Nitrate Levels High

[Avinitlarge]

I have always had a problem with high nitrate. I have tried alsorts but cant get it down.
I do a 15% water change every night.
I have 2 filters, One with nitrate sponges and the other has nitrate removing resin.
I dont overfeed the fish.
I am not over stocked.
The tank has been setup for about 4 years.
The nitrite and ammonia are 0.
The tap water has low nitrate
I just dont know what to do

 

[MewMew42]

how high is it?

how often are you feeding?

 

[Avinitlarge]

Its over 130. I feed the fish 1 bloodworm cube every night

 

[MewMew42]

Im thinking it could be the bloodwom as it is going to be very high in protein, switch to flake for a while and keep up with the water changes and see if that helps a little

do you hoover the gravel? are your plants healthy? do you have live plants?

 

[Truck]

It's not high, it's probably a dodgy test kit.

 

[MewMew42]

It's not high, it's probably a dodgy test kit.

hmm could be Ive heard that the api is unreliable...take it to your lfs?

 

[Avinitlarge]

Im thinking it could be the bloodwom as it is going to be very high in protein, switch to flake for a while and keep up with the water changes and see if that helps a little

do you hoover the gravel? are your plants healthy? do you have live plants?

Ive tried flakes, Ive tried pellets, Ive tried not feeding them for a few days. I hoover the gravel but I dont have live plants.

It's not high, it's probably a dodgy test kit.

I did think that too

 

[Truck]

All nitrate test kits are pretty crap to be honest, except the Sera and Salifert ones, the reason they're crap is because there are 3 reagents and most add 2 of them together into one bottles, and they deteriorate over time deeming them unreliable, whereas the sera or salifert ones are separate, so they last longer.

 

[Avinitlarge]

All nitrate test kits are pretty crap to be honest, except the Sera and Salifert ones, the reason they're crap is because there are 3 reagents and most add 2 of them together into one bottles, and they deteriorate over time deeming them unreliable, whereas the sera or salifert ones are separate, so they last longer.

One of the tests has 2 reagents (2 bottles)
One is a test strip
One has 3 reagents (2 bottles and some kind of powder)

Ive had them all for over 3 years.

 

[Truck]

The one with two bottles and a powder will be the most accurate, and if they're more than 3 years old I would bin them.

 

[Avinitlarge]

The one with the 3 bottles gives the highest reading. Ive just looked on the box and the expirer date was last month

 

[Truck]

Bin them all and buy a new salifert kit.

 

[Avinitlarge]

Good call. I will do that and see what is what.

 

[stuuk1]

I use the API master kit and love it. Works very well for me!

 

[kelly528]

I use the API master kit and love it. Works very well for me!

I like mine too... its fairly new though. I got really low readings for a while despite my religious following of the instructions, apparently one of the reagents settles on the bottom while its in the store and you need to bang the bottle against the counter to stir it up.


For anyone concerned about the accuracy of their test kit, you can easily "calibrate" your nitrate test kit if you have some potassium nitrate (for fertilising aquatic plants) on hand. Here is a how to from Planted Tank: Calibrating Test Kits - For Non Chemists