High Nitrates

[bigfish]

I did a 50% water change yesterday and today i've done a Nitrate test to see if things were ok but my Nitrate level is still very high, my tank has cycled and i only feed the fish once a day and keep all filters running through the night, i do clean the gravel once a week with a gravel cleaner but at the moment im changing water every 3 days so far. Yet my Nitrite and Ammonnia are both low 0.1 mg/litre.

Suggestions to correct this problem would be great thanks.

 

[Angel Lady]

I did a 50% water change yesterday and today i've done a Nitrate test to see if things were ok but my Nitrate level is still very high, my tank has cycled and i only feed the fish once a day and keep all filters running through the night, i do clean the gravel once a week with a gravel cleaner but at the moment im changing water every 3 days so far. Yet my Nitrite and Ammonnia are both low 0.1 mg/litre.

Suggestions to correct this problem would be great thanks.

that is the only way that i know of on how to get rid of the nitrate is with water changes at least that is what I was told.

 

[semper fi]

how long has the tank been set up? if the ammonia and nitrites are low then it may not be fully cycled. a fishless cycle can take up to six weeks.

plants are good for helping to keep nitrates down. plants feed on the nitrates. faster growing plants require more nitrates than slower growing ones.

you do need to watch how much of the water you change, especially on a newly established tank. you could possibly "crash" your tank. which means you remove the biological filter and have to pretty much start all over with the cycling.

what and how many fish do you currently have in the tank?

maggie

 

[CFC]

Test your tapwater,many water supplies have very high nitrate concentrations (my tapwater has a reading of 60ppm),if this is the case no ammount of water changes will bring them down.

If your tapwater is the problem then you will have to either remove the nitrates chemicaly,there are many products available from fs,or use RO water which has a nitrate of 0ppm but has the problem of having to have the trace elements put back in.

 

[bigfish]

I've tested my tapwater and it's 10mg/litre, i've had the tank for 6months, it's 43 litre bow fronted aqurium kept at a constant temperture of 26'C and has a 12watt filter running 24/7. Currently housing 4 platies, 5 female guppies and 3 male guppies and 1 sucking loach.

 

[wherryj]

It sounds like your tank is overloaded. The general equation I've read is one inch of fish per gallon of water. 43 liters is about 10 gallons, so you should have 10 inches of fish (ie: 10 one inch fish).

I'm not totally familiar with the fish that you have, but each fish would have to have a total adult size of less than one inch...

 

[malawiman]

My water supply has a very high nitrate level. As already advised you can control the level increasing further still by regular water changes but to lower the starting level I use a Nitragon resin cartridge which I filter the tap water through before using. Don't forget to let it stand to remove the chlorine or use a dechlorinator before use.

 

[bigfish]

Ok thanks malawiman. where would i get them cartridges too? and do you use them? as i live in the uk and havent seen them around.

Cheers