Could Bogwood Cause High Nitrates?

[orangefish]

I have had a problem of high nitrates for the last month of so (50-100mg/l), and cannot find the root cause of it. Is it possible that bogwood could cause it as I know that it rots over a long period of time? Thanks

 

[mtv8dmarine]

I haven't experienced higher nitrates due to bogwood in my tank and I have a huge piece.

 

[alex.wardle]

How long have you had it in your tank for??
Do you regulary clean/change the media in your filter and do regular water changes
Have you recently tested your tap water to see bow high the nitrates are in that. The law states that there can be no higher then 50ppm in your tap water but some times it can be up to that much. Or possibly you are not doing the test correctly. What type of test kit are you using?
Also could you list your tank stats.
Size
Filtration
Inhabitants
Your other water stats

 

[mattlee]

nitrates are the end product of the nitrogen cycle. so i would say that not enough water is being replaced weekly or you are very over stocked. as said above nitrates can be in tap water and without a fully planted tank or chemicals you wont get it lower than your tap reading.

what is your tank size?
what is the stocking?
what is your tank maintenance schedule?

 

[orangefish]

Thanks for your help.

I have a Fluval Roma 125L
My inhabitants are: 4 young platys, 1 molly, 2 glowlight danios, 1 spotted danio, 2 zebra danios, 5 neon tetras, 7 harlequins, 2 cockatoo dwarf cichlids, 1 pygmy cory, and 3 penguin tetras.
The 2 pieces of bogwood and this tank have been set up for around 3 months (although all the fish and water were transferred from a previous smaller tank).
I vacuum my tank every 1/2 weeks and clean the sponges every 2/3 months or so (I last did it 1 month ago).
My water stats are as of now: nitrate- 50mg/l
nitrite- 0
ammonia- 0
pH- 8.2 (I think this is as a result of that bottled water as you suggested)
I have had recurring disease-related problems for around 1/2 months now. I have a test kit that includes KH, GH, nitrites, pH and ammonia, and everything has been in balance. At first I had a guppy that died with what I now think is dropsy. I then has a danio die with swimbladder. I had a platy that also died with dropsy. My chinese algae eater died mysteriously.
All these problems have come about all of a sudden, so I took a water sample to my LFS and they said that the nitrates were very high (80mg/l) so I bought a nitrate test kit. I put a pot of live bacteria that they sold me in my tank, but it still read between 50-100mg/l in my tank. I also treated with NitrateMinus however nothing changed. I then did a 20% water change with bottled water that I tested to have 0 nitrates in; but still nothing has changed.
Now I am not sure if one of my neon tetras has dropsy! Please help!

I am going to do a water change now to try and help the stats. I will change around 40% with tap water (I did a very good vaccum the day before last) and add AquaSafe, change 1 of my filter pads for new ones, and add some aquarium salt. Fingers crossed this will work, but if you don't think I should do any of this- please say! Thanks!

 

[alex.wardle]

Huuum well i am not sure about the stocking side of your tank, maybe someone else can help on that front.
what i would say is dont listen to you lfs. (a pot of live bacteria) this may have been alive when it was bottled but most sertanly would have been dead by the time you bought it.
Bacteria needs air and food to live, both of which are not pressent in the pot you got so save your money and dont by it again.
Another thing dont add bottled water into your tank. unless it is RO water as this is waste of time and may contain minerals that are fine for humans but will mess up your water chemistry.
Have you tested your tap water for nitrates yet.
My tap water normally comes back at around 25ppm so this is my base line when i test my tank water as this is what i top my tank up with (declored of corse)
I clean my filter media every 2 weeks lightly in removed tank water, try this .

 

[orangefish]

Thanks. Well I did a 50% water change last night and replaced 1 of the 2 filter pads and thoroughly cleaned the other pad. The nitrates in the tap water are 25mg/l. However, I tested the tank's nitrates after I had done all of this and it was still about 50mg/l. I don't know what to do or what is causing it!? Do you think I should add salt as a tonic for my fish (as they are probably stressed) or could this make the nitrates/water quality worse? Also, any other suggestions to help sort the nitrates out? Thanks

 

[philak]

I wouldnt worry about the level being 50mg/l , especially if your tapwater is coming out at 25. To keep it near tap water levels, especially with your stocking in a tank that size, would take almost daily water changes and 50 really is not harmful at all in my experience.(I base this opinion on the fact that my Rams breed like rabbits in water that is somewhere around that level or even higher).

 

[orangefish]

Well I managed to get the water nitrates down to about 15mg/l, but I have had anothe fish death today one of my penguin tetra died mysteriously. She has been lethargic for a while but I though it was just that the other fish were bullying her or something- but there are no visible signs of illness. I also have a cockatoo dwarf cichlid that really isn't right. He's sat on the bottom all of the time and isnt eating. When I was doing a water change and put my hand near him he didn't even bother to move away. His dorsal fin is up and he is quite dark in colour, and I think he might die soon would it do him any good if I bathed him in a salt bath? If so, how much salt and for how long? Any other advice appreciated asap! Thanks

 

[the biffster]

have you been feeding blood worm at all
nitrate is normally a sign of over feeding
i have found as it the by produced of nitrite

i found that blood worm to be high in nirate thats why i asked

 

[orangefish]

Every week or two I feed them one. But I have got my nitrates down now and I am still having problems? Thanks

 

[the biffster]

remove bog wood and see if the problem still exists
soak bog wood in a bucket of water and test the water in the bucket