High Nitrate

[RussB00]

Hello all,

My tank has been cycled for some time and before I added fish on Saturday was clearing ammonia and nitrites in 12 hours. Before adding the fish I did a ~75% water change.

The next day I did a new set of tests ammonia and nitrite both zero, but nitrate high at about 80ppm. 30% water change hasn't appeared to have had any effect and since the fish are new I don't want to stress them by continually doing water changes if there's no need.

So effectively two questions:

1. What is an ' ideal' nitrate level - if such a thing exists?
2. How dangerous is this for now - I previously had a case of white spot which I'm led to believe can be brought on by high nitrates.

All answers appreciated.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Hi, have you checked your tap water for a NitrAte reading? Alot of users on here regulary see quite a considerable trace of them in the water straight out of their taps.
The definition of 'how much is too much' NitrAte still seems to be a bit of an unclear issue, i have read articles of some fish being able to tolerate in excess of 1000ppm+.. but you shouldn't normally expect to see them registering at 100+. If you carry out your water changes in the correct manner then the stress to your fish should be minimal, after all, water changes are our best friends!
A planted tank can also help with the natural distribution of NitrAes, maybe that could be something you could look into (if you haven't already).

Hope this helps,

Terry.

 

[AshP1986]

Depending on what type of fish you have 5-40 ppm is acceptable...

Though I just found this which is pretty cool to know:

Desired Level
In nature nitrates remain very low, generally well below 5 ppm. In freshwater aquariums nitrates should be kept below 50 pm at all times, preferably below 25 ppm. If you are breeding fish, or are battling algae growth, keep nitrates below 10 ppm.

 

[RussB00]

Hi, have you checked your tap water for a NitrAte reading? Alot of users on here regulary see quite a considerable trace of them in the water straight out of their taps.
The definition of 'how much is too much' NitrAte still seems to be a bit of an unclear issue, i have read articles of some fish being able to tolerate in excess of 1000ppm+.. but you shouldn't normally expect to see them registering at 100+. If you carry out your water changes in the correct manner then the stress to your fish should be minimal, after all, water changes are our best friends!
A planted tank can also help with the natural distribution of NitrAes, maybe that could be something you could look into (if you haven't already).

Hope this helps,

Terry.

Thanks Terry,

Looks like another water change and a plant or two is the way forward.

Depending on what type of fish you have 5-40 ppm is acceptable...

Though I just found this which is pretty cool to know:

Desired Level
In nature nitrates remain very low, generally well below 5 ppm. In freshwater aquariums nitrates should be kept below 50 pm at all times, preferably below 25 ppm. If you are breeding fish, or are battling algae growth, keep nitrates below 10 ppm.

Cheers, that explains quite a lot..!

 

[CezzaXV]

It does depend on what your tap water is like though. I can have up to 20ppm nitrate in mine at times. I'd have to do an almost 100% water change to get my nitrates below 25ppm and even then it wouldn't stay that way for long.

The main thing is that your maintenance schedule has regular enough/big enough water changes that the nitrate is being removed at the same rate/quicker than it is being produced.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Southampton's tap water comes loaded with 40ppm, so given that mixing RO (which has zero nitrates) costs money for either buying water at ~£3 per 25l or buying a unit for ~£50 (not to mention this would need careful accurate mixing each water change to keep the chemistry similar) and I managed to kill off all my fast growing plants (that will readily use ammonia and nitrate if they are given a strong light source and daily ferts/carbon), I try to get by on 50% water changes without fail.

Having said all the above, nitrate tests in hobby kits are hidiously inaccurate, even after banging the bottles like you would to get tomato ketchup out of the pre-squeezy bottles!

 

[RussB00]

Southampton's tap water comes loaded with 40ppm, so given that mixing RO (which has zero nitrates) costs money for either buying water at ~£3 per 25l or buying a unit for ~£50 (not to mention this would need careful accurate mixing each water change to keep the chemistry similar) and I managed to kill off all my fast growing plants (that will readily use ammonia and nitrate if they are given a strong light source and daily ferts/carbon), I try to get by on 50% water changes without fail.

Having said all the above, nitrate tests in hobby kits are hidiously inaccurate, even after banging the bottles like you would to get tomato ketchup out of the pre-squeezy bottles!

Just checked my North london tap water and it gives exactly the same reading as the stuff in the tank!

 

[AshP1986]

Well thats upsetting Russ! Have you guys ever tried a water purifier? possibly less expensive than bottled water and you could disassemble it and set it over a big bucket so you can purify more water at one time...Maybe something like this or even this?