Currently reading between 40-80ppm, so tested my tap water and its around the same, only slightly lower.. Any thoughts as to what todo, fish seem fine, tank is mature 18+months old, only did it because a couple of my old guppies died...
Co3 Results
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I think you mean NO3, nitrate. Tap water with NO3 around 40ppm is not uncommon and most kinds of fish can tolerate this levels easily so I wouldn't worry about it. Keep up with a usual weekly water change regime of about 33-50%. You can use plants to help soak up nitrate if possible.
Agreed with Daize, 40ppm nitrates is not a particular worry.
And yes, plants will help with nitrates, particularly stem plants like Elodea (Egeria densa) for example are very good for absorbing nutrients from water.
And yes, plants will help with nitrates, particularly stem plants like Elodea (Egeria densa) for example are very good for absorbing nutrients from water.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Once again we run into the two different measurement scales- total ions vs nitrogen ions. As I note often, science uses the nitrogen scale and we hobbyists tend to use the total ion scale. It really only becomes important when they are mixed together. The total ion scale always shows higher numbers across the bard than does the nitrogen scale. For nitrate the conversion rate is;
1 ppm of NO3-nitrogen = 4.43 ppm to NO3 as measured by kits like the API one. It is important to take into account these differences. A good example is water quality standards In the USA. By law municipal water supplies must contain no more than 10 mg/L of N03-N (note mg/L and ppm are almost identical). Well that 10 ppm looks awful low until one realizes that if the total ion scale were used the limit would be stated as 44.3 ppm of NO3. Big difference.
What is even scarier is some of the research results in testing nitrate toxicity to fish. The numbers are insanely high.
Kepp and Arkin (1973) reported that the channel catfish, "Ictalurus puntatus was able to tolerate a nitrate concentration of 90 mg NO3-N/l without affecting their growth and feeding activity after an exposure of 164 days." from http
/yaphankcivic.org/uploads/Nitrate_Toxicity_to_Aquatic_Animals.pdf
Rubin and Elmaraghy (1977) tested guppy fry and got the following results. When exposed to 267 mg NO3-N/l for 24 hours, 1/2 the fish died and half lived. When exposed for 4 days to 191 mg NO3-N/l, the same mortality occurred. (from the same study as above- see Table 3.)
To put these results in perspective, had they used the API kit the 267 becomes 1,183 ppm. the 191 ppm becomes 846 ppm. Yes i know 1/2 the fish died and likely the other 1/2 suffered some form or permanent damage, this is not the point, the numbers it too are. There is huge difference between testing 80 or 100 ppm of nitrate in a tank using thei API type kit and the 846 to 1,183 ppm in the study. I have seen numbers which would equate to over 8,750 ppm for bluegills (aka bream or Lepomis macrochirus) for the 4 day 50% death rate.
All that said, if one feels they need to hold their nitrate at under 80 ppm, I wont argue. I have never heard of fish dying because their water was too clean. My point was to bring a bit or perspective. Many fish are nitrate sensitive, especially fry. But in most cases do not panic when you see your nitrate on your API kit coming up at 80 ppm. If the fish are not having trouble breathing, they are probably OK. Nitrate has a similar effect on fish as nitrite except the nitrate cannot enter the bloodstream through the gills with the same ease. And this is why nitrate is much less toxic to fish than ammonia or nitrite. I am not suggesting that one do nothing about nitrate, only that you do not have to go nuts with fear or that you cannot wait a a bit to do a water change. Nitrate should not be allowed to build up and stay elevated for any length of time and it is always better to err on the side of caution as noted above.
1 ppm of NO3-nitrogen = 4.43 ppm to NO3 as measured by kits like the API one. It is important to take into account these differences. A good example is water quality standards In the USA. By law municipal water supplies must contain no more than 10 mg/L of N03-N (note mg/L and ppm are almost identical). Well that 10 ppm looks awful low until one realizes that if the total ion scale were used the limit would be stated as 44.3 ppm of NO3. Big difference.
What is even scarier is some of the research results in testing nitrate toxicity to fish. The numbers are insanely high.
Kepp and Arkin (1973) reported that the channel catfish, "Ictalurus puntatus was able to tolerate a nitrate concentration of 90 mg NO3-N/l without affecting their growth and feeding activity after an exposure of 164 days." from http
/yaphankcivic.org/uploads/Nitrate_Toxicity_to_Aquatic_Animals.pdfRubin and Elmaraghy (1977) tested guppy fry and got the following results. When exposed to 267 mg NO3-N/l for 24 hours, 1/2 the fish died and half lived. When exposed for 4 days to 191 mg NO3-N/l, the same mortality occurred. (from the same study as above- see Table 3.)
To put these results in perspective, had they used the API kit the 267 becomes 1,183 ppm. the 191 ppm becomes 846 ppm. Yes i know 1/2 the fish died and likely the other 1/2 suffered some form or permanent damage, this is not the point, the numbers it too are. There is huge difference between testing 80 or 100 ppm of nitrate in a tank using thei API type kit and the 846 to 1,183 ppm in the study. I have seen numbers which would equate to over 8,750 ppm for bluegills (aka bream or Lepomis macrochirus) for the 4 day 50% death rate.
All that said, if one feels they need to hold their nitrate at under 80 ppm, I wont argue. I have never heard of fish dying because their water was too clean. My point was to bring a bit or perspective. Many fish are nitrate sensitive, especially fry. But in most cases do not panic when you see your nitrate on your API kit coming up at 80 ppm. If the fish are not having trouble breathing, they are probably OK. Nitrate has a similar effect on fish as nitrite except the nitrate cannot enter the bloodstream through the gills with the same ease. And this is why nitrate is much less toxic to fish than ammonia or nitrite. I am not suggesting that one do nothing about nitrate, only that you do not have to go nuts with fear or that you cannot wait a a bit to do a water change. Nitrate should not be allowed to build up and stay elevated for any length of time and it is always better to err on the side of caution as noted above.
An excellent and interesting read from TTA as usual.
Am shocked at the high levels at with fish can survive through, albeit with fatalities but put into perspective that 80 ppm nitrate, compared to the figures above, is very low and reassuring to know.
Am shocked at the high levels at with fish can survive through, albeit with fatalities but put into perspective that 80 ppm nitrate, compared to the figures above, is very low and reassuring to know.
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