t-ace

The nitrates in my ten gallon tank have consistantly been around 20 PPM since the tank cycled. In the past week or so, the nitrates have risen close to 40 ppm, the test from my API test kit is as red as fruit punch. I do 20 - 25% water changes every week. Yesterday i did a 50%, and vacuumed the gravel more thouroughly than i ever have. I also cleaned the filter out, but kept the same media in it to keep from a mini-cycle. The media has not been in there but about two weeks anyway. I also have several live plants in the tank that seem to be thriving. I don't want to put chemicals in the tank to remove nitrates because i don't want to starve the plants. Even after the cleaning yesterday, my nitrates are still climbing. I don't know what to do.

Regal

Have you tested your tap water before adding it to your tank?

t-ace

Yeah, i actually tested the tap water after i tested the tank water to see if that was the problem. The tap water tested 0 ppm, it was a light yellow.

jdhef

The main reason for doing weekly water changes is to reduce the nitrate levels. Depending on how fast your nitrates rise will determine what percentage of the weter you change and how frequently.

For example my tank is pretty well stocked, so I do a 50% water change every week to help keep nitrates down. (And sadly my tap water contains 10ppm nitrates).

Shawnie

smaller tanks are SUPER hard to keep the water prestine and tank parimeters in check...id actually do 2 water changes a week to see if that helps out any..they can be like 20-30% ....are you overfeeding? that can be an issue also....fishies bellys are the size of one of their eyes and even though they beg like they are starving, sometimes we (me included) tend to overfeed...

Nutter

Good advice there from Shawnie. More water changes are the way to combat high nitrate levels. You could go all the way up to a 10% change everyday if need be. Some people do even more than that.

What sort of filter are you using & what media do you have in it?

t-ace

i just have an aquatech filter from wal-mart, that is what came with the aquarium when i bought it. And as far as the media, it is just the replacement filter cartridges with carbon that are designed for the filter. Shawnie is probably right about the overfeeding. I will start feeding a little less everyday, and start doing water changes twice a week instead of just once a week. Should i not be using a gravel vac everytime i do a water change? Is that releasing more nitrates into the water from the substrate?

eiginh

What type of substrate do you have? If it's very fine like sand or really small granules you might have gas build up in there and after doing vacuums it might of opened it releasing the high nitrates. I read from different threads here that the API nitrate bottles need to be shaken/beaten up to mix the crystals in it b/c it may give false readings. My tank is well planted and the nitrates are usually 20ppm to keep the plants happy but if yours keep increasing I would seriously do what the rest has said.

t-ace

my substrate is just aquarium gravel. I shake the nitrate bottle for thirty seconds before using it for the test. Maybe i am over feeding causing the high nitrates. I am going to try feeding less (i hope i don't starve my fish though) and doing 2 water changes a week instead of just one. It isn't that troubling to do a water change in a ten gallon anyway. hopefully this will take care of the problem! i just don't understand why the nitrate levels are climbing now when they have been so consistant for the past several months. Thanks for the responses everybody!!!

aquarist48

Hello T-Ace. Some great tips above. Hopefully you'll have the issue resolved before long.
Ken

t-ace

my nitrates have finally stablized. I just started feeding a little less and started doing biweekly 10-20% water changes. Thanks for the suggestions. I don't know what i would do without fishlore!

lorabell

Just a quick bit...if its API test kit ...bottle #2 is suppossed to be shaken a TON...then when its added the little vile is suppossed to be done for 1 minute......I learned the hard way.....lol