Nitrate Levels Peaking?

[Lion007]

I'm a bit confused - my tank has been running for app 9 days now (i put a cycled filter in)
Ive been testing my levels every 2 days & so far everythings going well - all levels are nice & low
So far they have been reading at

PH - 7.4/7.8 (colours inbetween)
NitrIte - 0
Ammonia 0 (it did spike to an amazing 0.25 3 days ago lol - but has since returned to 0 in less than 12 hours)
NitrAte 5.0

And incase its of any use - its a 180L with 3 danios - 6 white clouds & 1 bristlenosed plec
Also have 3 live plants in there

But the NitrAte spiked to 20/40 on friday! Did a water change yesterday & added some Nitrate-minus treatment & its dropped to 10 - so it seems to be doing the trick

But the part im confused about is - why would this one level rise so much - id have expected the ammonia to have jumped aswell? Is this normal for a new setup.

All this water testing is fairly new to me so sorry if i sound a novice lol
Cheers

 

[DarkEntity]

You shouldnt add chemicals to remove Nitrates etc. All you are doing is hiding a problem not solving it. Id say your tank is just finishing its cycle. Your fish were probably producing more waste than the filter could keep up with so the tank mini cycled, that would explain the spike and drop etc

 

[scorphonic]

To have nitrates in the tank is natural!! To say they peak at 20 or 40 is not right...I would consider peaking to be at least 100 to 160!! 20 to 40 ppm is fine in a tank...it wont harm the fish.

The process of cycling is:

Ammonia --------> NitrItes---------> Nitrates

You wont see an ammonia spike if the bacteria in your filter that eat ammonia are established.

You wont see an ammonia spike and a NitrIte spike if the bacteria that eat ammonia and NitrIte are established.

You wont see a NitrAte spike if you just carry out a water change to reduce it.

Simple as that. Dont use chemicals to reduce any of these parameters and most certainly dont play with your pH...that can be really bad news.

As your tank cycles you will see your ammonia go to zero...if you dont see any now then that part of the cycle is complete. You should keep an eye on the Nitrites now....once they go to zero start worrying about nitrates. Once both the ammonia and nitrites are at a constant zero (NOTE I said constant since any of these two should never be present in your tank when it is fully cycled since the bacteria should consume them straight away) your tank is fully cycled.

Then every week carry out a 25% water change to keep your nitrate level between 20 and 40. Thats it...nothing more complicated than that!

 

[Lion007]

ahh ok thanks for the advice - i do carry out weekly water changes of 25% - The treatment is only a weekly thing, so i'll test AFTER the next water change this time, rather than before & if they are ok - ill stop using it

It my test kit it says to keep the level below 10 - so i thought 20/40 was bad

 

[CruX]

ahh ok thanks for the advice - i do carry out weekly water changes of 25% - The treatment is only a weekly thing, so i'll test AFTER the next water change this time, rather than before & if they are ok - ill stop using it

It my test kit it says to keep the level below 10 - so i thought 20/40 was bad

I think some fish can be sensitive to higher nitrates, discuss more likely, but I try and keep mine below 50ppm. Some tap water can come out as high as 40ppm in the UK, might be worth noting what you tap water stats are.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Saying a "tank" is cycled makes things kinda confusing. It's filters that are cycled, not the tank itself. The amount of waste product a filter can handle is based on the equivalent bioload it has been fed.

There is such a thing however as a "mature tank"...which is a tank that has been set up long enough to house lots of tiny microscopic critters. Some types of shrimp require a "mature tank" because they are filter feeders.

 

[rdd1952]

As mentioned, don't worry about nitrates. Unless you have a heavily stocked tank with big waste producers, a 25% water change weekly will always keep your nitrates under 20ppm if not closer to 5 to 10 ppm. Anything under 80 to 100 is ok although levels that high can help fuel algae they really aren't a problem for your fish.