Troubles With Nitrate

[Stringy30]

Good Afternoon All,
 
Just recently I purchased a API Freshwater Master Test Kit for my 260 Litre tropical fish tank.
 
After performing some tests I noticed that my Ammonia was spot on, pH was around the the 7.5 mark, and Nitrate was easily around the 80 ppm mark if not more.
 
So today I decided to do a 50% water change, Cleaned the filter, Cleaned the gravel, and Cleaned the glass with one of those magnetic thingy's, then I refilled the tank with my tap water without any chemicals. After that I left it sit for about 1 hour and again tested Nitrate & Ammonia. Once again Nitrate was still high and Ammonia was at a good level. 
 
So where do I go from here I know I should probably buy some Seachem Prime but will I also need some API Nitra-Zorb to get those Nitrate levels down?
 
Kind Regards,
Stringy30

 

[TallTree01]

Easiest way is live plants, they absorb nitrate and it makes them grow.

 

[Stringy30]

Yeah only problem with that is I have Silver Dollars that love to have a chew on Live Plants.

 

[techen]

What do you mean ammonia was at a good level? It should be spot on zero.

Also live plants would help and so would prime or any other product if you use any?

 

[leighton_87]

What do you mean ammonia was at a good level? It should be spot on zero.
Also live plants would help and so would prime or any other product if you use any?

I wasn't aware that Prine helped with nitrates?

First thing I'd do is test tour tap water - tap water can have nitrates in of up to 50ppm - if that was the case then you would struggle to keep nitrates much below 70 in a fully stocked tank.

assuming the tap water is not an issue the next thing id do is a 90% water change to get the nitrate level down.

The root cause of high nitrates is usually overstocking (what size is you tank what's your stocking?), not enough water changes (again what do you do and how often?) or over feeding (how often do you feed?)

 

[kad191]

Ammonia and Nitrite should both be on Zero. With the master test kit you need to shake the second bottle for 1 min to get a correct reading for the nitrate, if you dont you will get inproper readings, a lot of people shake for a couple of seconds and think its ok but the solution seperates in the bottle and needs to be perfect for a correct reading.

 

[leighton_87]

Ammonia and Nitrite should both be on Zero. With the master test kit you need to shake the second bottle for 1 min to get a correct reading for the nitrate, if you dont you will get inproper readings, a lot of people shake for a couple of seconds and think its ok but the solution seperates in the bottle and needs to be perfect for a correct reading.

Agreed but usually not shaking gives results of 0/5 rather than too high results

 

[Stringy30]

Yeah ammonia is zero.
 
My girlfriend and I just tested the tap water for Nitrate and the result was 0 ppm, then we tested tank water again and the result was around the 80 ppm again so there is something not quite right. 

 

[kad191]

How longs the filter been up and running for?

 

[Stringy30]

We have 1 Silver Dollar, 3 Reticulated Loaches, 4 Clown Loaches, 2 Red-Tailed Sharks, and 3 bristlenose pleco's in a 3ft tank that holds at least 200 Litres if not more


The filter has been up and running for about 9 months.
 
The filter is a Aqua One 104F Maxi Internal Filter 

 

[kad191]

Maybe disturbing the tank when you cleaned it may have released rotten food and waste and its just the outcome of the nitrification cycle with the extra load. I re arranged my tank and did a 50% wc the other day and it kicked up loads of crap and the day after the nitrates were higher than they were before. Plants definatly do help if you can get some in. Other than that just keep on doing regular water changes and test the water and see if it settles down


Also over feeding can cause trouble

 

[Stringy30]

Do you think we might have to do a 90% water change because there was still quite a bit of rotten food getting around after we vacuumed the gravel, we were thinking that the filter should get it. And how important is it to add Seachem Prime if we do it?

 

[kad191]

It sounds like the filter has got it, hense the high nitrate. My personal opinion is do a 50% then the nitrate should be halved and test again the day after. Ive never used prime but im sure somone who has will comment.

 

[geordieelvis]

I had similar problem with nitrate , ammonia constant 0 nitrites 0 ph 7.5 but nitrate was always 40ppm and above. Fish were happy enough and I do 2 water changes a week, one being 10% and the other 25%. Always use Seachem prime when topping water back up and eventually Nitrates dropped. Agree with the other guys on plants,if you can get some in then I would highly recommend it.

 

[Stringy30]

Ok we might try and get some plants in there as soon as possible and I will order some Prime then do a big water change.