Nitrate Gone Through The Roof

[bikerfish]

Hi ALL
My nitrate has gone through the roof and trying to get it down before I lose any more fish.
I think this has been building up for a while now as a few weeks ago I bought 4 keyhole and sadly they all died , but all rest of my fish were fine and I tested the amm and nitrite both were 0. Just came back from hols and lost 1 gbr and an angel , now I have 1 angel and spotted headstander with symptons .
The only thing I can think that has caused this build up is over feeding them , I do a weekly clean of roughly 25% water and as I have substrate all comes out and put hand through to make sure all comes to the top to be cleaned up and monthly filter clean , rinsed in tank water.
Since the Tuesday when I realised what is the problem I have cleaned bottom twice , filter and have added tetra easy balance . Lost another fish yesterday so tested water and nitrate 160+ , tested tap water that was 80 on the chart , is this high or normal ? I cleaned bottom of tank again and changed bucket of water and put some alpha in which friend had . Tested water this morning and nitrate is at 40 which I know is high.
Please I have been feeding fish 1 a day and 1 pinch of food and cleaned every thing and can not get it to go down .
The only thing I think could be is the pipes going from tank to filter , build up in there?
Thank you for reading this please I am at a lost as to getting it down to safe level
cathy

 

[Blondielovesfish]

40ppm above your tap nitrate level is considered to the highest most people want to go. Some do go higher, but IME higher means problems.
Just keep up with the water changes and keep an eye on the tests.
Make sure there is absolutely nothing that could be rotting in the tank, no dead fish, no uneaten food?

 

[levahe]

Which test kit are you using? Nitrate test kits are notoriously inaccurate especially the paper strip dip tests. What symptoms do your fish have?

 

[214jay]

Can you take your water to a LFS, they may be able to do a more accurate reading on Nitrate.  Also are you using Prime water conditioner?  May be worth doing a large water change and dosing the whole tank with Prime which temporarily eliminates Nitrates.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi cheers for answering , I am using the api nitrate test kit so same as lfs and using alpha to bring nitrate down but still high , both my angels are not eating now also my headstander .
I changed my substrate 3 months ago to jbl cichlid natural substrate and since then when I clean tank I get white cloudy water after for a day which did not before , also for 2 water change I did not put in water dechlorinator as bought friendly bacteria by mistake and put that in but soon as realised I done a big water change.
My tank is 3 years old and is 4ft and 240lt , fish are 2 angels,1 bgr, 4 glass fish, 2 juvenile keyhole , 10 panda cories and 1 brn .
Could it be build up of crap in the pipes going to and from the filter which is external fluval 306? possiblie overfeeding ? not cleaning as done every week.
I have taken out 5 oldish plants that kept drooping leaves but still have 3 big plants in tank also now having problem with algea and I am getting a uv sterilizer just waiting for it to be delivered.
Hope this answers some questions
cathy

 

[fluttermoth]

I think you probably just need to up the % of your water changes.
 
I'm not saying your tank is overstocked, but you do have quite a few largish, messy fish, so something more in the region of 50 or 60% weekly should stop the nitrate building up so quickly and so high.

 

[214jay]

I just re-read your first post, you say your nitrate is 80ppm out of the tap?  The legal limit in the UK is 50ppm which makes me think either your kit is off or you need to speak to the water board!  Might be worth checking the sell by date on the Nitrate test?  Trouble is even  with 50% water changes if your putting 80ppm water back in the tank it will not help much as you will never get below 80ppm even with a full 100% WC!  It may still be worth getting the LFS to test you tank water as this will show if the test is faulty/old - Especially with it being the hardest test to read!  Hope you get it sorted!

 

[bikerfish]

Hi The only large fish I have in tank are the 2 angels and brn as the keyholes are only inch big at mo .
The nitrate coming out of tap water is 80 , trying to get that down before tank , could it be build up of crap in pipe from from filter ?
cathy

 

[214jay]

I would be surprised if it was the buildup of crap, that should break down over time, I am sure you problem lies with the high Nitrate from the tap, if you have 160ppm in the tank do a 50% change and replace with 80ppm from the tap you will still be at like 120ppm which will then in turn increase from fish waste etc...This has probably been happening and pushed you beyond 160ppm+.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi exp date on kit is 11/2017 , just done  test now and tank is now reading 10 /20  which is a lot better, what about putting resin in the filter ? would this help ?
cathy

 

[bikerfish]

Hi just tested tap water again and now gone down to 10 , this could be why my tank has now gone down as done water change earlier . I have never had this problem before .
Can fish get over this as I have 3 that are still not eating but they do not have rapid gill movement anymore.
Thankyou for all your help
cathy

 

[bikerfish]

Hi All
My female angel died in the night

 the male is now just sitting beside the bogwood and not eating , not sure if this is because he has lost his mate , they had just paired of and took other female to lfs last week .
Tested the nitrate this morning and was still reading 10/20 so that is good also nipper my headstander has started to eat a little bit now so hoping she is over the worst .
cathy

 

[214jay]

Hi Cathy.  I am really sorry to hear you lost you Angel, sorry for your loss.  Hopefully your problems are all over now, please to hear your Nitrate is down to safe levels.  I guess there must have been a nitrate spike in the water from the waterboard.  I often test the tap water just to be sure

 

[bikerfish]

Hi
I feel really bad as never realised till now that nitrate was bad and had never tested it , till few days ago , with lots of live plants in tank , I have lost 8 fish with my ignorance , certainly wont make same mistake again .
thank you for all you help and advice
cathy

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Nitrate comes from nitrite which comes from ammonia. In all of the recent problems did you test for ammonia or nitrite?
 
To be honest, I do not trust your numbers. Live plants love nitrate and will readily consume it. You say you are heavily planted, so your high nitrate levels don't make a lot of sense.
 
Finally, my level of trust in nitrate test results is not real high. I have been cycling tanks for over 13 years and I have not used a nitrate test kit in about 12 years.