Nitrate Gone Through The Roof

[Ruskull]

I agree with TTA.  Nitrate test kits are notoriously inaccurate.  I've tapped, banged, mixed & shaken the carp outta the test tube and gotten different readings in back to back tests on the same tank.  
 
80 ppm Nitrate from the tap sounds a bit high also, just saying.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi I agree test kits can be a bit dodgy ,  Yes I did test for ammonia and nitrite and both were 0 .
I knew it went from ammonia , nitrite to nitrate and with 10 plants in tank I thought this would be ok , how wrong.  I had a friend feeding tank while away and not use to fish so part problem but I was shocked when saw the reading for nitrate from tap , weather you believe my readings or not , I am still learning at this even thoe I have had a tank for 3 years and always try to learn all , but openly admit I have seriously f.......d up , but have learnt a hard lesson from this .
cathy

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Have a look at calculators 1 and 3 on MatsP's website, the figures given might shock you, in terms of how much nitrate is roughly produced by the amount of food you typically add and how much plant growth is needed to use that produced nitrate...
http/linuxhost.matsp.co.uk/calculator/

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sorry you have had a pretty bad time of things lately. Also sorry for losses of some of your fish.
 
Lets just hope lessons have been learned and won't happen again.
 
Got a feeling might be partly to do with your friend overfeeding perhaps and from the water board giving nitrate spikes. 
 
A double whammy if you like.
 
Lets hope your other fish will recover quickly and you'll get some more stocking. Good luck!

 

[bikerfish]

Hi All
Just an update but not good , Nitrate is still up and I have lost 2 more fish

 I am testing and water changes regularly , I have also down sized my fish in tank , now I have 2 keyholes ( juvinels ) 2 angles, 1 gbr , 4 glassfish , and 1 brn  cut feeding to min , I have also put internal bacteria med in just in case it was this as 1 fish had white string poo but still died .
The fish symptons are  not eating , rapid gill movement and stay on bottom and just before they die they stay by 1 of the airstone , from time they show these symptons they die the next day , it is that quick .I have 2 airstones in tank also the out flow is on the surface so lot of movement , I have 6 live plants in tank . 
I have got a vecton 2 ultra violet 300 which is going to be fitted today , see if this helps but next step is going to be just empty tank and and get rid of substrate and wood in case what ever this is, is living in that , new tubes for filter and start again all thoe at moment I am now ready to pack this in as can not take losing anymore .Both amm and nitite are 0
please can some one help
cathy

 

[Sophie]

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.

 
It detoxifies it, doesn't get rid of it. Just saying <3
Prime® also contains a binder which renders ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate non-toxic.
Source: http/www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Prime.html

 

[214jay]

My apologies, I thought that was what I said

  Maybe I used the wrong use of words...Either way prime should help

  

 

[Sophie]

My apologies, I thought that was what I said

  Maybe I used the wrong use of words...Either way prime should help

  

 
Yes eliminate would suggest it'd gone

 

[214jay]

Very true

and well spotted, ha ha

 

[bikerfish]

Hi All
Sorry not been on here as hubby has been trying to fit the uv on to the filter and has been a nightmare after 4 hrs of it still leaking at the conectors  he has given up and will have to get some sort of adaptor as the pipe on the 306 has soft rigid pipes and when connects up it leaks at the top ahhhh.
Made a discovery while this was going on that my filter might be faulty as normaly when I clean the filter once a month I have to put a net over the outlet while priming to catch the crap that comes through, for the last month my outlet nozzle keeps coming off and notice a bit of this in my tank.
Some how some of the crap is by passing the filter sytem and coming straight back into the tank

 .
I have a external fluval 306 , could this be what is causing problems in tank ?
cathy

 

[TehNizz]

I read a bit back in your posts that you changed your substrate not too long ago, that was probably the cause of your problems.Your substrate holds a large portion of your beneficial bacteria culture, your filter does hold some, but the substrate is very significant in an established tank.So what happened was, when you pulled the original stuff out, you caused your tank to re-cycle/mini-cycle, causing the normal path of cycling to occur, high ammonia, then high nitrites and then high nitrates.However, the nitrates are not nearly as harmful as Nitrites or Ammonia,basically those two already took their toll on your inhabitants and now the more serious symptoms are showing.I only know this because I made that terrible mistake myself and lost a few hundred dollars worth of fish before I figured out what happened. My tank was 3 years old, hadn't lost a fish since the first batch I stocked with, switched the substrate and it went down exactly how yours did.Keep your waters changes going as frequently as you feel comfortable, as only you see how your fish are reacting.Get some Prime to treat the water with (I believe someone already suggested that, it's good advice) Hope you get it straightened out!!

 

[bikerfish]

Hi I changed the substrate a fair while ago and had a mini cycle which done lots of water changes and lots of testing of water at lfs  so I no this is not the problem now , it all started when I put the 4 small keyholes in the tank ,then the nitrates rising at the same time .
Done water test again today at lfs and all good but just waiting now for the weekend to see if another fish dies on me,
cheers for everybodys answers
cathy

 

[bikerfish]

Hi All
Help still needed as now have another cichlid gone down with same thing , stops eating , sitting at the bottom with heavy gill movement then with in 24 hrs they are dead and it is 1 fish roughly a week. ,
Went to lfs first thing yesterday morning and explained again what is happening after being told normaly dirty tanks have this , then tank to clean ,
They have had internal bacteria med put in , this has been out of tank for a week and a half .
Yesterday morning I put in jbl gyrodol  50ml for 240lt tank , this is a strong meds and is for gill flukes and other types of worms and you leave in tank for 48 hrs , also I bought some vitiman drops tp put on fish food as this is suppose to drive the fish crazy to eat and none liked it , this is called jbl atvitol., my fish had stopped eating but ate a little bit last night , today he worse and has not eaten , Now staying near 1 of my airstones , he will be gone by the morning now .
I have lost so many fish since this has started ,all  water stats are good as taking them to lfs plus testing at home .
I do not no what to do next apart from stripping tank down ?
cathy

 

[214jay]

I am really sorry to hear you are still having so many problems

Can you get all of your remaining healthy fish out at put them in a Quarantine Tank? May help you observe if it is something with the tank causing this problem and not your water.

 

[bikerfish]

Hi I have  a small 60lt quarantine tank which I keep a few guppies in to keep ticking over plus at mo 1 very naughty blue german ram as he keeps attacking all over fish even thoe he is the smallest in the tank.
Prob to small for all the fish to go in unless take the guppies out but still small.
Also when this started the first 3 fish that showed these signs I moved in to the quarantine tank where they died the next day , another fish still came down with this the following day so def some thing in the tank .
Thinking it is always the cichilds that get this then put the guppies and leave the glass fish in tank plus the sick 1 and put the 2 small  keyholes and the 2 angels in the 60 lt with the blue german ram . I no this is not ideal but best I can come up with.
What if I take out all bogwood and plants to see if it is in this ?
But also if it is just infecting my American cichilds how will I tell if problem is gone ?
Thank you for answering so quick
cathy