help... high nitrate

[charlieisleofwight]

hello all,
is anyone able to give us some advise.... we have had the fish for about a year now, doing regular water changes. the ph is 7.6 & nitrate 160ppm. our water is hard, so we have just started pinching the rain water from our neighbours water butt!!!!
we have been advised to do 10% change every 3 days.... we have but still 160ppm !
any ideas??
regards charlie

 

[norbie]

hi charlie,

just out of interest, where abouts on the island do you live?

i live in shanklin, and just wondered if you go to the same fish shop as me - theyve been saying ive got extremely high nitrates in my water, yet my fish are fine

 

[charlieisleofwight]

we live in newport...albany..... use watergate & have our own test kit.
cheers charlie

 

[Candyco]

lol..... i'm in Cowes! Had 2 share that wiv u! tehehe

 

[LoachLover]

Welcome

 

[norbie]

wow! its a small world!

 

[Candyco]

lol the world is rather large.... it's this darned pokey island that's small! tehe

 

[Candyco]

by the way.... WATERGATE? I'll stick with Hunnyhill Aquatics, they know what they're talkin about in there! Never had a problem with them!

 

[norbie]

i get all mine from fins and tails in shanklin - they seem to have a good range - theyre expanding to the shop next door as well now. they'll be stocking marine too

 

[wetwetwet]

hello all,
is anyone able to give us some advise.... we have had the fish for about a year now, doing regular water changes. the ph is 7.6 & nitrate 160ppm. our water is hard, so we have just started pinching the rain water from our neighbours water butt!!!!
we have been advised to do 10% change every 3 days.... we have but still 160ppm !
any ideas??
regards charlie

back to your question...

How long and how much have you been doing these water changes? It should be helping...

Have you tested the water you're using for the changes? - my crappy london water can come out the tap at upto 60ppm

While high nitrates may not be a direct problem I think it may stress the fish and make them more susceptable to other diseases and problems

btw I've been to the iow - twice B)

*moved to beginners*

www

 

[Jason_S]

as wetwetwet said, test the water out of tap to see if there are any nitrates before even going into the tank. in the meantime I'd increse the amount of water you're changing to 20-30% every 3 days or so until the nitrates come down.

out of curiosity, what size is the tank and what are the fish and their sizes?

 

[gadazobe]

doing regular water changes

How regular is regular? Also live plants help to keep nitrate levels down - do you have any?