Nitrates have hit the roof?!?!

[jcmonkeygirl]

I tested my water on saturday and saw that my nitrates were real high. On sunday i did a water change and took out about 1/4 of the water. I tested my water again today and my nitrates are still real high. Should i do another water change and take out more water or what? What can i do once i have lowered my nitrates to keep them at normal levels??? Also, what makes nitrates sky rocket?
thanks
jeremi

[aquariumfishguy]

Stress releavers and medicinal products are made out there to help AID in lowering nitrates but the only true way to lower nitrate levels in the tank is to simply do a water change and if you want to keep the low nitrate level, you must keep up on water changes...30-40% every week! ;)

What are your levels besides "too high"? I don't mean to brag, but I just tested mine and they were about 8 ppm! Very impressive and hard to get...believe me, I've been waiting over 20 years for this. Tee hee :D

Anyway, fish food, fish wastes, decaying plants, and just stale water (ammonia, etc.) can all lead to high Nitrates...but if they are under 35-40 ppm, you are fine...

-Cory

[jcmonkeygirl]

Actually my nitrates this time were over 80 ppm!!!! I don't have any ammonia in my tank, or nitrite. I feed my fish twice a day and barely feed them anything at all when i do feed. I have never had problems with nitrates before saturday and have had fish tanks for about 5 years. My pleco did just kill 2 bunches of anacris and 2 bunches of moneywort. Maybe the decaying plants are causing this b/c i have been somewhat slack in removing them. I do a water change every sunday but i usually only take out 25% of the water. I will start taking out 30-40% of the water and of course remove the rest of the dead plants and hope for the best!

[aquariumfishguy]

Well good luck and keep us posted so we know what all happens...;)

-Cory

[KateA.]

And use a gravel siphon to remove gunk, which can be tricky with live plants. As long as this isn't part of a new tank bacterial cycle, you probably just need to siphon. Technically, nitrates should be short-lived, but some have constant trouble with them. And it depends on your water source.

[TomFromStLouis]

The dying plants are a two fold problem, since they no longer can absorb excess nitrates and are generating nitrates of their own while decomposing. Remove and replace in additon to water changes.

[jcmonkeygirl]

So i removed the dead plants and did another water change and now my nitrates are between 10-20ppm. thanks everyone for their help!