need some help about water changes

[Helen2004]

hellooo.

please help. i have a tropical tank and the nitrate is getting higher and higher. i have started doin daily water changes, but where i live the water stinks of chorine. is addin tap conditioner enough or would i need to use like bottled water?

 

[nightlife20]

adding dechlorinator should be enough... if you leave it for an hr or two it might help a bit more, you can either keep stiring it or add an air pump (and air stone) into the bucket

 

[gadazobe]

Try adding some live plants, they use the nitrate and help to keep the levels down, and the fish also appreciate them.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum. Introduce yourself in the newbie section.

Unfortunately, plants won't put a serious dent in the problem.

Your options are:
Feed less
Reduce temp if too high to lower metabolism and waste
Reduce stocking levels
Increase filtration, if possible

 

[Vectrum]

you want thiss stuff AmQuel +. it removes nitrate nirite ammonia chloramines and chlorine its only £2.80 for a 29ml bottle one tea spoon will treet 10 gallons so thiss size will do 60g and its only been on the market for 2-3 weeks oh and its says its 100 0/0 safe on all live stock.

regards alastair

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Of course, you shouldn't use chemicals unless you have full faith in them, don't have meds in the tank, and if you can't find other options.

 

[Tandor]

you want thiss stuff AmQuel +. it removes nitrate nirite ammonia chloramines and chlorine its only £2.80 for a 29ml bottle one tea spoon will treet 10 gallons so thiss size will do 60g and its only been on the market for 2-3 weeks oh and its says its 100 0/0 safe on all live stock.

regards alastair

I wouldn't put to much faith in Amquel +. I was worried my nitrates were too high in one of my tanks, and used it for a week and my levels never went down. I just make sure I do my weekly water changes and my fish have never complained.

Tandor

 

[G_Sharky]

Try aging your water and adding a dechlorinator on it....with an airstone...this way ph and carbonated hardness of the water would stay stable....

 

[karrihug]

you want thiss stuff AmQuel +. it removes nitrate nirite ammonia chloramines and chlorine its only £2.80 for a 29ml bottle one tea spoon will treet 10 gallons so thiss size will do 60g and its only been on the market for 2-3 weeks oh and its says its 100 0/0 safe on all live stock.

I would be very careful if you use amquel. I used it and my PH dropped from 7 to 5.5 in less than 24 hours. Don't know for sure it was the amquel, but I didn't do anything else different.

 

[rvm]

I have a similar problem in my tank in that I cannot get the nitrAte below 60-70ppm(ish) (Ammonia and NitrIte are always 0!). My fish are all healthy, and don't complain, but I would like to see it lower!!
I have spoken to my LFS and they said that in my area the tap water contains around 50-80ppm nitrate, so that may be your problem as well. Check your tap water for nitrate. If it is high, there is a filter you can get that will remove the nitrate from the tap water before you put it in the tank. I don't know what it is called (I think it is Nitragon or something like that), but ask your local LFS, they may be able to help.
I don't know if it works as I haven't tried it, but it was recommended to me by Maidenhead Aquatics, and they seem to be a fairly reputable dealer!!

 

[akhtar]

use bottled water its cool... u can use tap water i guess.
but remember if using bottled water watch the ph can change quickly!

 

[msn711]

I use AmQuel+ in my 20g long and my nitrites and nitrates are both 0 ppm. It won't hurt anything, and may actually help.

 

[nightlife20]

i dont agree with adding extra things into te tank, if its already in the water itself then think of r.o water..... if its not in ur main water supply i suggest u do more water changes (without meaning to offened i used to have tests commin back of 30+ on my nitrates till i got rid of the gravel and did more water changes, wich includes rinsing ur filter media in old tank water)

u dont know what kind of long term affects this could have in ur tank or on ur fish .

 

[Tropjunky]

well i think that to a cirtain extent the less a treatment does the better the only thing you sould have in the water is plant feed dechlorinator and if absolutely neccecery meds. ur nitrate problem should be fixed by either filter media or water changes (best to use RO)

 

[Sky042]

I mentioned this in another thread. the idea of the amquel+ scares me a bit. If you use a product that neutralizes nitrites then theres nothing for the nitrite eating bacteria to consume. So if you ever happen to run out of the product or stop using it you could experience a nitrite spike

Personally in my 46G 4 amazon sowrds and 4 large bunches of hornwort took my nitrates from 80 to about 20ppm in 36 hours or so.