Nitrate *moved*

[deliverance]

just wondering i did a test on my tropical tank today and it read 20 ppm. is this high? i thought it should be at 0 ppm. how do i lower this if that is the case. can this cause the water to be slightly cloudy?

 

[tttnjfttt]

A nitrate reading of 20 is perfectly acceptable. you need to make sure nitrIte stays at zero, along with ammonia. Basically, your fish produce ammonia, whihc is turned into nitrIte, then to nitrAte. Ammonia and nitrIte are both toxic to your fish. What are your ammonia and nitrite levels?

As for the cloudy water, try adding some carbon to your filter, that can help clear it up. Another possibiltiy is a bacterial bloom, which is totally harmless but annoying. If it is this, it will go away in time. How long has your tnak been set up for?

 

[black angel]

You should see nitrate in the tank as its the end product from your tank cycle and will go up unless you do water changes to keep it low. Test the water from your tap and this will tell you what level is the minimum. Dont let the nitrate get beyond 20 over that and do a small water change if it does.

 

[Squid]

Ammonia may make it cloudy.. Do you have a test kit for ammonia and nitrite.. it might be worth testing.

Squid

 

[deliverance]

i have a nitrite and it read 20 ppm. i will go out tomarrow and get a ammonia tester. i have marineland filters. both have a bio-wheel one takes the smaller media ( A ) and the other Hang on back filter takes the medium size ( B ). how could i put carbon in them. i think it already has some inside the plastic case. how often should i replace these filters?

i have a old aquaclear HOB filter which use the sponges and the carbons. should i add bags of activated carbon on top of the sponge to try to clean up the ammonia?

 

[rdd1952]

i have a nitrite and it read 20 ppm.

Are you sure that the nitrIte (and not nitrAte) is 20 ppm? Never seen a kit that measured that high and if you have fish, that would definitely kill any fish you have.

i have a old aquaclear HOB filter which use the sponges and the carbons. should i add bags of activated carbon on top of the sponge to try to clean up the ammonia?

Carbon won't remove ammonia (maybe a very small abount will be absorbed). Nitrifying bacteria will process it and create nitrIte which will be processed by a different bacteria to create nitrAte.

 

[tttnjfttt]

depending on what is causing the cloudy water, carbon may help. Just an FYI, i have never seen ammonia cause cloudy water. Even adding pure ammonia to a tank while fishless cycling didn't cloud up the water.