I have been doing weekly water changes and have been using products that claim to eliminate amonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Yet my tests still show that the nitrate levels are way to high. Is there anything I can do to solve the problem?
Nitrate ...
- Thread starter kyazh
- Start date
What product is there that claims it eliminates nitrate ?
There are some things out there that can be done but nothing that comes in a bottle you can just pour into the tank. Does it maybe say "detoxifies" nitrate or something to that nature ?
The best ways to remove nitrates are by adding plants or doing waterchanges (assuming that you dont have a high nitrate level in your tap water).
There are some things out there that can be done but nothing that comes in a bottle you can just pour into the tank. Does it maybe say "detoxifies" nitrate or something to that nature ?
The best ways to remove nitrates are by adding plants or doing waterchanges (assuming that you dont have a high nitrate level in your tap water).
How high are your nitrates?
Products will only remove so much. Check the label, it may say how many ppm nitrate it can remove.
Products will only remove so much. Check the label, it may say how many ppm nitrate it can remove.
I have been using amquel + (its a pretty common remedy). My local petco recommended this stuff called CYCLE .
All Cycle does is cycle the money out of your wallet.
Amquel is not a remedy for nitrates. Nothing will remove nitrates except water changes and/or a lot of plants. All Amquel does is "detoxify" them. It does not and can not remove them from your tank.
Regardless of whether the nitrates are "detoxified" or not, they still need to be removed from the tank via water changes.
The crux of your problem seems to be a high nitrate count, so why don't we go back to square one and find out *why* you have a nitrates problem?
Once we find that out, we can deal with the nitrates.
So,
Tank size
fish - what kinds and how many of each
Water change routine -- how much and how often
All water readings: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH
Tap water readings: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH
The above information will help us figure out exactly what the problem(s) is/are.
Roan
Amquel is not a remedy for nitrates. Nothing will remove nitrates except water changes and/or a lot of plants. All Amquel does is "detoxify" them. It does not and can not remove them from your tank.
Regardless of whether the nitrates are "detoxified" or not, they still need to be removed from the tank via water changes.
The crux of your problem seems to be a high nitrate count, so why don't we go back to square one and find out *why* you have a nitrates problem?
Once we find that out, we can deal with the nitrates.
So,
Tank size
fish - what kinds and how many of each
Water change routine -- how much and how often
All water readings: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH
Tap water readings: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH
The above information will help us figure out exactly what the problem(s) is/are.
Roan
OK I have...
29Gal tank
Tetra whisper second nature 2 filter
Tetra whisper second nature 3 filter (yea I over did it with the filteration)
Air pump with long air stones
blue gravel
a couple of plastic plants
Stealth non-glass heater
...
I keep the temp at 80
I just went ahead and removed my under gravel filters. The fish are in a secondary 10gal for now. I also changed all the filter media. I will do a water test after a few minuts and let you guys know what the readings are. Thanks for the help!
29Gal tank
Tetra whisper second nature 2 filter
Tetra whisper second nature 3 filter (yea I over did it with the filteration)
Air pump with long air stones
blue gravel
a couple of plastic plants
Stealth non-glass heater
...
I keep the temp at 80
I just went ahead and removed my under gravel filters. The fish are in a secondary 10gal for now. I also changed all the filter media. I will do a water test after a few minuts and let you guys know what the readings are. Thanks for the help!
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OK I just tested the water..
Nitrate 200 ppm
Nitrite 0.5 ppm
Hardness 250 ppm
Alkalinity 180 ppm
PH 7.0
So the Nitrate is the only thing thats still a problem...
I tested my tap water also, and these are the results...
Nitrate 30 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Hardness 425 ppm
Alkalinity 300 ppm
PH 8.0
Nitrate 200 ppm
Nitrite 0.5 ppm
Hardness 250 ppm
Alkalinity 180 ppm
PH 7.0
So the Nitrate is the only thing thats still a problem...
I tested my tap water also, and these are the results...
Nitrate 30 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Hardness 425 ppm
Alkalinity 300 ppm
PH 8.0
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Well I went ahead and threw in the fish, they seem to be doing good. But the nitrate is still 200ppm. I have changed about 50% of the water in the past 20 hours. Any suggestions with the nitrate issue?
if that 200ppm nitrate reading is from after the water change, then you need to keep changing the water until it gets down to about 50ppm or less (prefereably less). Then, look at the things that cause nitrates: overfeeding, fish that poop a lot, overcrowding in the tank. there may be more causes but those are what comes to mind right off the bat.
what fish do you have in the tank normally? how many and how big could help us figure out if it's an overpopulation problem or a too much fish waste type problem
EDIT:: sorry didn't see the fish list there on your sig. I'm not 100% on this but you have 6 potentially large fish in there (4 angels and 2 gouramis:: how big are they?) that may be producing a lot of waste. What is your regular water change schedule? doing more frequent changes may help keep the nitrates down once you get it down from where it is now
what fish do you have in the tank normally? how many and how big could help us figure out if it's an overpopulation problem or a too much fish waste type problem
EDIT:: sorry didn't see the fish list there on your sig. I'm not 100% on this but you have 6 potentially large fish in there (4 angels and 2 gouramis:: how big are they?) that may be producing a lot of waste. What is your regular water change schedule? doing more frequent changes may help keep the nitrates down once you get it down from where it is now
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