ok i'm kinda freakin here my nitrates are at 40 ppm and i think its stressin my fish they arent eating and they are acting funny i vacumed the gravel and while doing so i ended up doing about a 30 gallon water change and the nitrates are still at 40ppm. i am also freakin cuz i am out of my master test kits stuff so all i have to test with are the strips. i had kinda planned on not feeding for a few days and doin some more partial water changes while testing the water daily. any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.. thanks. i dunno if this helps but its a 56 gallon tank.
nitrates at 40ppm
- Thread starter jason2894
- Start date
40 nitrates aren't that bad and probably aren't the cause of your fishes stress. More water changes will bring them down.
if you changed 30 gallons of a 40 gallon tank and did not decrease your nitrates significantly, check your tap water.
well i checked my tap water str8 out of the faucet and its somewhere between 0 and 20 ppm as i said all i have is strips to test with and i know they arent the most accurate but its better than nothing so i guess i test again and do another partial water change then test again. thanks for the advice.
patoloco
De seguro no sabes lo que dice aqu
Nitrates at that level should not be harmful to most fish. However, I like to keep mine under 20.
Try to get a liquid nitrate test. Strips are very inaccurate (sp¿?).
Also, if you tap water comes with 20ppm, you should call your water company. I think it's too high for human comsuption. You might try adding distilled water to reduce the nitrate reading. Also, adding some live plants to the tank may help.
Try using distilled water for a 50% water change and post results.
Try to get a liquid nitrate test. Strips are very inaccurate (sp¿?).
Also, if you tap water comes with 20ppm, you should call your water company. I think it's too high for human comsuption. You might try adding distilled water to reduce the nitrate reading. Also, adding some live plants to the tank may help.
Try using distilled water for a 50% water change and post results.
I keep test strips lying arround for when the liquid runs out. there cheap and I can always laon those out to friends too. Ive noticed they read a bit higher than liquid kits. If that helps calm you down a bit. can you take a sample to the lfs for a free test?