Nitrate Poisoning - Cant Get Nitrate Down!

[danzitri]

Last night i noticed one of my Angelfish swimming at the top of the tank gasping for air. He's confused and disoriented. I tested the water, and everything's fine, except the Nitrate which was at 6mg! I looked up Nitrate poisoning and it seems he has every symptom. How do i get the Nitrate down? I changed out 25% of the water last night, hoping that would help, but this morning, the Nitrate raised to 10mg! Not sure what is happening here, but now all the fish and frogs seem to be sliggish, and hanging towards the top. yikes. Any help woudl be appreciated!!

Tank size:10 g
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10 mg
tank temp: 82

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Hanging at the top of tank, "gasping" for air, very confused and disorriented, not eating

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Normally once a week. Changed 25% last night.

Tank inhabitants: 4 small african frogs, 2 angelfish, 1 bottom feeder (forgot type)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):none for a couple of months

Exposure to chemicals: none that i can think of

 

[dream250578]

I would not have thought a nitrate reading of 10 would be causing a problem like this...as that is pretty low.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[danzitri]

hmmm... i am new to this and thought that even a slight reading on the nitrate was harmful. If its not that, than im not sure what's wrong with him. He hasnt been eating, is completely unaware of his surroundings (even when we reached in to vacuum last night, he didnt flee- kept bumping into the vacuum), and is at the top of the tank sucking. dont see any growths or anything like that. I'll take some pics

 

[Darkehorse]

How old is your tank? a 10 gallon tank is really too small for Angel fish. Are they juveniles?

If your tank is new (less than probably 2 months) and you didn't let it cycle and you fully stocked it immediately, it's possible that your tank is hitting the part of the cycling process where the Nitrites are being converted to Nitrate. However, levels below 50 PPM are considered 'safe' (it should ideally be below 20 PPM). 10 PPM is not considered to be a toxic level. Are you sure you're not confusing the Nitrite test with the Nitrate test? A measurement of 10 PPM of NITRITE is certainly detrimental and can cause death.

The main way to remove NitrAte is to do water changes until the level drops. I'm not sure how you would remove NitrIte. Perhaps an over the counter chemical or bacterial suppliment would do the trick, although I don't recommend it without getting the advice of someone who has used such a product before with positive results.

First and foremost though, make sure you aren't confusing NitrIte with NitrAte.

-Darke

I would not have thought a nitrate reading of 10 would be causing a problem like this...as that is pretty low.

Anyone got any ideas?

Question: Are you using an air stone or any other method to infuse the water with oxygen?

-Darke

 

[danzitri]

here's a pic

 

[danzitri]

How old is your tank? a 10 gallon tank is really too small for Angel fish. Are they juveniles?

If your tank is new (less than probably 2 months) and you didn't let it cycle and you fully stocked it immediately, it's possible that your tank is hitting the part of the cycling process where the Nitrites are being converted to Nitrate. However, levels below 50 PPM are considered 'safe' (it should ideally be below 20 PPM). 10 PPM is not considered to be a toxic level. Are you sure you're not confusing the Nitrite test with the Nitrate test? A measurement of 10 PPM of NITRITE is certainly detrimental and can cause death.

my tank is about a year old actually. we started out with 2 angels and 2 frogs, and the fish store said we could add some more. so 2 months ago we added a bottom feeder and 2 frogs. the angelfish are a breeding pair, it turns out. which is why i know the sick one is a "he". I have often worried its too crowded, but eveyrone's been pretty happy in there - leave each other alone, and no problems till now.

not confusing nitrite with nitrate as far as testing goes. nitrITE test came back at 0. but perhaps i did get them confused when i was reading about the poisoning that can take place.

Question: Are you using an air stone or any other method to infuse the water with oxygen?

-Darke

yes - using an air stone, and a filter.

thanks for thinkin about this for me.. id hate to lose this fish...

 

[Darkehorse]

It is possible that for whatever reason your tank performed a 'mini' nitrogen cycle and you're on the tail end of it. If something changed within your tank that added some biological lode to your tank or something happened to the beneficial bacteria (some or all may have died off, possibly because your lost power to your tank for an extended period of time?), then it could trigger a cycle of the tank. If that's the case, then you're almost home free as the spiking of nitrate levels is the last and least harmful of the three phases. It's possible that your tank inhabitants are showing some residual stress from the first two phases. *IF* that is your situation, then the only thing you can really do is continue to do daily water changes to keep the nitrate levels down. Some people have even suggested doing up to a 75% water change, although I have never personally done this so I can't comment either way. It seems to me that your nitrate levels don't really warrant that big of a water change. I would stick to 25% daily changes until the levels drop to zero (unless it spikes greatly, perhaps above 20 PPM). However, with all that being said, I would seek the advice of others from the forum if these symptoms persist. I have done a lot of extensive research on the nitrogen cycle recently so I have a good understanding of it. Beyond that, I respectfully bow to the superior knowledge of the more experienced members of this forum.

-Darke

 

[danzitri]

thanks for your advice!

 

[jollysue]

From what I skimmed, I agree that the tank is small for the load. A cycle could certainly happen if there was a power inerruption the stopped the water/air exchange too long or if you forgot to turn the filter off during a water change etc. or someone sprayed something around the tank. The best is to keep an eye on the water params and keep clean water.