Decreasing Nitrates

[bobbdd]

Hello,

So, I vaccuum the sand once a week and have been doing about 25-30% water changes weekly.

And I'm still running a high nitrate level.

I guess that larger water changes may help....or more frequent and less?

What have you found to be effective?

Thanks for helping.

[MoJo]

Definetly start by doing a couple of water changes. I would also change the nedia in the filtration. If you have a sponge filter gently rinse it out under tepid water. The gravel siphon is a good idea as well.

Then monitor the conditions. If you get a spike like that it could be from partially uneaten food, or unfortunately a dead fish that might be hidden inthe tank.

Good luck

[Barbie]

Nitrates are the end product of the waste your fish put off. If you reduce the amount of food you put in (most aquarium fish are overfed) then it will allow you to make their water parameters more healthy for them to live in. What they can eat in a minute once a day will keep most fish nice and healthy and keep your water parameters in check. If reducing the amount of food you put in doesn't alleviate the problem, you need to look into your stocking levels. 30% water change weekly should be able to keep up with the waste volume easily.

Hope that helps.

Barbie

[Kit Walker]

I have always kept nitrates under control with water changes. However, Seachem now make products which neutralise nitrates and others. I think the correct one is "Prime". A friend of mine breeds rare fish and has 30 tanks, but doesn't have time to do his regular water changes on every tank. He swears by Prime and has no nitrate problems.

[BigOh]

Weekly water changes.

Feedings only once a day and skip 1 day a week altogether.

Keep some type of Plants !! (i.e. Java fern or Moss.)

[JacksontoKobe]

Keep in mind though that juvenile fish need more than one feeding a day. I would just stick with the water changes no chemicalss for my fish other than dechlor.

[Swordfish]

Doesn't tap water have a small level of nitrates in it?
It could, maybe you should test your water straight from the tap to see if it has exceptionally high levels of nitrates.
Otherwise i agree with more frequent water changes.

[Toooloud]

Never wash your media or sponges under tap water..

Once a week you need to do a 25% water change, and any Mechinical filtration you have you need to take it apart and rinse the media, ( Sponge, pads,any media) in the tank water you took out of the tank. Never want to rise it under tap water as you can kill off any Bacteria on the media.

[JSchmidt]

Originally posted by Kit Walker
I have always kept nitrates under control with water changes. However, Seachem now make products which neutralise nitrates and others. I think the correct one is "Prime". A friend of mine breeds rare fish and has 30 tanks, but doesn't have time to do his regular water changes on every tank. He swears by Prime and has no nitrate problems.

I've used Prime (to treat chloramine) and I've never found it to do much for nitrates. I still get measurable nitrates and don't see much difference with or without Prime.

To lower nitrates, you need to export to either remove stuff (poop, uneaten food) before it breaks down or you need to remove it after it's there thru water changes. Lots of mechanical filtration with frequent cleaning of media should help nitrates from accumulating. Lots of mech filtration (and removal of wastes via rinsing) will help to keep nitrates from appearing.

HTH,
Jim

[Harry Tolen]

What JSchmidt said.

[Kit Walker]

I guess stocking levels is also an important parameter not mentioned yet. Maybe his stocking levels for his size tank are causing the difficulties in controlling nitrates?