Maximum amount or safe level for Nitrates?

I have a very silly question but I am not sure so I prefer asking that messing my cycled 10 gallon tank (cycled with tetra safe start) I tested it today, no ammonia, no nitrites and 10 ppm nitrates. my question is what is the maximum amount of nitrates a tank can have so it is not harmful to fish? I have API test kit .. thanks

 

For most fish, as long as you keep nitrates under 20 you shouldn't have any trouble, anything above 30-40 is usually cause for concern. This can vary a bit depending on the fish though.

-Bass master

 

thanks!!

 

Happy to help

 

now my nitrates are 40 when that happens, do I have to do a partial change if water and problem solved?

 

That's right. Did your nitrates really climb 30 in only one day? That's really fast.

 

yesterday they were 20 so I did a 25% wc and after 4 hours they were 10 and this morning 40, I just did a 30% wc... to see what happens tomorrow morning again! Thanks

 

yesterday they were 20 so I did a 25% wc and after 4 hours they were 10 and this morning 40, I just did a 30% wc... to see what happens tomorrow morning again! Thanks

That shouldn't happen. I suspect you're not getting good test results. Are you following the directions exactly? And are you beating the Nitrate #2 bottle half to death before you drip the chemical into the tube? You really have to bang it around pretty hard to make it accurate.

 

ok I will test it again and I will break that bottle if that is what it takes lol

 

I keep waiting for it to bust open in my hand. ;D Banging it on the counter so far hasn't cracked it, though. Hopefully, it never will.

 

lol. I just did it that way, my hand hurts ... and the results are it is not quite 40, not that red but it is not 20 it is more redish than orange, though. I just did a 30% wc...

 

Good advice from Aylad, you really have to abuse that reagent bottle to get good results. Be sure you let the test sit for about 5 minutes before you try matching it up as well.

As far as your betta is concerned I'm sure he'll be fine , those guys are generally pretty tough fish. As long as nitrates don't stay high for a particularly long period of time it really shouldn't have much of an effect.

-Bass master

 

Thank you, I will test tomorrow again if it is too high I will do a wc again. thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

evidently, I shook the bottle and hit it for 5 mins to make sure, I tested again following the directions and 40 ppm of nitrates, so I did a 50% water change. Fish look happy, though. I have a betta and 2 platties. ammonia 0.0 and everything ok, what cab be causing this mess with the nitrates?

 

Have you tested your tap water? If there are any in the tap, then it would not change much with a water change.

 

yes, I have and no the tap water does not have nitrates, I know it too because I am cycling a 5 gallon tank and I test ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and not nitrates ..

 

What are the last 4 digits on the lot number? That indicates the month and year of manufacture on the API kits. The nitrate kit is good for 3 years.

 

I got it less than one year ago, in March 2011 to be more exact. and it is supposed to be good for 1 year and half more.

 

I have a very difficult time telling the colors apart on that nitrate test card. The shades are so darn close to one another I can never tell if my nitrates are 10ppm or 80ppm. Of course I'm colorblind, but my wife isn't and she can't figure it out either.

 

lol, yes I tested today twice in the two gallon tanks and the first one was 20 ppm I guess and the second one I could not figure it out, you are right it is very hard to tell if it is orange and which one it is, so I go with the one closer, it is kind of orange and reddish that is why I was so concerned. But, at least nitrates are not as bad as ammonia.

 

Just checking... do you do a deep gravel vac? Have live plants? Swish your filter around in the tank water you take out for water changes? All of these keep a lid on nitrates. High nitrates can also be caused by overfeeding.

If you have decent lighting, hornwort is a good way to cut back on your nitrates. Duckweed is good, although I've heard it's impossible to get rid of once it's established, and water wisteria doesn't do too badly. All of these are reasonably low-light but fast-growing plants.

 

Yes, I do vacuum the tank in every wc. I have java fern since it is almost impossible to find live plants here. I do not look the filter at all, since the tank just cycled and I am waiting one month to do the monthly maintenance, I know I have o clean the filter with tank water and I have aqua clear sponges so I can chage my caltridge being sure not all my bacteria will go away in the caltridge. Thanks.
I did other wc today just to make sure, nitrates were 20 ppm today so I ll see tomorrow, thanks for your advise. I wish I could find the plants you said here. but just a walmart and a LPS.

hmm and I feed the fish once per day, the betta has 2 pellets soaked in Vita chem and the platties a little amount of flakes that I can get with 2 finger. hmm maybe it is too much, I ll try to give them less than that.

 

A good rule of thumb on the feed is if they aren't finishing it in a specific time frame (I usually wait 10 minutes and keep my fish on a regular feeding schedule)then you are feeding too much. This could be add to an ammonia problem, it just depends on how much is left and how well your filter handles it. If you are not having a more toxic form of ammonia, then just monitor if they finish their food and do a small water change until your biofilter gets rid of it. Soo in a nutshell:
Monitor how much they are eating
Do small water changes to allow your biofilter to eliminate the excess nitrates.

 

hmm good idea, I will check the time tomorrow, I am doing small wc every other day. ammonia is 0 ppm though, but timing sounds good to me, Thanks

 

Hello all,

My tank just finished its cycle a few days ago (used TSS and part of my brother's sponge filter). My ammonia and nitrite readings have been at 0 for the past couple days but my nitrates have been extremely high.

The have tested in the 40-80 range...I've been so paranoid that i've done 30% water changes the past two days (with prime). Today I tested the water out of my tap and it tested at 40.

So my question is how toxic is this to my fish and what should I do. I really would like to keep my fish as happy healthy as possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

Having nitrates in tap water is doable, especially as you have chosen Prime as your water conditioner. Just keep up on the water changes to keep the nitrates as low as possible.

Other options you may want to consider:

*Adding live plants
*Using RO/DI water
*Research the nitrate reducing/removing products. I haven't needed to use them, so not sure which to recommend.

 

I have 10ppm nitrates in my tap water, so I use Amquel+ (along with NovAqua since they need to be used together.) I think Amquel+ has the ability to remove more nitrates than Prime. But you can check to see if that's correct at Kardon's (Amquel+) website and SeaChem's (Prime) website.

 

You may know this already but just thought I'd mention...The Nitrate Solutions bottles need to be shaken really, really well (a few minutes) to get it mixed up properly before testing to get a true reading.

 

there are people with PhDs on the matter that say nitrates are harmless until they reach a concentration of many hundreds of ppm. This is contrary to popluar belief, though.

 

I believe live plants would help a great bit...

 

just do a water change....I do agree with what jaysee said. its not that high to be freakef out

-j

 

Thanks!

Lots of good info, thank you all for responding. Because this is my first tank I didn't initially want to go with live plants, but this is a great excuse to go that route. I'll also be looking into the various products that have been suggested. I'll also continue with regular water changes to ensure that the levels stay as low as possible. Also there is filtered water (put through an RO system) that is sold outside of the supermarket near my home. If the plants don't make a significant difference I may go that route.


@Jancy - I followed the directions that came with the apI kit, but I'll make sure to shake the bottles a bit extra next time. I called my little brother this morning, who lives a few miles from me, and he gets the same readings out of his tap. He has a heavily planted tank and it that seems to reduce the nitrates a bit.

 

yeah those nitrate kits are known for having issues with crystalization in the second bottle.

I would think that some nice floating plants would love your tank. I would looks into most any plant that is NOT a heavy root feeder like swords and such. I might look into jave ferns and anubias. These should help keep the nitrates down in your tank. Some floating plants such as wisteria or slavinia would also help.

 

how annoying that we have to shake these nitrate bottles til our arms nearly fall off, how long is recommended? I do about 30 secs and i'm done with it lol,

 

I shake mine for over a minute or two, upside down, bang on the counter, and shake some more. Just think of it as a little arm exercise!

 

arm exercise? there is that.. wouldn't do me any harm lol

 

Hello. I have had a freshwater aquarium that has been up for well over two years, with everything in check, all levels tested regularly and totally under control, and some very happy and healthy fish! All of the sudden, out of nowhere, my fish started acting strange and very aggressive, and several of them became sickly and unable to swim properly, so I checked my levels again, and ph, nitrite and ammonia are all perfect, but the nitrate level is through the roof, like not even on the chart, that bad. I have already done partial water changes with only treated water, and used prime, but the nitrate level hasn't budged...can someone please suggest what I can do to fix this? I'm scared my fish are all going to die so i'm hoping someone knows a quick fix...thanks..your forum has always come through for me in the past...

 

The only way to get rid of Nitrates is through water changes or if you have plants in the tank. I would do a 75% water change immediately to bring your Nitrate levels down.

Do you do weekly water changes?

 

Yes, actually I've always done weekly water changes, but the past couple of days i've been doing twice daily water changes to try to get rid of the nitrates...

 

That's good! Do a large water change of at least 75% (like you would at the end of a cycle) and then retest. Large water changes once a week are better than daily small water changes.