Nitrates issue

[Sampagne]

Had new tank for about a week now which is 450 litres and I’ve tested the water today and the nitrates are very high, I have done. 50% water change and tested again to which the results were hardly any different.


What can I do to help this.

Regards

 

[Essjay]

Do you mean the nitrate level was 400+? Or do you mean the tank is 400+ litres (I know you have posted about a 450 litre tank)? If not, how high was the nitrate level before the water change? It seems strange that the level is high after just one week.

Can you tell us:
Does the tank have fish in or are you doing a fishless cycle?
If there are fish, what species and how many?
How big is the tank?
What is the nitrate level in your tap water?

 

[Shiverz]

One week is not enough time for the tank to fully cycle (normally), please refer to the link below.

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Follow the structure of that post and it should have your tank cycled withing a few weeks. Patience is key, take your time, as the old saying goes "Rome wasn't built in a day"

EDIT: Posted at the same time as Essjay, follow his questions first

 

[Sampagne]

Do you mean the nitrate level was 400+? Or do you mean the tank is 400+ litres (I know you have posted about a 450 litre tank)? If not, how high was the nitrate level before the water change? It seems strange that the level is high after just one week.

Can you tell us:
Does the tank have fish in or are you doing a fishless cycle?
If there are fish, what species and how many?
How big is the tank?
What is the nitrate level in your tap water?

tank does currently have fish in, I currently have eight discus in the tank.

the tank is 450 litres and I have tested the nitrate in the water, and it’s looking very high but the ammonia is at zero.

 

[seangee]

Can you please test your tap water and post the results. That level of nitrates does need to be addressed (not super urgent - it has a long term effect on fish health).
Unfortunately the UK/EU limit for tap water is 50ppm, which looks to be about what you are reading - so it could be coming out of the tap like that.

It is important that you continue to test for ammonia and nitrites daily and do large water changes if any are detected until your tank is cycled. Nitrates are very much the lesser of the 3 evils so if you have to do water changes until we can resolve this go ahead and use your tap water.

Edit: Nitrate is the only thing you need to test for in the tap water.

 

[Sampagne]

Can you please test your tap water and post the results. That level of nitrates does need to be addressed (not super urgent - it has a long term effect on fish health).
Unfortunately the UK/EU limit for tap water is 50ppm, which looks to be about what you are reading - so it could be coming out of the tap like that.

It is important that you continue to test for ammonia and nitrites daily and do large water changes if any are detected until your tank is cycled. Nitrates are very much the lesser of the 3 evils so if you have to do water changes until we can resolve this go ahead and use your tap water.

Edit: Nitrate is the only thing you need to test for in the tap water.

It looks like my nitrate in my tap water is 0 if not slightly above.

 

[Essjay]

So something in your tank is making nitrate - unless you have plants and you are using a fertiliser which contains nitrate?

 

[Sampagne]

So something in your tank is making nitrate - unless you have plants and you are using a fertiliser which contains nitrate?

I have plants, but aren’t using fertiliser... the plants I’ve left in there baskets they come in, can’t think what else it could be, as I have the usual decoration of wood and a few rocks also, surely the fish poo wouldn’t shoot the level up to that would it? As I stated above also the tank has only been cycling for a 9 days now too.

 

[Essjay]

To be honest, I don't know why it should be so high. Even if the tank was fully cycled and over stocked, nitrate should not get very high in just 9 days.

You did shake the reagent bottle like instructions say to?

I notice that the colour chart in the photo of your tap water test says 'marine' on it. Is this tester for salt water tanks? And would the test show the same colours on freshwater nitrate?

 

[Sampagne]

To be honest, I don't know why it should be so high. Even if the tank was fully cycled and over stocked, nitrate should not get very high in just 9 days.

You did shake the reagent bottle like instructions say to?

I notice that the colour chart in the photo of your tap water test says 'marine' on it. Is this tester for salt water tanks? And would the test show the same colours on freshwater nitrate?

yes I shook the bottle, and it’s not for marine that’s just advertising that they do a marine testing kit also.

im bewildered by it all, the fish shop have recommended we stop feeding the fish for awhile to let the filter catch up with the tank and everything going on?

 

[Byron]

Regent #2 of the API liquid nitrate test has to be shaken for a good 2 minutes, not just 30 seconds as the instructinos say (unless they have changed them). If this bottle is not vigorously agitated for a full 2 minutes, the test results will be higher than the actual level.

This tank has been running for just one week, and with fish including 8 discus. Ammonia has been zero, presumably nitrite too (?). Did you use any bacterial supplement, or filter media to seed the bacteria? Are there live plants?

 

[hobby5]

Plants should be removed from the pots and also all the substrate which comes with it before planting.

 

[Sampagne]

Regent #2 of the API liquid nitrate test has to be shaken for a good 2 minutes, not just 30 seconds as the instructinos say (unless they have changed them). If this bottle is not vigorously agitated for a full 2 minutes, the test results will be higher than the actual level.



This tank has been running for just one week, and with fish including 8 discus. Ammonia has been zero, presumably nitrite too (?). Did you use any bacterial supplement, or filter media to seed the bacteria? Are there live plants?

the ammonia was also high but ive added remover in to get that down, I added in quick start little test tubes to make create beneficial bac into the tank to introduce fish,

in regards to the plants should they definitely be taken out the pots as I’ve heard either or in regards to that.
Thanks for everyone’s reponses

 

[Colin_T]

what is the nitrite level in the tank?
if you have nitrites, then nitrate test kits will read the nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading.

 

[Sampagne]

what is the nitrite level in the tank?
if you have nitrites, then nitrate test kits will read the nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading.

My test kit has testing for both nitrite and nitrates and both were reading high. Boarding between 70-80