Nitrate Help

[seeley82]

seems a silly question, i know, but I tested my water last night and all was good, well apart fron Nitraye which seems to have peeked to 80ppm the tank has been set up for 18 months. Just wondering what could of coursed this and if it could have any adverse effects on my tank, i conduct 10% weekly w/c just after a little help
cheers

 

[Essjay]

The first thing to ask is what is the nitrate level of your tapwater? In the UK, we're allowed up to 50ppm in the water supply so it is is possible your tapwater could account for a good chunk of the 80ppm.

But if your tapwater is a lot lower than 50ppm, your nitrate has come from the nitrogen cycle. Unless you are quite understocked, 10% a week is a small amount to change. I do something in the region of 25 to 30% a week. I'd be inclined to do a few big water changes to get the nitrate level down, then once it's down to round about the tapwater level, do bigger weekly water changes.

 

[XAli1971]

other option , though takes a little while to work,is to add a lot of plants to your setup, of which a few fast growing ones.
my tank is solidly planted, and I have to add Nitrates & phosphates to the water every week along with fertilizer.

 

[CezzaXV]

It's likely that you're not changing enough of the water each week. Do a test of your tap water and see how it is. Ideally you want to be doing large/frequent enough changes that your tank water doesn't rise 20ppm above what comes out of your tap.

Plants may help curb the rise of nitrates in your tank, though you'd have to add a hell of a lot of them to see any noticeable difference. Better to just keep up with your water changes.

 

[fluttermoth]

Agree 100% with Cezza. Water changes that aren't large enough, or frequent enough, are the biggest cause of elevated nitrate.

Most tanks benefit from having between 25 and 30% changes weekly.

 

[seeley82]

not to sound dumb, but my fish all seem happy as Larry, who ever he was, and what adverse effects could this have on my tank mates. In the mean time I have been doing 20% w/c for the last 2 days to bring it down or is this to much in a short space of time

 

[fluttermoth]

80ppm probably wouldn't affect your fish that much, but it's not advisable to let it get any higher, and most fish would want it a lot lower.

At high concentrations nitrate causes long term, low level stress which leaves the fish open to other opportunistic infections and diseases. It also (probably) affects growth rates, leaving the fish stunted (although that could also be the result of other substances in tanks with high nitrate levels, like hormones).

20% water changes shouldn't affect your fish adversely The only time it can cause problems is if the tank is very neglected and has very, very high nitrate levels; up in the 180/200ppm mark and the associated low pH/hardness.

 

[seeley82]

ah right, thanks for the great help, as long as i notice it going down then that is good, all other parameters are good. I will test my tap water when I get home from work tonight. Do another water change and just keep a close eye on it. Thanks

 

[seeley82]

I have seen on some other forums that you can complain to your water authority abouth the amount of Nitrate in tap water, what, if any, would this achieve

 

[fluttermoth]

Our home test nitrate kits aren't very accurate; don't forget that. What is the nitrate level in your tap water according to your tests?

 

[seeley82]

not sure yet as I am in work, I will be testing when I ge home in a bit

 

[CezzaXV]

Complaining to your water company will only get you anywhere if it's over the legal limit. I think it's 50ppm in the UK, maybe 40ppm in the states.

Let us know how your water is when you test it, though I'm 99% sure it's just a result of not changing the water enough. I've got ~5ppm nitrate in my tap water so it would mean I wasn't changing anywhere near enough if my tank got to 80ppm, whereas if my tap water had 50ppm, it would still mean I wasn't changing enough but it wouldnt be as big a deal as the first scenario.

 

[MrsM]

mine is 25ppm....grrr id love 5ppm

 

[CezzaXV]

Mine seems to change. I got 5ppm on my most recent tap water test. Before that it was 20ppm, so it does fluctuate. I don't test it too often though.

 

[MrsM]

tested mine a few weeks ago...30......looked at water board site....25ppm so its not far off!! or im reading the test results wrong.....either way its a pain...poor fish!