Nitrates at 20 ppm

I have a 10 gallon tank with one betta and 3 nerite snails. I do 50% water changes every sunday and test the water 2-3 times a week. Today when i tested the nitrate level was at around 20 ppm. I was told to keep nitrates as low as possible since i have snails, is this to high? And how can i lower it?

 

If it stays that nice lighter orange you are fine. If it gets more towards the red you may just need to do more water changes. Smaller tanks fluctuate more. You only need to really test the day after your water change. If its darker than your picture consider doing another water change to lower it more.

 

more water changes is the only way to lower nitrates, at least, the easiest way.

 

If it stays that nice lighter orange you are fine. If it gets more towards the red you may just need to do more water changes. Smaller tanks fluctuate more. You only need to really test the day after your water change. If its darker than your picture consider doing another water change to lower it more.

Alright thank you. I've been feeding my snails these pellets which desolve in water pretty fast but I've switched to veggies and alge in the tank. i think that's whats causing it? It's never been this high before.

 

Could be. If it stays like this maybe try a bigger water change on Sunday and see what that does on Monday. As long as you are away from red you are good. You don't need to waste test liquid doing it so often.
Do you take the veggies out after 24 hours because that could muck up your water some.

 

Duck weed and adjusting your feeding routine

 

Thank you for the help! Someone suggested to test the water more often with the snails but I'm probably testing a little to much. And i put a little of cucumber or lettuce in at lights out then i take it out in the morning

 

Mine gets to 40 ppm, and I haven't noticed any reduction in the snail population. In fact, if nitrates were especially bad for snails some people would probably elevate it intentionally.

 

Pothos plant

 

High(er) nitrates won't harm your snails. I've had my nitrates well over 80 when I was first starting, and it's caused no harm. My tank is more mature now, but they still get up to 40 occasionally, and the snails do fine.

Without plants, the only way to remove nitrates is with water changes, or very complicated filtration, so complicated that very few even try. Fast growing floating plants, and non-aquatic house plants will do the best job of removing nitrates without doing water changes. My filtration is too strong for most floaters, so I use house plants.

Common house plants are pothos, peace lily, and sweet potatoes. There are a lot of others you can use too, but those three seem to be the most common. You don't plant them, you immerse their roots in the water, with the rest of the plants resting on top of your tank Any leaves that are under water will rot and die. Sweet potatoes don't have roots to start with, so you just immerse the bottom tip between 1.5 and 2 inches in the water, and they will sprout roots and leaves in about a month. With two well developed potatoes (takes about 6 weeks) in my 20 gallon, my nitrates are zero.

Regardless of whether you choose to use plants or not, you still need to do weekly water changes. Even with nitrates at zero, I still do weekly 75% water changes. Fresh water is one of your tank's best friends .

 

High(er) nitrates won't harm your snails. I've had my nitrates well over 80 when I was first starting, and it's caused no harm. My tank is more mature now, but they still get up to 40 occasionally, and the snails do fine.

Without plants, the only way to remove nitrates is with water changes, or very complicated filtration, so complicated that very few even try. Fast growing floating plants, and non-aquatic house plants will do the best job of removing nitrates without doing water changes. My filtration is too strong for most floaters, so I use house plants.

Common house plants are pothos, peace lily, and sweet potatoes. There are a lot of others you can use too, but those three seem to be the most common. You don't plant them, you immerse their roots in the water, with the rest of the plants resting on top of your tank Any leaves that are under water will rot and die. Sweet potatoes don't have roots to start with, so you just immerse the bottom tip between 1.5 and 2 inches in the water, and they will sprout roots and leaves in about a month. With two well developed potatoes (takes about 6 weeks) in my 20 gallon, my nitrates are zero.

Regardless of whether you choose to use plants or not, you still need to do weekly water changes. Even with nitrates at zero, I still do weekly 75% water changes. Fresh water is one of your tank's best friends .

I actually have a java fern on the way and ordered a bundle of amazon sword that will be here next week. Should i be doing 75% weekly? My nitrites are still at 0. I've had the tank since December but it wasn't cycled properly

 

Agree with what's been said above. You should see the shameful state I've allowed some tanks to get in the past. I've had nitrates off the charts and seen zero effect on snails

 

I actually have a java fern on the way and ordered a bundle of amazon sword that will be here next week. Should i be doing 75% weekly? My nitrites are still at 0. I've had the tank since December but it wasn't cycled properly

The Java Fern is a slow grower, so it won't help much in controlling nitrates. The Amazon Sword probably isn't going to help much either, unless you have a whole lot of it. It's also more difficult (at least for me) to get it to grow.

With only the snails and the one Betta, you're good with 50% WC, or even less, 25 or 30% weekly. If you're cycled, and your ammonia and nitrites are always zero, then let your nitrate test be your guide. If it's more red (30-40 ppm) than orange, do a WC. It doesn't hurt. The math is easy. A 50% WC will remove 50% of your nitrates, so 40 ppm of nitrates and a 50% WC, will leave 20 ppm. It's a 1 to 1 exchange.

The reason I do 75% is I'm overstocked, and my kids would really hate me if I didn't change their water in the amount I do. Sometimes, I get lazy, and only do 50%, or I may go an extra two or three days, but in general, I do 75% weekly.

If you're interested in pothos, this is a really good video.

. If you want to know more about sweet potatoes, just PM me, or search for my other posts on them .

 

I actually have a java fern on the way and ordered a bundle of amazon sword that will be here next week. Should i be doing 75% weekly? My nitrites are still at 0. I've had the tank since December but it wasn't cycled properly

I just re-read this post. With a 10 gallon tank, one Betta and three nerite snails, you have a pretty low bioload. It's not uncommon to not see nitrites when cycling with that small of a bioload. If your ammonia and nitrites are always zero, and seeing your nitrates as high as they're getting, your bacteria is there, converting the nitrites to nitrates, and that's what the cycle is supposed to do.

Also, just a heads-up. With the API ammonia test, don't worry if you see .25 ppm ammonia. That's not uncommon with the API test. It's within the margin of error, per API. If they are over .25 ppm, then something's amiss, and needs to be corrected.

Also, if you're still using the Whisper filter, or any filter that used cartridges, don't throw away your filter cartridge. That throws away most of your beneficial bacteria, and can cause your cycle to crash. Just rinse it in your dirty tank water when doing a water change and put it back into the filter. They can last for several months before needing to be replaced.

 

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but the nitrates could be coming from your tap water. Have you tested your tap water? If not, test it for nitrates and tell us the results. How long do you wait until testing after a water change? It is best to wait at least two hours after a water change, as testing earlier than that can show inaccurate readings.

 

So, any updates?