NITRATE

[laurasmithuk]

what is an effective way to lower nitrate? cheers all

 

[zig]

Water changes, regular cleaning of the gravel, adding plants.

 

[laurasmithuk]

cool cheers, what will happen if nitrate stays high? it has stayed at 40 for 2 weeks. am slightly overstocked so might nbeed to get rid of a few fish

 

[tttnjfttt]

If your tank is slightly overstocked AND your ammonia and nitrite are both zero, you shouldn't have too many problems if you do weekly water changes. Just be careful, becuase if something gets out of hand, things will really spiral downhill fast in an over stocked tank.

 

[zig]

Well 40 is high, above 40 can be deadly for fish, keep a close eye on it, you may want more filtration.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Well 40 is high, above 40 can be deadly for fish, keep a close eye on it, you may want more filtration.

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Adding more filtration won't help lower the nitrAtes. The only way you can get rid of nitrAtes is through a water change. NitrItes are removed by beneficail bacteria. Her filter is definately doing its job.

 

[laurasmithuk]

can i add extra filtration? i have a rekord 96 juwel tank and filter in in built. i have just added large air stone for extra airation. apart from nitrates all is well..... touch wood

 

[tttnjfttt]

I don't know much about the Jewl tanks or how they are set up, but I know all the tanks I've seen in the US can jsut have a larger filter installed or another filter added. I wouldn't worry about it too much right now, especially with the airstone.

Just do water chagnes weekly. Filters don't remove nitrAte.

 

[laurasmithuk]

thanks for al your help guys

 

[Sky042]

Well 40 is high, above 40 can be deadly for fish, keep a close eye on it, you may want more filtration.

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Above 40 is not deadly to fish.
Not even close to deadly to fish.

Hell my tap water is 40. And as said before more filtration isn't going to do anything about nitrates.

 

[IMCL85]

add gravel with living plants. Living plants will take nitrate as food and release oxygen.

 

[CFC]

Nitrates at 40ppm are nothing to worry about, during the summer months the nitrate content in my tapwater supply can rise as high as 70-80ppm as water usage increases and the treatment plants have to turn it out quicker to supply demand, during this time the nitrates in my tanks, some of which contain delicate species such as freshwater stingrays knife fish and catfish, rise to levels over 50ppm with no adverse effects.
Nitrate levels are not considered fatal to most freshwater fish until they exceed 100ppm, though obviously measures should be taken to keep nitrates as low as possible. Test your tapwater for nitrates and then try to keep the levels in your tank to within 10ppm of that level. Vacuming the substrate weekly and doing 20% weekly water changes as your standard maintainance will lower the ammount organic compounds in the tank which turn into nitrate as they break down and so assist in lowering the nitrate in your tank.

 

[dwarfgourami]

If a nitrate reading of 40 was deadly, very few people in Southern England would be able to keep fish at all. We're on farmland here, cows crapping, fertilisers..... Still, as CFC says, it is worth making sure that your nitrates are not spiralling well over those of your tap water- that's when you need to suspect a problem.

 

[boxman]

Agreed, 40 is not high.

Mine was 60-80 and with regular water changes and using RO water from my LFS, cutting down to feeding bi-daily mine is now about 20.

Test your tap water as has been recommended - I was surprised what I found with mine. This hot weather is no good for nitrates so it's a good plan to keep a good eye on it!

 

[morgan]

I have a Rekord 96 too. Juwel have just bought out a Nitrate Removing Sponge. It does not replace water changes (although it does state that water changes only need doing every 4 weeks) or cleaning the substrate. It might be worth trying. I bought them online but my lfs will order them for me which cuts out the postage and packing, which although it was reasonable I would rather not pay it! Hope that helps. My water was ok anyway but I saw the new sponge and thought it was worth buying. Oh, and I still do weekly water changes as I am happier with that.