Nitrate won’t go down!

[joeyr188]

Hello, so when I checked my water the other day my nitrate ppm was at 40ish so I did a water change its been 2 days now and when I checked the water it was red like high ppm so I put the filiter media back in because I didn’t know what do do because I was treating the tank for disease. So should I wait and see if it doesn’t change what should I do?. Also sorry for poor grammer I just dont know what I should do.

 

[kiko]

you can do water changes using remineralized RO water..that'll lower the nitrates over and over while you do it until your tank stabilizes and you don't need to do it
if you don't have an RO/di system then distilled water will have to do...

for how to make distilled water at home

 

[Essjay]

Nitrate comes from two sources.

#1 Tap water. Some places have high nitrate in tap water. Have you tested the nitrate level in yours?

#2 Made in the tank. The 'good bacteria' turn the ammonia made by the fish into nitrite then on to nitrate. If there are too many fish, or the fish are over fed this makes a lot of ammonia which is turned into a lot of nitrate.




If your tap water has very low nitrate, it's #2. Water changes with low-nitrate tap water will remove nitrate. Keeping stocking at a sensible level and not over feeding fish will help stop nitrate increasing. Lots of live plants will also help as plants use ammonia as fertiliser and they turn it into protein rather than nitrite or nitrate.

If your tap water is high in nitrate, then use RO water as kiko says. But if your tap water has low nitrate and the tank nitrate is made in the tank even RO won't stop it going up.

 

[Essjay]

I put the filiter media back in because I didn’t know what do do because I was treating the tank for disease.

When treating for disease, the only filter media you need to remove is carbon. All other media should stay in the filter. And since you don't need carbon anyway, replace it with carbon-free filter sponge.

 

[joeyr188]

Nitrate comes from two sources.

#1 Tap water. Some places have high nitrate in tap water. Have you tested the nitrate level in yours?

#2 Made in the tank. The 'good bacteria' turn the ammonia made by the fish into nitrite then on to nitrate. If there are too many fish, or the fish are over fed this makes a lot of ammonia which is turned into a lot of nitrate.




If your tap water has very low nitrate, it's #2. Water changes with low-nitrate tap water will remove nitrate. Keeping stocking at a sensible level and not over feeding fish will help stop nitrate increasing. Lots of live plants will also help as plants use ammonia as fertiliser and they turn it into protein rather than nitrite or nitrate.

If your tap water is high in nitrate, then use RO water as kiko says. But if your tap water has low nitrate and the tank nitrate is made in the tank even RO won't stop it going up.

Ok I’m going to check my tap should I dose my tank with prime temporary while I’m figuring it out today

 

[Essjay]

Prime should not be added to a tank except to treat new water at a water change. It is not a medication to be added to sort out a problem.

Nitrate is not a fast killer; work out why your nitrate is high (from tap water or made in the tank) then we can go from there.

 

[Slaphppy7]

What kind of test kit are you using?

 

[Byron]

It would help if we had all the information here. "Treating for disease"--what disease and what treatment? Medications can cause problems with water chemistry, bacteria, etc. Also, how big is the tank and how many and what species of fish? Test the tap water on its own for nitrate, and post the results.

 

[joeyr188]

Prime should not be added to a tank except to treat new water at a water change. It is not a medication to be added to sort out a problem.

Nitrate is not a fast killer; work out why your nitrate is high (from tap water or made in the tank) then we can go from there.

The tap is showing as 0-5 ppm so it’s tank made

 

[joeyr188]

What kind of test kit are you using?

API master test kit the liquid kit

 

[Essjay]

So we know it's being made in the tank. Now for some more questions

Size of tank, both volume and the length and width.
Types of fish, and how many of each
Are there any live plants
How much do you feed the fish, type of food, number of feeds a day and rough idea of how much
How often do you normally do water changes, and how much do you change each time
You mentioned treating the tank - what for and what with

 

[joeyr188]

So we know it's being made in the tank. Now for some more questions

Size of tank, both volume and the length and width.
Types of fish, and how many of each
Are there any live plants
How much do you feed the fish, type of food, number of feeds a day and rough idea of how much
How often do you normally do water changes, and how much do you change each time
You mentioned treating the tank - what for and what with

It is a 10g

guppies there is about 12-17 of them most of them are babies or juveniles, besides 4 of them yes ik it’s over stocked I give them away and try to stay around 8-2

yes most the tank is floaters and I’m putting live plants in it this month

i feed them every other day usually do crushed up algae wafer and put some pieces in it then the day after I do flake food once that day

i change the water every Month but if I notice something wrong I usally change it within a day of it happieng

i was treating the tank with super ich cure from api.

also can you treat ich with garlic If i turn the heat up?

 

[Essjay]

i change the water every Month

That's why your nitrate is high. With an overstocked tank you need to be changing at least half the water at least once a week. During the course of the month, all those guppies are making ammonia which is being turned into nitrate and this nitrate is not being removed with water changes. If you only do a small water change each month that will leave a lot of nitrate still in the tank, then even more is added before the next water change.

The ich treatment should not cause the high nitrate. And in many cases, heat is all that's needed to treat ich. The temperature should be increased to 86 deg F and left there until a week after the last spot has disappeared.

 

[GaryE]

Garlic is the latest fad, and there are things it does. It has no effect on Ich, and as it decomposes, it will add to water quality problems. It's a plant, and it rots.

Monthly water changes are not enough, as @Essjay said. Weekly is less work than walking a dog, and should be part of every fishkeeper's routine.

 

[kiko]

although garlic can help the fish boost its immune system and help it rid of ich.
salt has been proven an effective method against ich.
as garlic is a natural antibiotic and it can have adverse effects if overused so it should be used for more serious things like infections, worms etc..
even though I'm a fan of garlic as a fish medicine I wouldn't use it for ich