High Nitrate levels

I changed about 50% of my water after the nitate levels had read really high on Friday. Then I retested the water for nitates and the level was still the same. Could this be a faulty kit or am I doing something wrong? It is a hagen testing kit and Inormally got my water tested for free at the lfs. I decided to get a nitrite and nitrate testing kit and the nitrates are extremly high. I should also mention that there are no nitrites in the tanks. I'm worried. Can anyone help me?
Tom

Or did I test it too soon? And should I wait about a week or so?
Tom

 

Keep doing daily water changes and buy some anarchis, it's a live plant.  Most members here use the green box one on the top right, pharmetucal one.  What one does your's look like?

Austin

 

How much should I change daily? My testing kits are made my Hagen.
Tom

 

I'm assuming you got the freshwater one. Try changing 25% daily, somebody correct me if I'm wrong. If you can buy anarchis buy some as it helps in getting rid of nitrates. Read my article on snails if you don't want snails.

Austin

 

What do the anarchis look like?
Tom

Thanks but its a brackish plant,
Tom

 

No it's not a brackish plant, I have some in both my tanks right now, where'd you read/hear that?

Austin

 

Under its quick facts on the left.
Tom

 

O I that just means it can be grown in brackish conditions. it's definitely fw though, it's thriving in both my tanks.

 

OK. What price do these plants normally cost CDN? And where can I get them from (which pestore)?
Tom

 

I don't know since I don't live in Canada but it's a common plant and usually costs very little since it produces so fast. You can't bleach though to kill snails on it or you'l kill it.

Austin

 

Change at least 25% each day until they go down, Test teh next day before you do your water change. Both tanks are overcrowded and this could be why the Nitrates are up. for your fishes health keep doing the water changes to get them down. If you choose to leave it crowded you may have to continue to do extra water changes. a nitrate reading of 10-20 is about normal.
Anacharis is one of those plants that does well in freshwater or brackish environments.
Carol

 

If I put more plants in the tanks, would that help? If so, how many and what kind?
Tom

 

Yep, plants are a big help. Have you checked your water straight out of the tap? Sometimes your local water supply contains nitrates. If this is the case, you may want to try using Amquel Plus as your water conditioner. It will help keep the nitrates down, and if it's in your existing water supply, the Amquel plus will help keep your tank in balance.

 

OK, I never thought of that.
Tom

 

Hello, everyone. I am new here and fairly new to keeping aquariums. We recently moved our 55-gallon tank from our business, which was using town water, to our house, which uses well water. The fish seemed to do well in town, but once we relocated the tank, some of the fish, mostly our three goldfish, started gulping for air at the surface. I hooked up an air stone, plus we have one large and one medium filter running. The stone helped a little, but last week one of our plecos died. I ordered a testing kit and the nitrate levels were high, about 80ppm. I read about causes of high nitrate online, but I do weekly water changes of 10%, do two small feedings during the day, change the filters monthly, and vacuum the gravel when I change filters. I decided to check the tap water and the nitrate levels are just the same as the tank water. What can I do to help my poor fish until we can get our water in order? Is there a product or something that lowers nitrate levels? Do I need to go to Sam's Club and buy 55 gallons of water and gradually replace the tank water? (I'm joking about that... partially.) I'm concerned not only about the fish, but also for my family and other pets, since high nitrates in wells is caused by fertilizer runoff. Yuck! I've contacted the state about where to get the water tested, but how can I help my fish in the mean time? We lost Cash the goldfish today. I don't want to lose the others. :-(

 

The best way to lower nitrate levels is bigger water changes... 10% in a 55 gallon tank isn't all that much. Since the tap water is high in nitrates, I would see about RO water, distiller water, or boiling water to maybe lower the nitrates. Not sure if that would work.
Also, do you change your filter cartridge that often ? That is where all of the beneficial bacteria grow to keep the nitrogen cycle going, so you are basically recycling your tank every time you change it.
Good luck!!

 

I change the filters once a month. I can up the water changes, but I didn't know if that would help our not since the tap water is the problem. What is RO water?

 

What do you mean you change the filters? Does any of the media stay in when you take a cartridge out?

You could get an RO unit for your house if you're going to be keeping the tank there permanently, which would remove all impurities from the water.

 

I take the old cartridge out and put a new one in is what I mean.

 

Hello, and welcome to the forum.
OK, where to start
Your Nitrates at about 80 ppm would suggest that you need to change at least 40/50 % of the water every week with water that is from a different source, and similar to the tank water if poss
Maybe you have to get some from town that has low Nitrates ?
But to reduce the Nitrates fairly quickly, you will need to change the water 50% every other day until the Nitrates get to a better level of around 10 ppm, and then employ the method as above.
As for your filter, you must not change out all the media every month
Inside the filter is where the Beneficial Bacteria live that processes your tank water.
Only rinse out the filter wool in old tank water when you do a water change
I hope this helps you a little
Info for you
RO water is Reverse Osmosis Water, and has been highly filtered to remove most of the impurities from the water

 

I in this case would use town water instead of your well water for your tank. Might buy some 5 gallon buckets, maybe 4 of them, and change out the water 20 gallons a day to get the nitrates lowered. Then continue to use the town water to help keep the nitrates low.

Maybe use the well water as top off only.

 

honestly I would do a 50% water change per day. Unless you are moving those goldfish out to a bigger tank. goldfish produce a lot of waste so does plecos. you will constantly have high nitrates until the tank is settled with a good stocking list.

 

I take the old cartridge out and put a new one in is what I mean.

You really shouldn't change your filter media until it is literally falling apart. This is possibly causing your tank to not be properly cycled. What are your readings for ammonia and nitrite?

 

I didn't know that about the filters. When I started people told me they should be changed often. I will rinse the cartridges instead.

I'm not sure how to get the town water to the house. . my car isn't that big and I can't carry five gallon buckets.

Ammonia reading was zero or low (I couldn't tell which) and nitrites were in the acceptable range.

 

The only acceptable range for Nitrites is Zero, and no other reading

 

Nitrites should be 0. They are toxic. If you have any level of nitrites, you need to do an immediate water change, and potentially dose the tank with something like Seachem Prime that can put them into a less potent form.

Also, rinse the filter cartridge in tank water, but only if it gets really yucky, or clogged.

 

If you're using carbon cartridges, I'd suggest rinsing them weekly and adding a couple of sponges or some filter floss to the filter as well, that way when you change the carbon cartridge every month, you're keeping your cycle.

The only acceptable range for nitrites is 0. If you have more than that, you have a problem. I'd look into getting an RO unit if you are going to keep the tank. Aging your water and treating with Prime before adding it to the tank may help in the meantime.

 

I went and got the strip. Nitrites are zero, ammonia low or zero, high nitrates, low alkalinity, acidic water.

how long do I age the water?

 

You really need to throw away the test strips and get hold of "API Master Test Kit "for Fresh Water, which are very accurate
Test strips are notoriously inaccurate, and can give false readings and impressions of water quality
Aging the water is simply keeping the water you want to put into the tank at the correct parameters for a period of time in order for it to settle
Usually around 3/4 days, although some people age longer and some slightly shorter

 

I will go order that. thank you. It says it should get here Saturday.

I also ordered the Sea Chem. I will try to figure out some way to get safe water. my back goes out so carrying water gets a bit tricky, even with just three-gallon buckets.

 

Get a trolley for moving the water!

If your water from the well has those levels of nitrates, do not use it for your fish, let alone drink it! If you have young children or babies, definitely do not let them drink it. It far exceeds standards for safe drinking water.

If moving sufficient quantities from town is out of the question, I'd be looking at an RO filter for the tank and bottled water for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth.

 

I have a tank, 2-3 months old, cycled, 6 cory cats, 6 cardinal tetras, a mystery snail, 3 guppies and a mesh breeder box with 6 baby cory cats that were eggs and hatched several weeks ago. A guppy has been laying on the bottom and tonight my cardinals all are loosing color and acting weird. I tested -ammonia, nitrites are fine, nitrates are sky high (red)!! Why? What is going on? Are we overcrowded with the babies? I am going to change their water now, but what else can I do? I'm lost as to what is going on! Help!

 

How big is the tank? I can't say if you are overstocked without knowing that. If its the 20 gallon listed on your profile, then no, you aren't overstocked.

I would do 50% water change twice a day (with at least 8 hours between) until the nitrates are down to 20. Also check your filters for any gunk build up. When this happens it is literally a nitrate factory, so its very important to keep the filters clean. Then test every day for your nitrates and see how fast they are rising for a week or until they get to 40. It shouldn't hit 40 for at least 5-7 days. If is going faster than that, then there is a problem. Either over feeding, dead fish/plant matter, or dirty filters are likely sources.

 

Thanks! Sorry, it is my 20 gallon long. I just changed the water FrI (this is Tues), and we just now changed it again, 25-30%. Nitrates are 80 I think. Tell me about the filter gunk... I have an Aquaclear 50, am I supposed to rinse the sponge each time? I was afraid to do it too much and take away my good bacteria. I could change the carbon, would that help or no? We do have a brown scum build up that we've been trying to fight by washing it off of plants and things when we do water changes (just rubbing it off, no cleaners), the breeder box is all brown and I have a new one ordered bc this one looks so bad. Can the brown scum cause this? I had read it was kinda normal in newer tanks.

 

I would make sure there isn't anything dead in the tank. A dead fish can leach a ton of ammonia. A bunch of dead plant matter can also cause ammonia. If your tank is clean and you don't have these issues, it sounds like over feeding to me. How often do you feed?

I wouldn't think you would need to rinse the sponge each week. But something dead could possibly get in your filter so make sure nothing is in there either.

You definitely aren't overstocked.

 

Rinse it in the tank water you remove when doing the water changes instead of under tap water. The tap water risks killing the BB, but the tank water will already have been treated to have the chlorine/chloramine removed, so the BB should be fine with a quick rinse there.

 

Rinse it in the tank water you remove when doing the water changes instead of under tap water. The tap water risks killing the BB, but the tank water will already have been treated to have the chlorine/chloramine removed, so the BB should be fine with a quick rinse there.

Thanks, we do rinse it in the fish tank water that's been siphoned out. I just wasn't sure if I should do that each time.

I would make sure there isn't anything dead in the tank. A dead fish can leach a ton of ammonia. A bunch of dead plant matter can also cause ammonia. If your tank is clean and you don't have these issues, it sounds like over feeding to me. How often do you feed?

I wouldn't think you would need to rinse the sponge each week. But something dead could possibly get in your filter so make sure nothing is in there either.

You definitely aren't overstocked.

I feed them twice a day. We did have a baby cory cat die on Friday, but we did the water change then, maybe we are still recovering from that? Everyone else is accounted for!

 

I would lean more towards over feeding. I would do a 50% water change every day or 2 30% water changes every day until your nitrates get below 20. In the meantime cut back to feeding once per day (and don't increase the amount of food to compensate) or even every other day. I'm not sure about the fry so if you need to feed them more often do, just don't feed the rest of the fish. Once the nitrates are below 20, then keep the less food schedule going and see if that is slowing down your nitrate accumulation.

It is for this reason I only feed my fish every other day. My nitrates were climbing far too quick so I cut it back.

 

The problem with nitrates is as they rise slowly, the fish are acclimated to it (some handle this better than others), but when you do a large water change, the sudden large drop (say a 75% water change dropping from 160 to 40) is what will cause the most problems. At high numbers, even a 50% change could cause problems. Cardinal tetra, corys and guppies are all sensitive to nitrates so I'm not surprised by their behavior. Because of this, I would at least do a 50% change each day for the next 2-3 days to get you down to a good level. Then test as I described above to see how fast they rise when not doing the water changes. I know its a lot of work, but its a serious problem that needs the attention to make it right.

I have a AC 30 and 2 AC 70's. Every week when I do water changes, I clean the sponge under tap water by repeatedly squeezing it and letting it fill back up with water. I do this until it squeezes out almost clear water. Then I will swish around in the old tank water (NOT tap water) my biomedia to remove any debris that has settled in there. The carbon I don't really do anything with any only run it occasionally in my tanks.

The filter gunk I am talking about is the stuff the sponge filters out of the water. This can be excess food, poop, or plant material.

How I clean an AC filter..
1. Unplug the filter and remove the media basket, place the biomedia in the tank to keep it wet while cleaning.
2. Remove the filter from the tank and bring the filter to your sink.
3. Remove the tubes from the tank. Then remove the grey piece where the tube goes into the filter by sliding it up and out of the filter, but don't bend it too much to avoid breaking it. If you never done this, it might be a little hard to remove it the first time. If you stick your fingers under it as far as you can and lift it up, it works the best.
4. Clean that piece and rinse out the rest of the filter box under the tap water.
5. Clean the impeller. The black housing where the cord goes into the filter twists under the filter and will unscrew. In there is a fan like piece with a magnet that slides over a rod. This is the piece that draws the water into the filter. Because of that, a lot of gunk can get in there so cleaning that out is a good idea. You can even run that end under the faucet to get out any gunk. Just make sure the cord and plug is all dry before you plug it back in. It would be a good idea to use a drain catch so you don't drop the impeller down the drain (it almost happened to me once, never again will I forget that! lol).
6. Clean the tubes of any debris or algae that has formed. I use a toothbrush (new one that is only used for this stuff) to clean my filters inside and out.
7. Reassemble by replacing the impeller housing, grey piece, filter tubes and media basket with media. Fill with tank water before plugging in.

I do this whole process on all my AC filters once a month to keep them in tip top shape to get the longest life out of them. I do all 3 of mine at the same time and start to finish in less than an hour.

I am not sure what the brown scum you have is. I never had anything like that in my tanks. I know diatoms are common in newer tanks, but its kinda fluffy algae, not really scum. I guess I would do whatever I could to remove it when its present.

 

Thank you for all the detailed info!

I'm confused about large water changes, I was thinking that if I changed too much of the water it might upset things somehow, and you seem to be saying that as well. So far I've done about 30% each week, and today too. Should I stick with 30% for a few days then?

Overfeeding is all I can really come up with as for problems... When feeding, I can't really remove uneaten food after a few minutes because I need it to sink down to my cory cats. How do you judge a good amount when you need them to eat something too?