Can I take water from an established tank with high nitrate?

[TacomaToker]

Hi there. I am currently performing a fish-in cycle. Only added fish about 3 days ago, so nothing too crazy has happened yet. Ammonia is very slowly climbing so I am starting to treat the water with SeaChem prime every 24-48 hours. I also have an old tank, with very well established bacteria. The tanks parameters are all good, except the nitrate is high (somewhere between 100ppm - 140 ppm). I am wondering if it would be okay to take some water out of the established tank and put it in the new tank, in order to help bacteria get going. If it's important, I have been changing the water every 24-48 hours in the established tank, as a result of the ongoing nitrate battle. Thanks for any help!!

 

[JuiceBox52]

Adding the water wont help, the bacteria lives on surfaces. Moving some gravel or filter media would help

 

[FishGuest5123]

I agree with JuiceBox52.

 

[Retired Viking]

The water really does not hold any real bacteria that will help cycle your tank, The filter media, gravel, ornaments surfaces and tank glass is where the good bacteria is.

 

[I nEEd mEnTAl HeLP]

Adding bacteria from an already established tank won't do much for bacterial growth since bb lives on surfaces and not in the water itself.

 

[Retired Viking]

You could try doing a silent/planted cycle by picking up enough fast growing plants to absorb the ammonia you fish produce. It also eliminates nitrates and nitrites.

 

[vanalisa]

You could try doing a silent/planted cycle by picking up enough fast growing plants to absorb the ammonia you fish produce. It also eliminates nitrates and nitrites.

Could you please go over that again; a brief breakdown of the above?
Still a newbie no matter if I'm an "aholic" or not! Trust me, total newby, I just happened to get some awesome fish!

 

[JuiceBox52]

Could you please go over that again; a brief breakdown of the above?
Still a newbie no matter if I'm an "aholic" or not! Trust me, total newby, I just happened to get some awesome fish!

A silent/ planted cycle uses large quantities of fast growing plants. Fast growing plants absorb nitrate and ammonia that your fish excrete

 

[Retired Viking]

@JuiceBox52 is correct, I do what is called a silent or planted cycle, Instead of developing the bacteria to take care of the ammonia you use fast growing plants to do it. Floating plants like hornwort, water sprite, anacharis, and moneywort absorb ammonia at a higher rate than most plants, You can also plant them in the gravel, There are other floating plants like frog bit and duckweed which have to float but all absorb ammonia so they balance out what your fish produce while also absorbing other waste and CO2 and produce Oxygen in the water for the fish.

 

[seangee]

Ammonia is very slowly climbing so I am starting to treat the water with SeaChem prime every 24-48 hours.

You need to do large daily changes. Prime is not a cure or treatment for ammonia. As others have said bacteria does not live in the water so water changes won't harm bacteria - but ammonia and nitrites will harm fish. If you could swap some of the media in your new filter with some from your old filter it would help massively.

+1 for what other have said about plants, the more the better.

 

[Colin_T]

If you are doing a fish in cycle, feed the fish 3 times a week and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 4-8 hours after feeding.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Don't do anything else except monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels and do a 75% water change if there is an ammonia or nitrite reading above 0.

 

[Metalhead88]

Why are nitrates so high in the other tank?!

 

[Byron]

I agree generally with what has been posted, but there is something else that has been missed.

You live in Tacoma, Washington state, so your water is very soft and will (should) be on the acidic side in the aquarium. This means the "ammonia" you are detecting is not ammonia but ammonium which is basically harmless to fish. Stop using the Prime, this is doing more trouble than benefit as it is adding chemicals to the water tand these get inside the fish.

Please post the pH of the water in this aquarium. It may be preventing "cycling" to begin with.

Floating plants are highly recommended.

And the nitrate of 100-140 ppm in the other tank is a very serious issue if fish are in that tank. Nitrate is poisonous to fish, just as ammonia and nitrite, though the level, the exposure time, and the species factor in to the degree. But it should never be above 20 ppm, and preferably much lower than that. Can you detail this other tank?

 

[TacomaToker]

You need to do large daily changes. Prime is not a cure or treatment for ammonia. As others have said bacteria does not live in the water so water changes won't harm bacteria - but ammonia and nitrites will harm fish. If you could swap some of the media in your new filter with some from your old filter it would help massively.

+1 for what other have said about plants, the more the better.

daily water changes??? How is there so much misinformation online? I try to post in these forums for a sense of clarity and often just end up being more confused. I am following the fish lab guide for fish in cycling:

Emergency: Performing a Fish-in Cycle The RIGHT Way

The fish-in cycle is a dated method of cycling your tank with fish inside. We'll show you how to safely perform a fish-in cycle in your tank!

fishlab.com

Under this guide, it tells you not to perform any water changes until ammonia levels reach 2PPM.

 

[TacomaToker]

I agree generally with what has been posted, but there is something else that has been missed.

You live in Tacoma, Washington state, so your water is very soft and will (should) be on the acidic side in the aquarium. This means the "ammonia" you are detecting is not ammonia but ammonium which is basically harmless to fish. Stop using the Prime, this is doing more trouble than benefit as it is adding chemicals to the water tand these get inside the fish.

Please post the pH of the water in this aquarium. It may be preventing "cycling" to begin with.

Floating plants are highly recommended.

And the nitrate of 100-140 ppm in the other tank is a very serious issue if fish are in that tank. Nitrate is poisonous to fish, just as ammonia and nitrite, though the level, the exposure time, and the species factor in to the degree. But it should never be above 20 ppm, and preferably much lower than that. Can you detail this other tank?

Thanks for your post Byron, you have been incredibly helpful since I started posting here. For my established tank, I have only introduced Prime once, yesterday. I am following the fish lab guide for fish-in cycling:

Emergency: Performing a Fish-in Cycle The RIGHT Way

The fish-in cycle is a dated method of cycling your tank with fish inside. We'll show you how to safely perform a fish-in cycle in your tank!

fishlab.com

Is this not a good guide to follow? You guys are giving me complete opposite advice.

Here are current water parameters:
Ph: 7.4-7.6
Ammonia: .6-.7
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20
Temp: 78

In terms of my other tank, I have recently taken it over from a highly irresponsible owner. Just Some zebra danios and guppies in there. In order to combat nitrate, I have been changing 25-35% of water every 1-2 days. Other than that, I am not sure what else to do for the nitrate. Here are current water parameters:

Ph: 7.5-7.6
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 100-120
Temp: 74.2

Any advice you could provide would be incredibly helpful.. thank you!!