to control nitrate at acceptable levels there is too much ammonia going into the water.
Possible sources of too much ammonia.
- You have too many fish for your tank size. What size tank is it. What fish? How many?
- You are overfeeding the fish. As much as is eaten in 3 minutes once a day. If you feed more often, don't feed as much.
- Something in the aquarium is leaching ammonia into the water which is cycling to nitrate. We've been through this before with the substrate. Redo the test you did with some substrate in a container of water and see if ammonia goes up after 24/ 48 hours.
If you arent seeing problems, there probably isnt a problem. I keep panda corys in what most people would consider high nitrate just fine. They breed, they live out more than expected lifespans etc. I have a tank full of them, the original ones are probably 6 or 7 years old, ive lost 2 fish in those 6 or 7 years.
Getting real plants may or may not help. There are nutrient hungry plants that will take up nitrate at a fast rate and there are low demand plants that wont make any noticable dent.
Floating plants that have ready access to CO2 and good light will grow fast and take up nitrate.Terrestrial plants sat on top of the tank with ready access to CO2 and light and their roots hanging down in the tank water will take up nitrate. High demand plants that require specialist lighting and injected CO2 will take up nitrate.
Typically the common aquarium plants that people keep are low demand plants and you wont notice much in the way of nitrate absorption.
Possible sources of too much ammonia.
- You have too many fish for your tank size. What size tank is it. What fish? How many?
- You are overfeeding the fish. As much as is eaten in 3 minutes once a day. If you feed more often, don't feed as much.
- Something in the aquarium is leaching ammonia into the water which is cycling to nitrate. We've been through this before with the substrate. Redo the test you did with some substrate in a container of water and see if ammonia goes up after 24/ 48 hours.
If you arent seeing problems, there probably isnt a problem. I keep panda corys in what most people would consider high nitrate just fine. They breed, they live out more than expected lifespans etc. I have a tank full of them, the original ones are probably 6 or 7 years old, ive lost 2 fish in those 6 or 7 years.
Getting real plants may or may not help. There are nutrient hungry plants that will take up nitrate at a fast rate and there are low demand plants that wont make any noticable dent.
Floating plants that have ready access to CO2 and good light will grow fast and take up nitrate.Terrestrial plants sat on top of the tank with ready access to CO2 and light and their roots hanging down in the tank water will take up nitrate. High demand plants that require specialist lighting and injected CO2 will take up nitrate.
Typically the common aquarium plants that people keep are low demand plants and you wont notice much in the way of nitrate absorption.
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The size of my tank is 40 gallon high.
I have Corys and Tetras
How many i have: 5 Corys and 4 panda cories and Pack Of Black Neon Tetras Which I have 3o of those fish. And 6 Glow fish.
You are overfeeding the fish.
No, I feed for a few minutes then I am done. I put drop pellets for my bottom feeders. I put at least 10 pellets for my Cory's.
substrate.is fine I tested it before putting in Fish tank, all my other tanks have low Nitrate and they are using the same substrate.
I took my sponge out my tank and replace with just the pads until my Nitrates come down.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Did the sponge you removed come from the second filter or the one that usually is on the tank?
I have 2 filters in my 40 Gallon, high. I have just one sponge in my filter, along with the nitrate pad, which I put in front of the filter. The other filter I have no sponge, just the nitrate pad. Should I remove all sponges, and replace with just the Nitrate pad? Sorry if this is confusing.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
No, you shouldn't have removed the sponge at all. That's where a large part of your bacteria bed is.
That never should be removed for longer than to be rinsed off. If it's still wet, there's a chance the bacteria are still alive so rinse it off and put it back in the filter. The second ( spare) filter can have all the nitrate pads you can fit in there but your primary filter should not be changed to address a single or one time situation. If you got the extra tetras already, that may be why your nitrate jumped so fast because now you have a larger ammonia source so you have a larger amount of ammonia being converted into nitrate. I was under the impression you were only getting 10 more Black Neons but now you say you got an extra 20. That could be your problem, TOO MANY FISH.
No, you shouldn't have removed the sponge at all. That's where a large part of your bacteria bed is.
If you got the extra tetras already, that may be why your nitrate jumped so fast because now you have a larger ammonia source so you have a larger amount of ammonia being converted into nitrate. I was under the impression you were only getting 10 more Black Neons but now you say you got an extra 20. That could be your problem, TOO MANY FISH.
So what your saying is to keep one filter with with sponge, along with Nitrate pad, and the extra filter just with nitrate pads. So I do not need 2 sponges, just one sponge for the main filter. I hope I got that right. Sorry about the confusion, I did get 10 fishes, but because these fish like to school I bought 20 more of the same fish. I hope this is not over stocking, but if it is, how many wC every few days do I need to do. Or once a week? And now many water changes per week? How many days should I wait to see improvement with Nitrates with the Nitrate pads. I have had Nitrate pad for one day and I still have high nitrates. I will say my fish look great despite the high nitrates, they are swimming and active. And they still like to eat, like liitle piggies. lol
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yes, you leave the main filter with the sponge and added nitrate pad then use just the nitrate pads in the second filter.
As for how many water changes is it going to take, the only way to know is if the nitrate level keeps climbing at a rapid rate. You can do water changes every day without harming the fish. You just don't need to do large changes every day. For now tho, you want to see how well those nitrate pads are working. You can test daily or every other day but you should be seeing a reduction in nitrates without doing water changes if the pads are working. How long the pads will continue to work is unknown. If you see a rise in nitrates after seeing a consistent reduction in nitrates, you have to assume the pads have stopped working and need replacing or recharging ( if that is possible. )
As for adding the 20 Neons vs the 10, that was a lot of fish to add at one time and I wouldn't have advised doing that. The good news is that you don't show a rise in ammonia or nitrite so the bacteria bed was able to handle the new additions rapidly. Now with this removal of the sponge, you need to keep an eye out for an ammonia or nitrite rise. If you see a rise in them, you need to do a major water change and add the Fritz #7 if you have any left that has not expired yet. The rise will be a signal that you killed off or severely damaged the biological bed so your tank is no longer " cycled" and you are starting from scratch with a lot of fish in the tank.
Yes, you leave the main filter with the sponge and added nitrate pad then use just the nitrate pads in the second filter.
As for how many water changes is it going to take, the only way to know is if the nitrate level keeps climbing at a rapid rate. You can do water changes every day without harming the fish. You just don't need to do large changes every day. For now tho, you want to see how well those nitrate pads are working. You can test daily or every other day but you should be seeing a reduction in nitrates without doing water changes if the pads are working. How long the pads will continue to work is unknown. If you see a rise in nitrates after seeing a consistent reduction in nitrates, you have to assume the pads have stopped working and need replacing or recharging ( if that is possible. )
As for adding the 20 Neons vs the 10, that was a lot of fish to add at one time and I wouldn't have advised doing that. The good news is that you don't show a rise in ammonia or nitrite so the bacteria bed was able to handle the new additions rapidly. Now with this removal of the sponge, you need to keep an eye out for an ammonia or nitrite rise. If you see a rise in them, you need to do a major water change and add the Fritz #7 if you have any left that has not expired yet. The rise will be a signal that you killed off or severely damaged the biological bed so your tank is no longer " cycled" and you are starting from scratch with a lot of fish in the tank.
I still have Fritz and it is not out dated. I did use some fritz 7 in my tank. The Ammonia is at 0. Nitrite is at 0. I am not buying anymore fish, since I might be over stocked. i hope these Nitrate pads work. Do you know what Nitrate pads would be the most helpful? I am not sure these pads will work, or not. They have all kinds on Amazon, not sure what pads really work. Thanks for your reply. I did read online that Nitrates can go from 80 to 100 PPM before their is a problem, not sure if that is true or not.
Andy Sager
Aquarium Advice Addict
I still have Fritz and it is not out dated. I did use some fritz 7 in my tank. The Ammonia is at 0. Nitrite is at 0. I am not buying anymore fish, since I might be over stocked. i hope these Nitrate pads work. Do you know what Nitrate pads would be the most helpful? I am not sure these pads will work, or not. They have all kinds on Amazon, not sure what pads really work. Thanks for your reply. I did read online that Nitrates can go from 80 to 100 PPM before their is a problem, not sure if that is true or not.
The only way you will know if they really work is to test your water and mark down the results. ( Try to do the test at the same times and not too close to feeding time or not right after a water change. ) That way, you will see with your own eyes whether the level is rising or falling.
As for which pad is best, I've only used the Poly Filter pad. It has never failed me so I had no need to try anything else.
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