Nitrates high

Beeker

Beeker

Aquariaholic
Oct 8, 2004
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I just did a 50% water change on my 75 gal. tank and my nitrates are still at 80. Why? What should I do?
 
How long since you vac'd the gravel or rinsed the filter media? Also check to see if something changed in the tap water so that the nitrate level is higher than usual coming out of the tap.
 
I just did. I used my Python to vac the gravel and do the rest of the water change. I then added AquaSafe and Easy Balance.
 
How long before now to vac etc? Nitrates are usually from poor tank maintenance.

You could also have high Nitrates in the tap water.....
 
Tap water reads 5 ppm. I just tested again to see if it was because I stirred up the water and maybe that caused it. The tank reads between 40 and 80 ppm. The colors are so close, it is hard to tell for sure. I change the water every week. My fish seem perfectly happy. Could it be a defective kit? I have nothing to compare it to.
 
Nitrates can also come out of the tap. You may be replacing N with N. Oh, sorry Fred.....you already mentioned that.
Check your tap water(see your PM) and get back to us in the morning.
Hey, I feel like a doctor here.:)

EDIT: Test it again after letting it gas off overnight.

Len
 
I could still be from your tank there could be a build up of waste in the filter, or gravel. Try doing a 75%-100+% water change and vac................75% is easy and 100% or more is done by changeing ~75% then filling back up to 50% full then changing again then refilling to 50% full then changing again. If you tape water is close to your tank (Ph, GH, KH, etc) then changing huge amounts won't be a problem............I changed 120% of my tank in a day a while ago to get my nitrates back down and clear up cloudy water. Just make sure the water you are filling with is also very close in temp.
 
Actually, what you descried is a 94% change. I'm not sure that I'd go that far either. While you're correct that if your tap and tank are similar in their chemistry that large changes aren't going to stress your fish in the water chemistry sense, low water level and the tighter living conditions can certainly be stressful, think if it like the ceiling slowly coming down on you.

Two back to back 50% changes will provide you with a 75% water change without a stressfully low water level. Also remember that since your tap has about 5ppm NO3 that a 50% change won't result in a NO3 level lowered by 50%, but by (previous level/2)+5ppm

As previously mentioned, clean out your filter, rinse media in old tank water, and clean up anything that would provide a source of decaying matter.
 
I'll do that. Thanks guys. I also plan on adding plants to the tank. That should help too, right?
 
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