Water Test Results

[Mogs26]

Hi again
Sorry for all these questions!
I have a 215l tank which has just finished cycling and I did a down to gravel water change today and tested the water after.
The results were good
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
40 nitrates
My question is about the nitrates. Is this level ok? I tested the tap water after, and it appears to be the same colour (are they poisoning us too?) I have read on this forum to keep it below 40ppm, but elsewhere to keep it under 25. Will I have to do lots of water changes to this high original level?
Thanks
Carole x

 

[AstonN24vantage]

yes nitrates that are very good are below 25, but it is hard to keep it like that. 40 and below is safe.

 

[Skins]

Hello Carole,
I have been advised to keep the tank water nitrates no higher than 20ppm above your tap water nitrate levels.

Keith.

 

[Uriel]

Some people have nitrate and even trace ammonia in there tap water. Generally the reccomendation is to stay within 40ppm nitrate of you tap water. This should be fine unless you have some particularly sensitive or specialist fish. Personally if i was you i would plant the tank. My Trace nitrate from water that came with my fish has been slowly dropping this week and only did a water change Monday out of a sense of habit building rather than need. I really like seachem flourish excel if your going planted had it reccomended to me and have really seen results. or at least i think i have. Seachem prime is used a lot by people here especially if they have trace poisons in there tap water so something you could concider.

 

[Mogs26]

Thank you everyone. I have got some java moss in the tank, but don't feel ready to go fully planted yet. I have x ray tetras, golden barbs and harelquin rasboras ATM, which I am moving from my old tank and will double their numbers, gradually. I want to add some lake kutubu rainbows when I can afford them, and a BN in about 6 months. Part of the reason for choosing these fish was that they seem pretty tolerant of water conditions.
I love this forum, thanks for all the brill advice. It's nice to be able to check BEFORE I make a booboo!!

 

[AstonN24vantage]

i know tetra makes some sort of nitrate lowering product, and at one point i got it. not sure if it works. i guess you have nothing to lose though

 

[waterdrop]

There's nothing wrong with 40ppm as a starting place for your nitrates as a beginner. The important part of using this "flag" substance is to monitor it on a regular basis (and it's a pain to test with all the shaking) and see where it goes: If it stays steady or drops over time then that means you are doing a good job with your maintenance routines. If it is sometimes rising (you feel you are seeing some 80's or 160's in your results) then that calls into question whether you are changing a large enough volume of water at your weekly water change or whether you are gravel cleaning enough (or whether your filter cleans have fallen behind.)

Nitrate(NO3) is a convenient chemical to test in our tanks because it tells us what I've described above but it is also the end product of the nitrification process and can tell us things about that too. But desite this, it's real role is the "flag" one, because there are hundreds of organic and inorganic substances we want to regularly water-change out of our tanks. We don't have the money, time or probably the ability to measure all these things, so we use NO3 as a "surrogate" for their presence.

~~waterdrop~~