High Nitrate

[dutto73]

Hi all, its been a while since I've been on, happy new year btw.
Anyway I done a water change the other day plus a heavy gravel clean aswell( kicking up lots of mess). The next day I tested the water and the nitrate levels were through the roof ( ammonia/nitrite fine). I'm coming to the last dregs of my nitrate bottles. Could it be i disturbed to much gravel or time for new nitrate solutions

 

[Naughts]

Disturbed gravel where you had a lot of debris. Increase water changes and keep cleaning the gravel very thoroughly to remove the organics. Maybe an idea to cut down on feeding too.

 

[dutto73]

Only feed once every 2 days, take out 2 buckets (20L) a week . Its a 80L/90L tank.

UPDATE: just bought new nitrate solution will test on next W/C

 

[Essjay]

And buy a new nitrate tester. All testers should be discarded at the use by date or one year after opening whichever comes first (air gets in after opening and the oxygen in the air makes the reagents go off)

Also, make sure you follow the instructions to the letter. All makes of liquid regent testers say to shake one of the bottles - this shaking is important.

 

[dutto73]

And buy a new nitrate tester. All testers should be discarded at the use by date or one year after opening whichever comes first (air gets in after opening and the oxygen in the air makes the reagents go off)

Also, make sure you follow the instructions to the letter. All makes of liquid regent testers say to shale one of the bottles - this shaking is important.

All bottles are shook, i invert the test tube seven times after the first 10 drops of nitrate solution were added and so on.
When doing the gravel i normally just dab the surface, this time i went all the way down, resulting in an eruption of mess.

 

[AbbeysDad]

Since you purchased new regents, test again now rather than waiting a week so if remediation is necessary, you can begin now. Also, be sure and test your source water as it's not uncommon these days to have high nitrates in well or tap water, especially in agricultural areas.

 

[dutto73]

It looks a bit better, it was around 40/80 on Thursday

 

[Tttay89]

My tap water Nitrate has a reading of 20!

Just keep doing water changes untill it hits a good level.

How often do you do water changes also

 

[Essjay]

Just to add that water changes should be at least 50% every week. And the gravel should also be cleaned at every water change, except next to the roots of any live plants.

 

[Retired Viking]

You may want to have some plants that help deal with nitrate like duckweed, moss balls, water sprite, frog bite and water lettuce. That would help reduce your levels.

 

[dutto73]

Every week, 2 buckets (20L) the tank is approx 90L and fully established (14 years) its hardly ever gone that high

 

[FishGuest5123]

I did the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I did a couple of extra large water changes and it all settled down. Water was beautiful afterwards. Good luck!

 

[dutto73]

You may want to have some plants that help deal with nitrate like duckweed, moss balls, water sprite, frog bite and water lettuce. That would help reduce your levels.

I got a few......anuibis, vallis and amazon sword theres a pic and video of it

 

[AbbeysDad]

I got a few......anuibis, vallis and amazon sword theres a pic and video of it

These are not fast growing plants so their affect on ammonia~nitrate reduction is very little. For ammonia 'sponges' you need fast growing floating plants. (Plants that use ammonia as their N2 source, means it's not converted to nitrates by BB).
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Unless you do 50% weekly water changes AND aggressive gravel vacuuming, nitrates will often slowly build over time. Gravel can be a problem because nitrogenous waste too easily gets down under where it decomposes and pollutes the water. I like sand better as nothing gets down under. I have a 4" layer of pool filter sand in my 60g and haven't touched it in the last 8+ years.

 

[dutto73]

These are not fast growing plants so their affect on ammonia~nitrate reduction is very little. For ammonia 'sponges' you need fast growing floating plants. (Plants that use ammonia as their N2 source, means it's not converted to nitrates by BB).
------
Unless you do 50% weekly water changes AND aggressive gravel vacuuming, nitrates will often slowly build over time. Gravel can be a problem because nitrogenous waste too easily gets down under where it decomposes and pollutes the water. I like sand better as nothing gets down under. I have a 4" layer of pool filter sand in my 60g and haven't touched it in the last 8+ years.

Thanks about the other plants, I did once have sand,after having gravel then went back to gravel