First week water results

[Characf]

I'm pretty sure my nitrates have gone up.
Today's water test after adding guppies yesterday.
0 ammonia
But 20-30 Nitrates
Could anything be causing a spike, because my tap water should be around 17 Nitrate according to my suppliers website

 

[Characf]

I've got loads of plants, big piece of slate, bog wood, gravel and plant stratum I'm not adding any supplements for plants etc

 

[Characf]

Results

 

[Essjay]

Nitrates appear in a tank for a few reasons.

It's in tap water.
Something in the tank is making it.
Something containing nitrate is added to the tank.
The test is not done correctly.

In your case, we know your tap water is around 20 ppm so the extra has come from somewhere else.

You have only a few fish, and the plants in the tank should be taking up all the ammonia they make leaving none to be converted to nitrate. But have you had any reading above zero for ammonia and/or nitrite, which would indicate the plants are not removing all the ammonia?

Are you still using TNC Complete? That does contain nitrate. Are you adding anything else to the tank besides water conditioner and possibly plant fertiliser?

Finally the tester. Are you shaking bottle #2 like they say, both before adding the drops to the tube, then the tube after adding before starting to time the 5 mins? Not shaking is a common cause of error with the nitrate test.

 

[Characf]

Nitrates appear in a tank for a few reasons.

It's in tap water.
Something in the tank is making it.
Something containing nitrate is added to the tank.
The test is not done correctly.

In your case, we know your tap water is around 20 ppm so the extra has come from somewhere else.

You have only a few fish, and the plants in the tank should be taking up all the ammonia they make leaving none to be converted to nitrate. But have you had any reading above zero for ammonia and/or nitrite, which would indicate the plants are not removing all the ammonia?

Are you still using TNC Complete? That does contain nitrate. Are you adding anything else to the tank besides water conditioner and possibly plant fertiliser?

Finally the tester. Are you shaking bottle #2 like they say, both before adding the drops to the tube, then the tube after adding before starting to time the 5 mins? Not shaking is a common cause of error with the nitrate test.

Im following test instructions accurately, and not adding fertiliser or anything additional. My ammonia levels are stable the plants are taking it up and growing nicely but I think it's possibly from dead plant leaves? That's all I can really think of? I have propergated a spider plant floating on the surface as I thought it'll help with nitrates? But would that add any?

 

[Characf]

I've got a filter coming tomorrow, going to do an Ion exchange water change so hopefully no nitrates and less hardness.

 

[Essjay]

Any dead plant matter would decompose to make ammonia which the plants which are thriving should remove.


What type of ion exchange resin? These are targeted at one type of ion in the water, so there are resins which remove nitrate, resins which remove the hardness minerals, but not usually resins which do both unless there are both types of resin in the same container.
Be careful with those resins which reduce hardness - read the instructions carefully. Some of them swap the hardness minerals with sodium and sodium is not good for fish. If the resin can be recharged by soaking in salt water, that's the sodium type.

 

[Characf]

Any dead plant matter would decompose to make ammonia which the plants which are thriving should remove.


What type of ion exchange resin? These are targeted at one type of ion in the water, so there are resins which remove nitrate, resins which remove the hardness minerals, but not usually resins which do both unless there are both types of resin in the same container.
Be careful with those resins which reduce hardness - read the instructions carefully. Some of them swap the hardness minerals with sodium and sodium is not good for fish. If the resin can be recharged by soaking in salt water, that's the sodium type.

Jesus this fish keeping hobby is one step forward two steps back. Fairplay to you lot for the commitment. I just wish I had good tap water

 

[Characf]

I did feed the fish this morning, and a lot sunk to the bottom? Would this cause a spike in Nitrate?

 

[Essjay]

Not that fast. The food has to decompose first to make ammonia. But if there's any food on the bottom, you are feeding too much. Fish need a lot less food that we'd think. The majority of our food (or dogs', cats' etc) goes to keeping us warm. Fish get their warmth from the water, they don't burn food for that. So they need very little food compared to us.



I know you have guppies now which need hard water, but something to consider for the future. If you use 'pure' water to mix with your tap water, it would reduce both hardness and nitrate. By pure water I mean something like reverse osmosis (RO) water. This can be bought from a fish shop or you can buy equipment to make it yourself, though there is a lot of waste water so those on a water meter might find it expensive.
RO is mixed with tap water in exactly the same ratio at every water change to keep the tank levels constant. And it has to be mixed before being added to the tank. This is a long term commitment so it needs careful thought first.

 

[Byron]

One additional consideration not mentioned so far is that nitrates in the tap water cold change from day to day. Usually these are due to agricultural runoff, which refers to farming fertilizers getting into the ground water or other source water (where your tap water comes from) and this can vary depending upon the season, rainfall, watering, etc. So an increase in the aquarium may be due to an increase in the tap water. Just another possibility.

 

[Characf]

One additional consideration not mentioned so far is that nitrates in the tap water cold change from day to day. Usually these are due to agricultural runoff, which refers to farming fertilizers getting into the ground water or other source water (where your tap water comes from) and this can vary depending upon the season, rainfall, watering, etc. So an increase in the aquarium may be due to an increase in the tap water. Just another possibility.

Would make sense, we've had a lot of rain here recently. Flooded roads the lot, also yeah I was thinking a 50/50 mix, I don't think I'll ever eradicate nitrates completely unfortunately but if I can keep them below 10ppm I'd be pretty happy

 

[Characf]

This nitrate stuff is really stressing me out, what would you guys do in my position? I appreciate the advice but would steps would you take? My tank is all natural so nothing should be causing nitrates except this crappy tap water. That doesn't explain how yesterday my Nitrates were 15-20 and today they've shot up to about 30-40.

 

[Characf]

Another quick question, if I over stock my tank with plants and there's not enough ammonia to go around will my plants start eating some of these nitrates?

 

[Byron]

Another quick question, if I over stock my tank with plants and there's not enough ammonia to go around will my plants start eating some of these nitrates?

Theoretical, but highly unlikely. Aquatic plants will take up ammonia/ammonium and can store it in the leaf vacuoles. They take up a lot. The only time aquatic plants take up nitrate is when they have no ammonia but all other required nutrients are readily available. And this includes carbon for one, which is usually the first nutrient to be exhausted in a planted tank. So once carbon or any other nutrient is no longer sufficient, the plants slow photosynthesis, and often to the point of stopping. This is when algae has the advantage. In a low-tech or natural aquarium, it is highly unlikely the aquatic plants will turn to nitrate. This occurs in a high-tech system, where all nutrients are over-dosed and rather than add ammonia the aquarist adds nitrates. It takes a considerable amount of energy for plants to turn to nitrate, and being smart they don't do it unless forced to, but again this is not going to occur in the vast majority of aquaria.

For many years I maintained a 20g tank as my quarantine for new fish. It was lightly planted, a few lower plants and thick floating plants. It sat empty of fish for several months, depending, and I always noticed that when fish were added, within a week the floating plants took off compared to previously. Obviously it was the nitrogen (ammonia/ammonium) that had been minimal without fish. I used a liquid comprehensive fertilizer that at the time happened to have some nitrate, but I doubt this had any nitrogen benefit. It just kept the plants alive.