rileyrk190

Well i decided to change the gravel and do a thorough cleaning of my ten gallon tank. I took one of the filter cartriges from my 55g and soaked it in the water (its still in there) and i also had the existing cartrige from before i cleaned, and i took 3 gallons from my 55g tank. So i did a water test, and my nitrites are at 0
ammonia 0
pH 7.6
nitrates 10

why are my nitrates so high and what can i do?

rileyrk190

oh and there isnt any fish in it yet so dont worry!

saqib

dont worry...your nitrates arent that high!
its safe for the nitrates to be around 20 even...but should never cross 25....

regular water changes can bring it down dramatically

rileyrk190

well all of my other tanks have between three and five, so i was just wondering why this tank is so high?

morganrules

what was the nitrate at before you did the change and you really shouldnt worry as long as you dont go above 25

clinton1621

10 is pretty normal for nitrates, as already mentioned though once you hit 20 and up it is toxic to fish. You mentioned changing the gravel... I would guess that if your readings were lower before you did this then you probably just stirred up all the accumulated waste from the old gravel, a large water change (50%) would cut it in half but you really shouldnt have to with a level of only 10, just regular weekly water changes will keep it in check.... live plants will help bring it down as well.

jdhef

I wouldn't worry about the nitrates, but are you getting ammonia into the tank? If you don't feed the bacteria, it will die off and you will need to cycle all over. So either add your fish or put in drops of ammonia or fish food.

rileyrk190

I have been adding fishfood everyday. I have to take it apart tonight anyways and put the gravel in a ziplock. I have to move the tank tomorrow. i just wanted to start the cycle, so that it wouldnt be that long once i got settled at school. Im gonna take some water with me and keep the filter wet in a ziplock bag. Thanks for the help.. i was only concerned because my nitrates have never been that high before.