Nitrate spike tap water.

[Moby]

I’ve got a nitrate spike in my normally settled tank.Done two big water changes which did not make too much difference.Nitrate in my tap water is normally around 5ppm,just tested its over 20ppm.Do think this could due to our recent heatwave.Running out of idea’s.
Thks.

 

[Colin_T]

The water company is probably getting water from a different source and the new source has nitrates in.

Have lots of live plants in the tank (especially floating plants) and hopefully they can help keep the nitrates down. If not there are products you put in the filter to remove nitrates from water, or get reverse osmosis water.

 

[Wills]

Floating plants or riparian plants growing out the surface like peace lillys and pothos will remove nitrates faster than aquatic plants

Wills

 

[Moby]

Thks guys.When I first noticed the spike the first water change was rainwater.I’ve now run out.The following changes were tap water.I’ve plenty of plants.Do weekly 30% water changes for years and no problems before.Only thing I can think of is over feeding?
Thks.

 

[Wills]

Was the 20ppm from your tap water or water from the aquarium? If its in the tap water its down to how your water is processed the current legal limit in the UK is 50ppm so its not uncommon for people to have it in there, in the past I've had 40ppm out of the tap, now I'm around 20.

If the tank is producing 20ppm nitrate water changes should resolve it but aquatic plants, even with dense planting only use nitrates as a food source if there isn't any ammonia and plants will process ammonia faster than your filter bacteria. But for it to have got that high unexpectedly I would be thinking has something died? Like a fish or shrimp or event some plants? Is there a build up of detritus somewhere like under decor or wood?

Wills

 

[Moby]

Thks wills,I did lose a oto a few weeks ago.I got most of it out and gravel cleaned after.Apart the high nitrate in tap water I’ve been trying to find the cause for the initial spike.The tap water is now showing 20+nitrate.

 

[Naughts]

I had higher tap nitrates a few weeks ago and wondered if it was dependent on the preceding rain levels. I got conflicting opinions.

High nitrates, but water changes don't help. Any ideas?

I have a 55G tank with plants and a bunch of shrimp and fish. All my water values were always stable, but I had to put in some Nitrofurazone and API Pimafix (separately, about a week apart) to try to fix some cotton mouth on a few of my neon tetras. Now I constantly have high nitrate values...

www.fishforums.net

When I check my records I have the lowest tap nitrate level in the winter so it may be related to agricultural activity rather than rainfall.

 

[Byron]

In the initial post the 20ppm nitrate is said to be in the tap water. Aquatic plants are good with nitrate occurring from the biological system within the tank, but not much good (which is to say, frankly, nil) with those entering via source water. As has been noted by others here. If this becomes a permanent thing (20ppm or more in the tap water) you should read @AbbeysDad article on his blog.

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[AbbeysDad]

More and more, especially in agricultural areas, nitrates are high in source waters. I once had a serious problem with nitrates off the chart in my well water relative to a 95 acre farmers field across the road. The farm hand told me they couldn't grow much without a lot of fertilizer. Fortunately for me, the leased land changed hands to a different farm that only uses manure to fertilize the fields. Now I'll confess that the air around here when the spray that isn't so great...but the water is much better! As @Byron points out my articles document my 'adventures' in nitrate reduction.