Nitrate to high

[Nome1507]

Hello im new here, my names Naomi.
Hi, I have a 30l tropical fish tank. I have two rabbitsnails and two corydora catfish a shrimp and some other snails in it.am having trouble getting the nitrate levels right, my ph is 7.5 and ammonia is 0 ppm and my nitrite is also 0 ppm but the nitrate is still high. I have reduced the feeding to evey other day and been doing regular water changes, (i use tap safe in the tap water) in my last water change i filter the water first. I'm doing about a 20% water change. I recently change my tant from a 19L to a 30L I have to for around a month now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you ?

 

[AbbeysDad]

First, you should test your supply water for nitrates. It's not uncommon these days, especially in agricultural areas, to have nitrates in your source water.
Here is an article on Lowering Tank Nitrates that you may find useful as well as a host of articles on Filtration and Water Quality.

 

[Nome1507]

First, you should test your supply water for nitrates. It's not uncommon these days, especially in agricultural areas, to have nitrates in your source water.
Here is an article on Lowering Tank Nitrates that you may find useful as well as a host of articles on Filtration and Water Quality.

Thank you so much for the information I really appreciate it

 

[Nome1507]

Thank you so much for the information I really appreciate it

use a stingray filter whats your opinion on then if any? Thank you

 

[hansgruber7]

How high are the nitrates?

 

[Essjay]

use a stingray filter whats your opinion on then if any? Thank you

There are replies in the thread about your filter

Filters :)

Hi, I looking for advice on filters for a 30L tank I currently use a stingray. Thanks you

www.fishforums.net

 

[Nome1507]

How high are the nitrates?

They are below around 50ppm

 

[Nome1507]

They are below around 50ppm

They are above as far as I can work out

 

[Essjay]

What is the nitrate level of your tap water?

UK legislation allows up to 50 ppm nitrate in drinking water and it's almost that high in some places.

 

[jonny-5]

I had the same problems last week my Nitrate crept up from around 20ppm to almost 80ppm. I have 7 small to medium fish in a 30G so nowhere near over stocked & i do weekly water changes but looking at it now ive not been changing enough water.
I changed 50% every other day for a few days & the nitrates returned to normal

As for the Stingray i have 1 i my breeding tank & its brilliant, its years old (at least10) & has new sponges every now & then, its super quiet & does an excellent job of keeping the water clear

 

[jonny-5]

I have just checked my Stingray & it was manufactured in 2006 ? Its been in use ever since i got it

 

[Nome1507]

I think the stingray filter is good but not so good in my tank because is small

 

[jonny-5]

I have the stingray 10 in a 50L, But it does get dirty & flow slows down but to me thats how i know it needs cleaning, I clean it out every few days when i have fry in the tank

 

[hansgruber7]

That is high. I would just increase your water changes until it's back down to a normal level. Then you need to figure out the cause. My guess is that it's either in your water supply, you're overfeeding, or you need to improve your filter/clean it.

 

[QiQi]

I am living in the UK and had the same issues. The tap water nitrate readings are around 40-45ppm It didn't matter how many water changes I did, it was always reading 80-90ppm.
At that point, I had only cherry shrimp (70litre tank) so I knew that it wasn't an overstocking issue.
I was really frustrated so I gradually replaced the tap water with RO. The readings started getting better but it was still really bad. I tried different plants, that didn't work either.
Then I read somewhere that driftwood can leach nitrates if it's rotting. I replaced it with a new one and after a couple more water changes my readings now are 0-5ppm.
I also noticed despite doing weekly water changes and vacuuming I had a lot of detritus worms (to the point that they were free-floating in the water column) which probably was another reason why the nitrate level was so high.
Tons of them were being introduced in my tank with the tap water on every water change and there was no food for them, they were dying and producing nitrates too. Once I swapped to RO water I got rid of most of them.
In my case, I think it was a combination of these 3 that contribute to high nitrates. I am still surprised that my cherry shrimp not only survived but were breeding like crazy too.