Water Stats - High Nitrate?

[highfire]

....... and I can't seem to lower it. Stats this afternoon are as follows:

Water temp: 24oC / 76oF.
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.1 mg/litre
Nitrite (NO2): 0 mg/litre
Nitrate (NO3): 75 mg/litre

I feed at the moment twice a day - am thinking about reducing to once.

I do 20-25% water change every 7-10 days at the moment. I clean the substrate when it looks as if it needs it, probably every 2 weeks.

Fish are all healthy and very active and feeding well, water doesn't smell bad, filter sponges smell "earthy", hardly any algae in my tank.

Why could my nitrate be so high? Any suggestions for lowering it other than what I am doing?

Thanks alot in advance!

 

[OohFeeshy]

What's the nitrate of your tap water? I would be inclined to say it's probably a combo of that and high bioload from the fish. Although, why is the ammonia at 0.1....

 

[demonmagus]

what's the tap water nitrate?

woops, posted same time

 

[voo]

Why not try live plants in the tank to reduce the nitrates?

 

[highfire]

My tap water nitrate is around 25 mg/litre, so considerably lower than my tank water.
My tank water ammonia measures 0.1 mg/litre according to the colour card that is in the test kit, and that is the lowest reading. The kit says that this is acceptable (or the maximum recomended) for water with a temperature of 25oC and PH of 8.5.
Perhaps I should point out that the kit I'm using is the Interpet Easy Test kit, the one where you add tablets to samples of water.
I already do have live plants, voo, and they are doing well - but thanks for the tip.
Any more ideas anyone

 

[Cheffi]

....... and I can't seem to lower it. Stats this afternoon are as follows:

Water temp: 24oC / 76oF.
PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.1 mg/litre
Nitrite (NO2): 0 mg/litre
Nitrate (NO3): 75 mg/litre

I feed at the moment twice a day - am thinking about reducing to once.

I do 20-25% water change every 7-10 days at the moment. I clean the substrate when it looks as if it needs it, probably every 2 weeks.

Fish are all healthy and very active and feeding well, water doesn't smell bad, filter sponges smell "earthy", hardly any algae in my tank.

Why could my nitrate be so high? Any suggestions for lowering it other than what I am doing?

Thanks alot in advance!

I would cut down on the feeding firstly as you may be overfeeding. You have a 'goldfish' in your tank, I wasn't aware they were tropical?? Poop machine!
I would give the substrate a good clean minimum once a week, and do a 20% water change at least once a week. Hopefully this will bring them down.
Maybe someone more knowledgable could comment on whether the tank is overstocked/just right.

 

[highfire]

I would cut down on the feeding firstly as you may be overfeeding. You have a 'goldfish' in your tank, I wasn't aware they were tropical?? Poop machine!
I would give the substrate a good clean minimum once a week, and do a 20% water change at least once a week. Hopefully this will bring them down.
Maybe someone more knowledgable could comment on whether the tank is overstocked/just right.

Thanks for your reply, Cheffi.
I know that goldfish produce alot of waste, and to be perfectly honest I have been thinking about re-homing him in my mum's pond. He isn't very big, though, probably only about 2-2.5" in length. Perhaps my tank may be a bit warm for him? (there isn't a heater in the tank, by the way). He isn't strictly gold in colour either, he's more a dark bronze with black smudges along his back and down his nose. Do you think he would be happier out doors in a pond?

 

[Bullrock74]

I don't profess to be an expert, but my high nitrates were caused by overfeeding...it was also the cause of my constantly getting green water...I now feed my fish every other day and they are all doing very well.

 

[highfire]

I don't profess to be an expert, but my high nitrates were caused by overfeeding...it was also the cause of my constantly getting green water...I now feed my fish every other day and they are all doing very well.

Thanks alot for the response, Bullrock.
I am now only feeding once a day, after reading all the helpful answers to my question, and I shall be keeping a close eye on my nitrates. Fingers crossed they come down.
I hadn't thought about only feeding every other day - something to consider if the nitrates continue to be too high.
Thanks again!