Hello , Tap Safe / Nitrate Question ?

[toastie]

hello im new to the forum and have 100s of questions but il kick off with this one  
 
so my water tests all come out well but my nitrate is a bed red 40 or up i think , after lots of water changes i thought id test the water before it when in and it was the the same . so i thought id try doubling the tap safe in the new water and that bought the reading down but i didn't want to put the new water in if its possible to have to much tap safe in so now im stuck.
 
this is all i bit vague but i was putting 2 peppets things that you get with the stuff (the blue stuff from pets at home) in 5 litters
of tap water , 
 
when i doubled to 4 per 5 litters it sated to bring the nitrate down .
 
so any thought ?  thanks for any input im keep to learn 
 
cheers d 

 

[Shaddex]

To my knowledge Tapsafe does not remove Nitrate from tap water.
 
If your Tap water is 40ppm Nitrate, and your tank is also 40ppm, there is nothing to worry about.
Your weekly water changes will keep your nitrate under control.
 
Ive often "Double Doesed" my tank with tapsafe, so I dont think there is an issue there.
 
Can you supply a little more info like tank size, brand of tapsafe, any test results other than your Nitrate.
Ammonia, Nitrite levels are far more important than Nirtate.

 

[toastie]

Hi , thanks got reply , il do another test and gather some info later and take some pics

Cheers d

 

[toastie]

im back . this is a pic of my tests , it was done about 3 hours after feeding them , the red on the far right is tap water , its hard to see but its more or lees the same as the tap water colour , next to it is the tap safe im using and the pepet .  , it looks like my ph is high as well . any info or ideas would be great ,  many thanks d  
 

 

[toastie]

ps , 64l tanks , been running about 3 months one air stone  , fish all seem well , 6 neon tetras , 2 glow tetras , i fighting fish , 2 molly's , i little plek , 3 shrimp , 3 snails and about 15 tiny snail's   

 

[Bigman]

I'm another newbie but looking at your test results, I would say your tank water is just about right.
Going left to right, this is how I read the results
Low level ph - over 7.6
High level ph - 8.0 to 8.2 (could be a little high for some of your fish...depends what you are keeping)
Ammonia - Zero (perfect)
Nitrites - Zero (perfect)
Nitrates - 40 or just under.
 
Looking at your tap water levels which I would say are over 40 Nitrates, I think you are doing very well..... I'd be happy with results like that. Just keep an eye on your ph level, as some fish do not like it above 7.5 ish...... How you get it down to 7.5 I don't know as yet. as I say I'm a newbie too..... but you are generally doing ok.....
 
 

 

[Ninjouzata]

I have a hard enough time reading my own tests let alone a pic of someone elses so I can't really say much on that side
One way to lower your pH is by adding driftwood to the aquarium. You really don't want to mess with it much as fluctuations can stress out/harm your fish.
Any idea what type of plec you have? Although not sure if there are any that can go in that size tank. Then again I don't know a whole lot about plecs!

 

[frapadoodle]

The high pH test is not needed unless your pH test goes off scale.
As for nitrates, no real worry. Most fish, and I say most not all, are fine with that range. Mine sit at 40ppm and have for years. It's 20ppm out of the tap.
Some fish want low nitrates for breeding. Such as I have read several places that they need to be below 20ppm for corys to breed, but had no problems with that.

Agree with being very cautious about adjusting pH, it can stress fish horribly, and in some cases cause death.

 

[toastie]

thanks folks , thats good new . so you dont think my ph is to high ? i was expecting 6.4 6.6 . 
 
this is plec . he's about 2 inch long , i hope he's ok as the fish shop knew the tank size . cheers
 
d 

 
ps sorry about my spelling 

 

[Ninjouzata]

Naw, my pH is 7.6 as well, fish are fine.
I have no idea what kind of plec that is, except CUTE! Hopefully someone who knows more about them can tell you what that is and if it is okay for your tank.
Sometimes the people at the shop are more interested in your money than the welfare of the fish, so you see people getting plecs that can get up to a foot or two in a tiny tank. It's quite sad.

 

[toastie]

thanks he is ace , iv had him about 5 months and was sold him for cold water and told he would be ok in tropical , that dont sound right to me but when myt cold tank went tits up i got him out to save him and he has been fine in the warm tank since . he's got a bit bigger in 4 months but not much so i hope he's ok , 
 
cheers for info d 

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Poor pic, so its only guess. Not a pleco but a hillstream loach. Look here http/www.loaches.com/species-index/beaufortia-kweichowensis

 

[toastie]

Ye he dose look like one of them , iv just dug some paper work out and it says Hong Kong plec , what do you think ?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Hong Kong pleco is a common name and serves to illustrate the short coming of using them. Google Hong Kong Pleco and your will see why.
 
Basically they like cooler, well oxygenated water with decent current. They use those fins to make themselves into a suction cup to hold on on faster flowing waters. Plecos use their suckermouth to hold on.

 

[toastie]

this is him from under side