Obsessed with fish
Fish Herder
Nice thanksIts on the stand was made for it pal
I'll put some photos up once I've got all the decs
Just started.... any help appreciated 😁
- Thread starter Leemw87
- Start date
Myraan
Fishaholic
Nitrate removing treatments don't work I think. If it's a fishless cycle the only issue with nitrates is if they cause a pH crash. If you remove them with a water change remember you have also removed any ammonia you added. Sodium bicarbonate will replenish the kH as an alternative, but I have no experience doing it that way.
If cycle with fish in..... the right answer is always water change now
If cycle with fish in..... the right answer is always water change now
I'm gonna give it another 2 weeks to do its own thing and see if the nitrates go down by themselves. Its had established media and filter pads in for 2 weeks now so when my ammonia and nitrite read zero and my nitrate drops to around 20ppm will it be safe to add a few fish ?Nitrate removing treatments don't work I think. If it's a fishless cycle the only issue with nitrates is if they cause a pH crash. If you remove them with a water change remember you have also removed any ammonia you added. Sodium bicarbonate will replenish the kH as an alternative, but I have no experience doing it that way.
If cycle with fish in..... the right answer is always water change now
Myraan
Fishaholic
Nitrate will probably not drop unless you have plants and/or algae. In nature anearobic bacteria complete the cycle and convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. This is unlikely to happen in the aquarium, although some crazy youtubers say with thick enough filter media in a slow enough flow filter think it can. It can also happen in a deep sand bed (oxygen only penetrates sand substrate a couple of inches). Anaerobic conditions and fish poo can lead to production of sulphur dioxide gas that can poison fish when it bubbles out, so most people do not bother try.
Usually the way people remove nitrate is therefore water changing. The aim is your water changes are frequent enough and large enough that the level is always below 20 or so. Enough plants and algae and it can stay zeroish. You still need to water change to replace minerals that are used from the water source by all the life in the tank
Nitrate removal chemicals claim to seed the tank with bacteria that make nitrogen gas sometimes, but I don't think they work.
Usually the way people remove nitrate is therefore water changing. The aim is your water changes are frequent enough and large enough that the level is always below 20 or so. Enough plants and algae and it can stay zeroish. You still need to water change to replace minerals that are used from the water source by all the life in the tank
Nitrate removal chemicals claim to seed the tank with bacteria that make nitrogen gas sometimes, but I don't think they work.
Bruce Leyland-Jones
Fish Aficionado
Of all the varied, weird and wonderful chemical-based means of removing nitrates, floating plants are, by far, the easiest and most effective.
If tap water has low nitrate, water changes will lower tank nitrate.
Nitrate is the end point of the nitrogen cycle, and fishless cycling with ammonia males a lot of nitrate. This is why a huge water change is done once the cycle is complete.
You haven't mentioned whether you have added ammonia though.
Nitrate is the end point of the nitrogen cycle, and fishless cycling with ammonia males a lot of nitrate. This is why a huge water change is done once the cycle is complete.
You haven't mentioned whether you have added ammonia though.
I haven't added ammonia as of yet I want to leave it to its devises at the minute and let it do its own thing
Can I check I've got things right, please.
The tank is second hand.
The media was still wet when you collected it.
You added bottled bacteria.
We can't find your tap water nitrate on your water company's website.
Are there any live plants in the tank?
Did the previous owner say how long ago he had fish in the tank before you bought it?
Did you test your tap water for nitrate?
Did you keep any of the water that was in the tank when you bought it, that is the pervious owner's water?
Reasons for the questions:
Live plants take up ammonia faster than the good bacteria so the tank may well be cycled without growing bacteria.
If it had been a few months since fish were last in the tank, the bacteria would have started to die off. When they have no food - ammonia made by fish - they are OK for a few weeks, then they start to go dormant. After a few months they start to die.
Many bottled bacteria products do nothing. Some speed up a cycle, they don't do it instantly but they still need to be fed which is why I mentioned adding ammonia.
Nitrate in a tank comes from 2 sources. It can be in tap water, or it can be made in the tank by the bacteria - but there needs to be ammonia for them to convert into nitrate, and you haven't added any. 80 ppm nitrate is way over the legal limit in drinking water. So either there is something seriously wrong with your tap water or possibly the tester is inaccurate. Nitrate is the least accurate of our tests and all the shaking in the instructions - preferably more than they say - is needed for an accurate reading. (Actually there is a third cause of high nitrate - adding plant fertiliser which contains nitrate, but you'd have to use a lot to get nitrate that high).
If you kept any of the water that was in the tank when you bought it, that could well have had very high nitrate. There is something called 'old tank syndrome' and this occurs when a fish keeper doesn't do any water changes. The fish in the tank excrete ammonia; the bacteria turn it into nitrite and then nitrate; because no water changes are done, nitrate is not removed and it builds up in the tank water.
The tank is second hand.
The media was still wet when you collected it.
You added bottled bacteria.
We can't find your tap water nitrate on your water company's website.
Are there any live plants in the tank?
Did the previous owner say how long ago he had fish in the tank before you bought it?
Did you test your tap water for nitrate?
Did you keep any of the water that was in the tank when you bought it, that is the pervious owner's water?
Reasons for the questions:
Live plants take up ammonia faster than the good bacteria so the tank may well be cycled without growing bacteria.
If it had been a few months since fish were last in the tank, the bacteria would have started to die off. When they have no food - ammonia made by fish - they are OK for a few weeks, then they start to go dormant. After a few months they start to die.
Many bottled bacteria products do nothing. Some speed up a cycle, they don't do it instantly but they still need to be fed which is why I mentioned adding ammonia.
Nitrate in a tank comes from 2 sources. It can be in tap water, or it can be made in the tank by the bacteria - but there needs to be ammonia for them to convert into nitrate, and you haven't added any. 80 ppm nitrate is way over the legal limit in drinking water. So either there is something seriously wrong with your tap water or possibly the tester is inaccurate. Nitrate is the least accurate of our tests and all the shaking in the instructions - preferably more than they say - is needed for an accurate reading. (Actually there is a third cause of high nitrate - adding plant fertiliser which contains nitrate, but you'd have to use a lot to get nitrate that high).
If you kept any of the water that was in the tank when you bought it, that could well have had very high nitrate. There is something called 'old tank syndrome' and this occurs when a fish keeper doesn't do any water changes. The fish in the tank excrete ammonia; the bacteria turn it into nitrite and then nitrate; because no water changes are done, nitrate is not removed and it builds up in the tank water.
All new water just added the filter sponges and media and gravel (all still submerged). Used dechlorinator, bacterial booster and put some fish food flakes in about 3 days ago.
No live plants but noticed a few live tiny sales today
No live plants but noticed a few live tiny sales today
Just tested my tap water and its between 40-80 ppm
FishHobby99
Fish Gatherer
50 ppm! Wow! They allow 10 here, but it must vary. Mine is always 5.Nice size tank to start fish keeping with
Ammonia OK-ish, it needs to be zero.
Nitrite good
Nitrate - very high!
Ignore the 'lower range' pH, since the high range tester shows a pH of 8.2 that's the one to use. The lower range one will show the highest colour regardless of how high the pH is.
Your nitrate is very high - far too high for fish, it needs to be below 20 ppm. How high is nitrate in your tap water? The UK allows up to 50 ppm in drinking water. If your tap nitrate is nice and low a huge water change will get rid of the nitrate.
And are you shaking bottle #2 and the test tube when you do the nitrate test? All that shaking is important as one reagent settles on the bottom of the bottle and the shaking is to get it back into the liquid.
Was the tank running up until you collected it, or was everything dried out? Asking as if it was still running or still wet you'll still have lots of bacteria in the tank. But if it was all totally dry, the bacteria will have died off.
Your high pH suggests you have hard water. Before getting fish, can I suggest you check on your water company's website for hardness - you need a number and the unit of measurement (there are several units they could use). Ignore any words. Fish do a lot better is we keep species which originate in water with similar hardness to our tap water.
Christ!!! Where abouts are you?
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