Nitrate Content....help Me!

[scentless]

Hello all,

I'm a newbie tropical fish owner and I have a problem!

I have had my aquarium (30l biorb) running for about 3 weeks and i've had 4 tetras in it for around a week now. I've been testing the water every 2-3 days and it has all been fine until today.

The nitrate level is very high (bright red with the tetratest kit) and I am panicking!

I have done a partial water change (around 30%) and retested and it was still very high so then I used the tube to vacuum the bottom of the tank and retested again and it is just as high.

What shall I do? I don't want to stress out the fish too much as they have been messed around enough today as it is. Shall I just wait and do a partial water change again tomorrow?

Also, is it normal for nitrate levels to be so high in a new tank with so few fish? I dread to think what it will be like once I get a few more in!

Thanks in advance for you advice.

 

[kporteo]

Is your tank cycled? Or did you fill your tank up with water and add your fish?
When you say your readings are fine, what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate reading? Are you using test strips or liquid tests?
Sorry for all the questions, but the more info we have the better
K

 

[KittyKat]

As above, and also calm down and do daily water changed with warm, dechlorinated water until you can answer the above questions. 50% water changes will not harm the fish and should be enough. It is also a good idea to reduce feeding to once every 2-3 days until you know that your ammonia and nitrite readings are 0 ppm.

 

[scentless]

Hi K,

Thanks for your reply. I stupidly didn't do my research beforehand and just put the water in and left it for a couple of weeks for the chlorine to go away and thought that'd be fine. I've just been having a read on the forum and now realise there's alot more to tropical fishkeeping than I first thought!

I'm using tetratest liquid tests. It doesn't seem particularly accurate but basically it is far too high. On the colour card it says it is supposed to be yellow but mine is dark red which is 3.3-33mg/l.

Also, I don't have an ammonia test kit. The kit I have is just for pH, carbonate hardness, total hardness, nitrate and carbon dioxide (is one of these another name for ammonia? Please forgive my stupidity!)

Thanks Kitty,

So it isn't the end of the world then? It seemed to go up so fast. The level was absolutely fine a couple of days ago!

Also, when I am doing a water change is adding stress coat or something similar just as good as leaving the water in a bucket for a few days to dechlorinate?

 

[KittyKat]

Ammonia is only labelled as "ammonia" or "NH[sub]3[/sub]/NH[sub]4[/sub][sup]+[/sup]". Ammonia and nitrite kits are the most important ones a beginner can have, you should get those.. the rest of the readings don't matter much in comparison! (Although you will learn more about why they do later.)

So yes, until you can get ammonia and nitrite readings, daily 50%+ water changes are in order. The increase in nitrate indicates that your filter is cycling, but I would be quite worried about the ammonia and nitrite because they are considerably more toxic than nitrate.

 

[StandbySetting]

Not familiar with these test kits but nitrite is a nitrate, the two different chemicals are given different names to avoid confusion, does the test kit state NO[sub]2[/sub][sup]-[/sup](Nitrate III) or NO[sub]3[/sub][sup]-[/sup](Nitrate V)?

 

[scentless]

Aw it is a nitrite reading i'm talking about, not nitrate. I suck at this.

The test is NO2.

 

[Lufbramatt]

It is much more stressful for the fish to be living in high levels of ammonia or nitrite than it is for them to have lots of water changes. It's a bit like you sitting in a room full of carbon monoxide and someone shutting the window because the draft was annoying them!
It sounds like you're in a fish-in cycle, so daily waterchanges are on the cards until the filter has matured and can process the waste ammonia effectively.

 

[scentless]

Right okay.

So would you suggest doing a big water change? Like 70-80%?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

As big as possible, then test again. Repeat the water change if necessary. The value needs to be under 0.25ppm. The closer to zero the better.

 

[scentless]

Okay.

Thanks so much for your great advice.

I will do the change now and report back shortly!

 

[scentless]

Right.

So I did a massive water change (around 80%) and retested. The level is still high (around 0.5mg/l) but nowhere near as high as it was. I think I will test again in the morning and do another water change if needed.

Would it be worthwhile to suck all the gravel out and put new stuff in?

 

[Randi]

Do not remove the gravel. You are in the middle of a fish in cycle. First ammonia levels rise, followed by a nitrite spike which seems to be where you are at. Your tank needs to grow bacteria that can process the nitrite and some bacteria may be growing in your gravel although most of them will be in your filter media. Keep testing and doing water changes to keep the levels safe for your fish. Eventually your tank will grow a bacterial colony that will be able to process both ammonia and nitrites. If you know anyone who can give you a piece of filter media from an established tank that will help a lot.

 

[scentless]

Update:

I did a massive water change last night and tested, it was still high. I left it over night and tested again and it was just as high. I did another 50% change and it was still too high. I don't know what else to do! My water meter isn't gonna like this...

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Update:

I did a massive water change last night and tested, it was still high. I left it over night and tested again and it was just as high. I did another 50% change and it was still too high. I don't know what else to do! My water meter isn't gonna like this...

You may have to get used to doing 50% water changes every day for over a week if you want your fish to suvive.

Terry.