High Nitrate In Tap Water!

[youdirtyfox]

Hey all,
just tested my tank with my a home kit for the first time this morning,
its been four weeks since I set it up, cycled and fish added recently.

Ammonia and nitrite almost nil, but nitrate almost at 80ppm in the tank and 40ppm out of the tap water.
Tap water ph is around 7.3

All fish seem very happy and ive tried really hard not to overfeed, but is it worth doing a water change now seeing as that same
water has been there for four weeks now?!

Ta,
Sam.

 

[aaronnorth]

do a 50% water change, dont worry too much about the high nitrate, i would be more concerned with the NH3 & NO2

 

[youdirtyfox]

do a 50% water change, dont worry too much about the high nitrate, i would be more concerned with the NH3 & NO2

Ok thanks aaron, will try not to worry about the NO3 too much. When do you think is best to test again after the water change?

 

[OldMan47]

Best to test an hour or so after the water change to make sure you had the desired effect.

 

[aaronnorth]

test the day after the water change, and just before a water change until no more NO3 & NH3 is showing on the test

 

[OldMan47]

Aaron, with a tap of 40 ppm nitrates, they will never go.

 

[backtotropical]

test the day after the water change, and just before a water change until no more NO3 & NH3 is showing on the test

Aaron, with a tap of 40 ppm nitrates, they will never go.

I would assume Aaron meant to type NO2 rather than NO3.

 

[flyinghome]

its safe to have no3 to some extent in the water as long as no2 under control

 

[JustKia]

its been four weeks since I set it up, cycled and fish added recently.

but is it worth doing a water change now seeing as that same water has been there for four weeks now?!

After your cycle completed you should have done a huge (90%+) water change before adding the fish.
I'd suggest that you do several 50% changes over the next few days to i) get the ammonia and nitrItes to zero and ii) bring your nitrAtes as low as possible (obviously they won't go lower than your tap water).

 

[aaronnorth]

Aaron, with a tap of 40 ppm nitrates, they will never go.

Yes sorry i meant to put NO2 (NitrIte)