Nitrates

[hrothgarblue]

Hi! I have been a lurker for a few months and have learned so much from this site!!

I have a question... I have a 27 gallon tank - I have had it since September of last year.

My nitrates have always been high, no matter what I do. Water changes, etc. My fish seem to be fine - I still have my originals from setup as well as some new platys (started with 3 now have 8). Lots of fry - some actually survive.

What is the deal with nitrates? My nitrites are zero - which I have learned is ideal. Can I fix the high nitates and are they a danger?

Thanks!!

 

[Pure]

To know if they are a danger to your fish we need to know how high they are..What are your readings?

Test your tap water and see if that is one of the sources. It's not unheard of for tap water to have a nitrate reading of around 20ppm.

If they are zero at the tap, reduce your feedings and increase frequency of your water changes, and change more water during the change.

Also clean your filter as that can be a nitrate factory if uncleaned for very long.

Welcome to the site*PEACE!*

 

[FroggyFox]

I totally agree with Pure. Check the tap water to see if the nitrates are coming from there.

Careful cleaning your filter...you want to use dechlorinated water, maybe some used water from a water change otherwise you'll kill your bacteria.

Nice to have a lurker speak up Welcome!

 

[joeyjoeq]

I had this problem when I first had my tank. There was no way for the level to go down. Well the advice Pure and FroggyFox gave you is correct and good too. When you change the water don’t take out about 50% of it. You should really stick with 25% give or take. I did this once and my levels went crazy. I ended up finding out that instead of helping my water I was simply triggering a new water cycle.

 

[Pure]

The amount of water you remove has little to nothing to do with your cycle. The inevitable over vacing of the gravel you did wile removing that much water had more to do with messing with your cycle. This is because the majority of beneficial bacteria in your tank can be found in the filter and in the gravel bed, not actively in the water column.

Who says you have to vac the gravel just to remove water...I do weekly 50% on most of my tanks and even more like 75% on my discus tank with no issues.

 

[SANND]

Nitrates 50 ppm or lower shouldn't be harmful to your fish. You can add some plants to help remove nitrates and just keep up regular water changes.

 

[GIS Guy]

My test kit (drops) always seems to read higher than it should. I tested the tap and it read high. The low $ of the test kit is not giving me lab results.

 

[SANND]

A guy at my LFS told me that if you don't have plants in your tanks, then aquarium salt is good for countering the effects of nitrates. Has anyone heard of this before and if so, how does it work?

 

[FroggyFox]

Pretty sure your lfs guy is another one of those misinformed folk. I'm not thinking of any ways that'd help, unless he's of the school of thought that salt is a 'preventative medication" for your tank...and so any bad effects on your fish from nitrates would be lessened? I personally think its bunk Do the water changes with water that doesn't have nitrates in it and you'll be much better off.

 

[Pure]

Ditto^^^^ Salt as a preventative is crap, and NOTHING will replace the need to do water changes.

 

[Avalon]

Salt = *laughingc

Nitrates are not a major concern. Once they start getting around 80-100 ppm, you might notice some negative changes. Still, I believe that excess is never a good thing. Keep nitrates as low as you can. Water changes, like Pure & Froggy have mentioned, is the best maintenance you can provide your fish.

 

[hrothgarblue]

thanks

Thanks for the helpful info.

I checked our water supply - zero nitrates.

My nitrates were hovering around 60. I have done a couple water changes (without vac) and they are down around 30. I will do a couple more.

I am glad I found this site!

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

you might want to do a small vac to make sure there is nothing in the gravel causing the nitrates to build.

 

[hrothgarblue]

small vac

Thanks - will do a small vac next time... we'll see how it goes