How To Get Nitrate Level Up?

[evelester]

Well, we are still trying to get it cycled, been doing 1 gallon water changes every day, (i was the one that did the 'with fish' cycle before i knew better) Tank is about 3 weeks old now

my levels for the last few days have been :

ammonia - 4.0
nitrate - 1ppm (or less)
nitrite .25
PH 7.5

all fish are acting healthy and swimming fine, no deaths or anything. as of yesterday, the water is perfectly clear, it was very cloudy, but it is not now. How do i get the nitrate up, shouldnt it be higher so the cycle can really begin?

 

[blackeyes]

You want the nitrate level down not up. Usually the presence of nitrate means your tank has undergone the nitrogen cycle. Nitrate needs to be low not high, and that is taken care of with weekly water changes. Now I am worried about the ammonia, and nitrite as it is very high- keep on doing water changes to avoid further stress on your fishies.

Another thing ammonia is what jumpstarts the cycle not nitrate. Nitrate is the by- product of ammonia and nitrite. I know this cycle stuff is kinda confusing!!!

 

[beesnees]

i would advise you to add some ammonia to get the cycle going but you have fish in your tank, which isnt really a good idea. it would have being best doing a fish less cycle

pinned at top of the page
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

but any way to late now but it still might help you out if you read the thread

 

[dwarfgourami]

There is no need for nitrates at all in a tank, they're something you get as a byproduct of the nitrogen cycle: ammonia-nitrites-nitrates. Rising levels of nitrates can be useful as a sign that your ammonia/nitrite-eating bacteria are multiplying- but you know anyway that you haven't got there as you still have high levels of ammonia. Ammonia, not a lack of nitrates, is your only problem and you are dealing with this in the right way, by water changes. Unless your tank is very small, changing 1 gallon isn't going to do much though; you may need to step up the quantity, depending on the size of tank.
Fish don't need nitrates and there aren't any bacteria that need them either. The only things that eat them are plants. In heavily planted tanks you may never see a nitrate reading, as the nitrates are consumed straight away. On the other hand, a moderate nitrate reading, say up to 40 ppm is nothing to worry about for most fish.