Nitrates going up

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Weasel6

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Dec 17, 2002
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St. Matthews,SC
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HELP! Nitrates going up.

Hers the story. Changed 1 of 2 filters last Wedsday. Thursday I did a water test before a change and cleaning.The results were:
PH = 6 - 6.2
Amm.=0 mg/L
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 20 ppm
Did a water change ( 10 gal.) and vacuumed gravel in all area accessible.No big deal.
Got a wild hair and tested it today. The Nitrates were up to almost 80ppm. All the other tests were the same except for the PH and it came up to 6.6 after some "PH up" additive. I'm confused as to why it jumped up AFTER a change since it was only 20ppm before. Had this same thing happen in my 10 gal starter tank once after I changed the water,filter,gravel and scrubbed it all in the same day.But not this time.
The most important question now is how do I get it back down without killing anybody? Do I add back the 3 fake plants I took out 2 weeks ago? 10-20% water changes without gravel cleaning until drops back? Are my 2 plecos and channel cats working to much? Leave the light on longer than normal to promote algae growth?
They get fed once a day with flakes and eat it pretty good. What they miss the Geo. Jurup. and the barbs root out the rest of the day. They occ. get a tubifex worm cube at night for a snack and occ. shrimp pellets. Is this to much?
Everybody seems ok for now with no recent deaths or anything. Alls well for now.
How do I get it down? I need help and soon.

P.S. If it matters, I have a water/bubble curtain running the length of the tank in the back.
 
This happened to me before.I had a huge jump of nitrates after a normal 30%weekly water change.Since my fish were showing no signs of stress,I took the advice of another fish keeper I just left the tank alone.Believe it or not after a couple days the nitrates went down themselfs!I have no clue why it happened or how they went down.So if you have no dead fish in the aquarium and your fish are not showing signs of stress,I'd check it again in the morning.
 
I just did a 15% water change with no cleaning and added my 3 artifical plants back. It was looking kinda dull anyway. I'll check it tomorrow and see where I'm at.
My 10 gal. guppy tank had high nitrates to,over 150ppm with 1 dead fish. Did a water change yesterday and this morning I had 2 dead adults and 3 dead fry. Retested it and it was 20ppm. I don't know if they would have died anyway or the water change did it. Thats why I only did a very partial change to my big tank.
 
Have you recently tested your water supply? Nitrates can pop up in water supplies at odd times of the year, so occassional testing is a good thing.

I would add some floating plants--anarchris, or duckweed--something fast growing and easily harvested. It will help keep nitrates low.
 
Sounds like your tap water is the problem.test it and see what it says.
 
Nitrates cant go from over 150ppm to 20pmm with ONLY a 15 percent change. I change 50 percent weekly and nitrates stay at 80ppm (last time I tested a few months ago).
 
I was wanting to drop my Channel Cat and the Red/Blue dwarf Gourami and add another Red Hook and possibly a "Red Hump", if I can find info. on it, but I'm afraid to. Scared the Nitrate level will kill them.This I wanted to do Friday or so but I'll put it off I guess. I'm gonna recheck the Nitrate tomorrow night along with my city water supply to see where its at.
I turned off the bubble curtain,left instructions with family that no feeding allowed tonight and added my 3 artifical plants back to hold some bacteria to.I also left the light on longer today than usual to promote growth. Have seen a few green algae spots on the glass that has come up since Thursday.
My 10 gal. guppy tank's Nitrate shot up to 150ppm or so and I did a water change and it dropped to 20ppm in 24 hours.
If I get the big tank down to 20ppm should I leave it alone or keep working the water changes until it gets to 0ppm? Its been that low by itself before.
Speaking of plants, I've added a post to the plant section you can look and respond to if you will please. For my Nitrate problem and general appearance.

Also, will the addition of aquarium salt affect my nitrate problem or general chemistry in anyway? I have been adding it with my water changes but haven't the last 2, forgot. I add 1 tablespoon/5 gal. An experienced buddy told me to add it cause even freshwater fish need a little salt, helps gill function etc.
 
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The ONLY way to lower nitrates is not to overfeed. Also, make sure the tank isnt overcrowded. Another method. Do more water changes throughout the week.

They do have some plans on the internet to reduce the nitrates by devices...but those are not solution to your problem
 
Among other things, high levels of nitrate can be caused by overfeeding, by maintenance practices insufficient to bioload, by decaying organic matter in the tank, and by high levels in your supply water.

If you want to reduce nitrate, you can feed less, introduce live plants, decrease the bioload (i.e., get rid of some fish) increase the frequency and/or size of water changes, vacuum the gravel more often, clean mechanical filter media more frequently, and remove rotting organic material. A good first strategy is generally to increase water change frequency. You probably should not add any fish until you figure out what's going in the tank.

Some questions/concerns:

- Why did you add pH Up?
- What is your tap water pH vs. tank water pH?
- Has there been a change of late in tank pH?
- How frequently (and how much) do you change when doing parital water changes?
- Why did you add salt? Salt generally isn't needed in FW tanks and adding it (or anything) indiscriminately is not a good idea.
- What are the nitrates in your tap water?
- What brand test kits do you use?

Sorry about all the questions, but the answers will help us understand what's going on in your tank.

Jim
 
I think your nitrate testing kit may be the problem. What brand is it and how long have you had it? The cheap brands use liquid testing agents which are less accurate and often inconsistent. The liquid brands require thorough shaking and mixing of the liquid agents. Failure to do so can give inconsistent results and may affect all subsequent tests. There is also gradual shifting of the results at full bottle and when it is empty. The pill types are more expensive but more accurate because the dosage is always consistent. I have to trash my Aquarium Pharmaceutical nitrate testing kit because I don't trust it.
 
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