Nitrate levels at 80ppm

[SirMinion]

I noticed that the water in one of my tanks was a little green.

Concerned that the green may be caused by high nitrates causing algae to grow I did a nitrate test which came out at 80ppm . eek!

So I did a water change (30%) and the tank looks less green.

I tested the tank again, and tested the other tanks too.. all 80ppm even the one with the 30% water change.

So I tested the tap water.. 80ppm.

So what do I do now?

All four tanks are already heavily planted.#

I dislike using chemicals in my tanks, as many of my fish are quite delicate (puffers & fancy plecos) but I can't see any other option.

 

[karrihug]

do you have any bubble features in your tank? i had high nitrate in one of my planted tanks, but when i took the bubble wall out my plants started growing better and my nitrated went down significantly.

 

[silver]

Well, my first and formost suggestion would be to test your tap water for nitrAtes IF you haven't already This way you will know how low you can actually go!!!
I can tell you from experience that the nitrAtes won't just come down immediatly like everyone seems to think. I had VERY HIGH nitrAtes in my tanks.....200 in one and 120 in the other......this spring and I've been doing water changes every week through late spring until now and my nitrAtes only now are around 40 in one and 10 in the other. The one that has 10 nitrAtes is as low as it can go because my tap is 10ppms and it is my 55 gallon, the one that use to be at 200ppm nitrAtes. It only recently has gone below 40 because I had to do a 75% water change because I moved the tank out a little from my wall.....long story

You may try doing a 75% water change if you are really concerned about it, but I would say a 50% water change every OTHER day and after a week you should bring them down close to what is out of your tap!!!



Edit> I see you lurking CFC...........how did I do?

 

[canarsie11]

You said you tap water was at 80 also?

 

[CFC]

This is a problem i have during the summer months too, as the demand for water goes up the water authorities have to recycle water more quickly resulting in water that has a higher content of nitrates. To combat this you have two choices really, the first which is my preffered option is RO water. Basic RO units can be purchased for around £80 and are easily installed with just a few basic tools, or alternatively you can buy RO water from most good lfs, specially those that hold a good stock of marine fish. The second option is using one of the pre filters that are available like Nitraking which you attach to a hose and allow the water to slowly run through before it goes into the tank, unfortunately these soon become spent when used with water with a high nitrate level and the cartridges will need regualr replacement.

I see you lurking CFC...........how did I do?

Not bad, not bad. Unfortunately with the tapwater reading 80ppm already even huge water changes will not help until the nitrate has been removed from the tapwater somehow before hand.

 

[Ed4567]

edit: CFC pretty much wrote the same thing while I was typing.

If your tap water is at 80ppm then normal water changes are never going to get your tank level below that. You then need to decide if the nitrates are causing you enough bother to do something about them- several people operate tanks at high nitrate levels sucessfully.

If you do want to lower them then you could either buy a nitrate remover (an ion exchange column I think) that you attatch to your hosepipe and 'filters' the water that you will use for water changes. Previously I have found one of these quite effective but not perfect. Alternativly you could probably buy reverse osmosis water from a LFS- especially if it stocks marine life- and use this for your water changes. This is completly pure water, however travelling to get it/ transporting it may not be practicle, and you will have to pay for the water and a suitable additive to replace the mineral ions removed to add to the water before use.

Ed

 

[SirMinion]

You then need to decide if the nitrates are causing you enough bother to do something about them- several people operate tanks at high nitrate levels sucessfully.

Well, no, the nitrate levels don't bother me much and I have a lot of plecs so I don't have algae issues, but is 80ppm going to harm the fish?

(see my sig for the fish in question)

Btw, does anyone know what the EEC guidline is for nitrates in tapwater?

 

[CFC]

Well the puffers, rummy noses and panaques wont enjoy the levels that high, the tetras would be my biggest concern of all as levels above 50ppm will start to cause them discomfort. With the tapwater coming out at 80ppm i would be concerned, a tank reading of 80ppm isnt so bad (not good by any means) but since most tanks will run at 20ppm above the level of the water they are filled with this could mean your levels may sneak up to over 100ppm in time at which point they start to be dangerous to aquatic life. I would seriously consider some kind of filtration for your tapwater.

 

[silver]

Ahhhh )
I didn't really read the part about him/her already having tested the tap!!! )


That would really suck to have that high of nitrAtes.........
You are right, they will have to be removed some how other than water changes..hmmmmmm

Buy some live plants (wait, did you say you had some to lazy to look) and isn't there some sort of media that has nitrAte reducing effects??


CFC, I don't know if you remember one of my PMs to you, but I had mentioned that my tap water was around 18ppms........Well, I ended up dumping those DUMB test strips and buying the actual "drops in the tube" kind of NitrAte test kit and then tested my tap with it and my tap nitrAtes are actually at 10ppms AND......big HUGE AND HERE.....my 55 gallon FINALLY has nitrAtes of only 10ppms also. Can you BELIEVE THAT!!!!!!

 

[rvm]

SirMinion, I have the same problem as you (although not as bad, my nitrates are about 50ppm from the tap). But since I also have a panaque who I know does not like high nitrates, I have one of the nitrate filters that CFC is talking about.
I have found it to be very effective, and since using it, my tanks Nitrate levels have gone from being around the 80ppm mark to betweeen 10-30ppm!!
You don't need to change the cartridge, all you need to do is run a salt solution through it to recharge it, and by doing this, I worked out that it would treat 1000000 litres of water before it needs replacing!!! (that depends on the nitrate level)
Anyway, it costs around £30, but to protect some of those beautiful fish, probably worth it. The only other problem is that it take a long time to do a water change, but I've got a solution to this now. I'm going to go and buy a big water butt, and fill it with nitrate free, dechlorinated water, and run an airstone in it. that way it should keep for quite a while!!!