Nitrate question

[FalconStorm]

I have high nitrate levels and I'm not sure how to fix them. Water changes don't really help. I tested my tap water and it has 40ppm straight out of the tap. My tank is heavily planted, but it still registers high nitrate.

Also, is it possible for a cycled tank to have a spike in ammonia and nitrite? If so, what causes it? No changes to the tank have been made in over a month, no new fish added or anything, but I tested my water yesterday and it had about .25 of both.

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank, what fish and how many, and what filter do you use, and how often to you maintain your tank, such as a gravel vac and water change, also how long has the tank been set up, and when did you last maintain your filter.

 

[Jen21]

I also have problems with the spikes of nitrites and ammonia, and Im not sure what causes it either. Did you change the filter media lately? I think overcrowding or overfeeding may cause high nitrates.

 

[FalconStorm]

Okay, first of all, I DO know this tank is overstocked. I just want to say that before I give these stats. That's why it's heavily planted.

The tank is ten gallons
Fish are: 1 betta, 10 neons, 3 otos, 2 cories
I don't know the name of the filter, but it will be getting replaced this weekend, because it is the second of its kind I've had that is making noises it shouldn't. It runs, but I don't think it's high quality.
Tank maintenance is 25% water change weekly with gravel vac and occasional 10% change mid-weekly, or top off if it is that low from evaporation.
Tank has been set up since mid-March and I am not sure what filter maintenance is required other than scrubbing in tank water, which I haven't done because the filter is only about a month old. Should I be doing that when I do my weekly water changes?

 

[WILDER]

You have to clean the filter itself to keep it in good working order as they can get blocked up, gently squeeze a sponge in old tank water to get rid of some of the muck, do they look really mucky as one of your sponges might need abit of a clean in old tank water, or your filter is not up to it's job, you might need a bigger one for the load.

 

[rdd1952]

The overstocking will cause the ammonia and nitrite spikes. As for the high nitrates, they are also a result of the high ammonia/nitrite in the tank plus the fact that you are starting with 40 ppm from the tap. That is an extremely high amount and I would even wonder if the water is safe to drink, especially for infants. Water changes are the only way to remove nitrates. There aren't any chemicals that I have ever been able to find that will do it. Unnfortunately, in your case, water changes won't do much good.

 

[FalconStorm]

Hmm...I'll take a look at my filter. It's for a 10 gallon. Would it hurt to upgrade to a filter for a 15 gallon?

As for the water changes...would some filtered spring water from the store mixed in with tap help? Maybe use that every other water change? I don't want to lose the tap nutrients, but maybe the other water will help cut down on the nitrates?

I may retest my tap water just to be sure because I was pretty surprised at those results. We've never gotten sick from it, but we've never had any children in this house either. We've been here for 13 years and been fine. Maybe I'll contact my water company if the readings come out the same again.

 

[WILDER]

Always best to over filter, even better if you are overstocked, you could get a filter for a 20gal, wouldn't use botttled water as they have minerals in it.

 

[rdd1952]

Always best to over filter, even better if you are overstocked, you could get a filter for a 20gal, wouldn't use botttled water as they have minerals in it.

I agree completely about overfiltering. The only time that can be a problem is with fish like bettas that don't like much water movement. In a community tank, the more the better.

As for the nitrates, if you can get some RO water from the LFS, that would probably help. Generally boiling water helps but in the case of nitrates, it actually has the opposite effect. It will actuall concentrate the nitrates and make them worse.

 

[FalconStorm]

What IS RO water, anyway? I've read a bit about it, but I'm not sure what it is.

As for the filter...I DO have a betta in that tank, but the place where the filter rests is VERY heavily planted and the plants break the flow of the water a lot, so I think it should be okay.

Also, I wasn't planning on using mineral water, but that water that is supposed to have EVERYTHING removed from it...sterile water, I guess? I dunno if that would be good or bad.

 

[rdd1952]

RO water is Reverse Osmosis water. It is basically the same as what you're talking about with everything removed. The only problem with using that or the spring water you're talking about is that it has 0 buffering capacity so the water is susceptible to swings in pH if you're using CO2, bogwood, etc.

 

[FalconStorm]

I'm not. I haven't quite advanced to where I feel comfortable messing with the PH of my tanks. If my water really is that bad, I may have to leave it that way. Heh...I have a high PH too. No wonder all my fish died 13 years ago when we moved into this house. I didn't know enough about fish keeping then to keep them alive with these adverse effects. I'm glad I've got this forum to help me, now.

 

[WILDER]

What is the ph of the tap water, as if your tank is in a mini cycle it will alter the ph.

 

[FalconStorm]

It regularly tests 8.4. I am VERY careful when acclimating my fish. I don't remember my original cycle doing anything to my PH. It holds pretty steady at that.