High Nitrate

[joeskandal]

Hi folks, we were given a tank today.
we transported about 30% of the water home with us in a big water butt.
We have topped it up with tap water which we conditioned with fresh start.
I washed a layer of the sponge from the filter in the new water, and it was very cloudy.
it is still cloudy, but we did an API test as there are a few fish with the tank that we still have in a big water container.
Fortunately they are goldfish, so the water temp is okay for them.

Now the girl that donated said tank and fish said she never got to do a water change in a long time.
The results from the API test were all fine, apart from the nitrate, which is reading at about 40-50!!
Is this because the water is still cloudy?
We obviously need to put the fish in their tank as soon as possible, but i am a bit reluctant to do this.
Will they be okay in the tank for now, until we donate them elsewhere? Shall we do another water change?
We plan to put tropicals in the tank eventually, but not yet as we still have these coldwater fish.

What are peoples thoughts on this situation??
thanks.
Joe

 

[MrCrabs]

Total Nitrates of around 40 to 50 are not absolutley deadly to your goldfish, its not great to have them that high but NITRATES are far less toxic to your friends than Ammonia and NITRITES. A series of small water changes each day for about a week should lower the nitrates for you as the nitrates are the final part of the Nitrogen Cycle, it goes like this, Start a tank fill it with water, fish and fish food cause waste, this waste becomes Ammonia, that ammonia is broken down by bacteria into Nitrites, that is again broken down into Nitrates this is the least harmful of the three to your fish. Live plants would use the Nitrates as food and lower it naturally. The partial water changes slowly over a week will drop the Nitrates however just condition what you are bout to put back in after the change, as the reason they were so high in the first place is the original owner said it had been awhile since any water was changed.


Also the water should clear up in a day or so after all the sediment and such settles again.


Hope that helps!!

 

[Rogue4Fish]

You will always get a nitrate reading, it's ammonia and nitrites you need to be worried about.

Beat me too it

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Some people have higher nitrate levels than that out of the tap.
What are your tap water readings?

 

[joeskandal]

ahh nice one.
i will start with the small water changes tomorrow.
I will also post a tap water reading in the a.m as im off to bed in a minute.
Its mental to think that people get readings higher than that from their tap water.

i will also post a full reading from the tank in the morning also.