Very high nitrate

[pumaf1]

Hiya,
Need some help guys. Tank is been running without fish for a week now. I have done my second test and the nitrate level has gone up to 160.

please help


sorry remainign levels

ph 7.4
ammonia 0.25
nitrate 160
nitrite 5.0

 

[The-Wolf]

water changes will cure that problem

 

[pumaf1]

how much of a water change do I need to do

 

[The-Wolf]

ooops sorry I forgot to say that

20-25% every other day will be ok.

 

[pumaf1]

okay will do that now then

 

[WILDER]

Yes i agree the only thing to fetch nitrates down is daily water changes.

 

[rdd1952]

I am certainly not as experienced as The Wolf and Wilder but I would be much more concerned about the nitrIte at 5.0 than the nitrAte at 160. That is a very deadly level for almost all fish. I think you should be doing 40 to 50 percent water changes until you get the nitrIte down. That will also bring the nitrAte down. What size tank is it? How many and what kind of fish do you have? How long has the tank been set up?

Edit for spelling

 

[pica_nuttalli]

I am certainly not as experienced as The Wolf and Wilder but I would be much more concerned about the nitrIte at 5.0 than the nitrAte at 160. That is a very deadly level for almost all fish. I think you should be doing 40 to 50 percent water changes until you get the nitrIte down. That will also bring the nitrAte down. What size tank is it? How many and what kind of fish do you have? How long has the tank been set up?

Edit for spelling

no worries; its a fishless cycling issue; easy enough thing to miss, considering how many brand new tanks show up everyday...

the main concern about high nitrAte levels while cycling is (i believe) that high nitrAte will impede the growth and effectiveness of the first sorts of beneficial bacteria. but major water changes will also produce a similar effect. so medium sized changes every other day are a good compromise.

 

[pumaf1]

the tanks been setup for only a week and has no fish in it at all.

I am thinking of neons and corys

 

[nc_nutcase]

ph 7.4
ammonia 0.25
nitrate 160
nitrite 5.0

a new tank with these readings is simply not finished cycling. At this point you WANT Ammonia and NitrItes. These are the foods for the beneficial bacteria and since there are no fish in the aquarium, then there is nothing for the waste byproducts to hurt...

With fishless cycles I understand that you do not want to do any water changes. When your beneficial bacteria is developed to a point to handle your introduced bio-load your ammonia and nitrItes will reach 0 then do water changes to remove the nitrAtes.

Only when your levels are all at 0 are you to add fish. I would suggest reading up on fishless cycling to gain more details and possible make corrections to my thoughts (I always cycle with fish and lots of seeding).

 

[rdd1952]

Sorry about missing the fishless cycle part. If the tank has only been cycling a week, it looks like the ammonia spike may have almost dropped since ammonia is at .25 and nitrite is at 5.0. I don't quite understand how the nitrates could be that high since nitrate comes from nitrite and it's hard to believe that much nitrite could have already been transformed into nitrate. I would check my tap/well water to see what the nitrate reading is from the tap.
I am of the same understanding as nc_nutcase, that you only do one huge water change at the end of the cycling to remove the nitrate. I just finished fishless cycling a 75 gallon tank and didn't do any water changes at all until the nitrite spike dropped. For about the last 4 days, the nitrAtes were literally off the chart but the nitrIte spike dropped after about 2 weeks. Entire cycling took about 3 weeks. YOu will need to continue to add ammonia every time ti gets to near zero to bring the level back up to around 1.0. Otherwise, the bacteria that feeds off ammonia will die off. If the ammonia part of the cycle, a level of 1.0 should drop back to 0 again with in about 10 to 12 hours. When it does, just add more.

 

[pumaf1]

hello an update:

PH 7.2
Ammnia 0.25
NirAte 40
NitrIte 2.0

 

[Neon junkie]

Hi, good to hear about the readings on your tank
Im no expert I heard that if your test kit shows that there is no nitrAtes at all in the tank then the kit is faulty or reading inaccurately, as this is pretty much impossible in a tank that should fully be running the nitrogen cycle!

 

[rdd1952]

Im no expert I heard that if your test kit shows that there is no nitrAtes at all in the tank then the kit is faulty or reading inaccurately, as this is pretty much impossible in a tank that should fully be running the nitrogen cycle!

It is possible to have no nitrates in a tank if it is planted and has a very light bio load. I have a 2.5 gallon mini bow with only one male betta and a good sized sword rosette plant. I almost never get a nitrate reading in that tank but there isn't much waste to be processed. He takes pellets off my finger so there isn't any left over food to decay. I do give him treats of brine shrimp or daphnia but usually do that with a spoon from the cup that I giving to the big tank. I only put a very small amount so if he happens to not eat them all, there still isn't much waste. In a fully stocked tank though, you are right there will probably almost always be nitrates in the 10 ppm range.

 

[pumaf1]

hi guys an update:

PH 7.0
Ammonia 0
NitrAte 0
NitrIte 0

I have ahd a layer of what I can only call scum on the surface when I came in from work tonight that wasnt there went I left. dunn what that was but removed it with the net.


can i put fish in now?