Nitrate problems

K

kirst_518

Member
Mar 30, 2011
46
0
6
Sussex
Hi there

I have been having problems with nitrates for ages most of the time reading about 100ppm. The tank is 450 litres and has one Flagtail Prochilodus which is 30 cm long, 4 plecos ranging from 20-30 cm, two spanner barbs about 10cm and a catfish about 15cm. I have one ehiem pro and eiem classic running on there and at the moment I am doing two 80 litre water changes a week running seachem de-nitrate stuff through the new wter going into the tank. also cleaning gravel everytime. the Plecs only get fed cucumber or courgette once a week otherwise they have wood in the tank. All other fish have a tiny bit of food each day like mussells or shrimps or flake food, I try and feed different everyday. Can anyone suggest ho i might be able to get the nitates down? Even fish shops are unsure now as we have tryed numorous things!

Thanks Kirsty :)
 
D

dw1305

Global Moderators
Staff member
May 5, 2009
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36
Wiltshire nr. Bath, UK
Hi all,
Depending on where you are you could have a lot of nitrate in your tap water (legal limit is 50ppm) and if your water is disinfected with chloramine you would have an ammonia source as well. Your water company should be able to supply figures for NO3 content of your water.

D-MAC is right, you can only get rid of the NO3 by dilution, or by active uptake by plants.

I realise that plants in the tank might be a bit difficult, but you might be all right with floating ones.

PM if you want some floaters, I've got plenty of Pistia (Nile Cabbage) spare at the moment.

cheers Darrel
 
Tener ds

Tener ds

Member
Mar 22, 2010
1,609
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36
Crawley (uk)
Hi, have u tryed a new test kit? I had very high nitrate once, or so my test kit told me.
Turned out is was all down to a gone off test kit.
 
K

kirst_518

Member
Mar 30, 2011
46
0
6
Sussex
D-MAC said:
Have you checked you tapwater for ammonia, no2 and no3? if they are ok you will need to step up your water change amount 80ltrs in a 450 is not a lot...Its purely what goes in must come out.
Click to expand...
I will check the tap water tommorow and tel u what it is also how much do think i need to change a week?
 
K

kirst_518

Member
Mar 30, 2011
46
0
6
Sussex
dw1305 said:
Hi all,
Depending on where you are you could have a lot of nitrate in your tap water (legal limit is 50ppm) and if your water is disinfected with chloramine you would have an ammonia source as well. Your water company should be able to supply figures for NO3 content of your water.

D-MAC is right, you can only get rid of the NO3 by dilution, or by active uptake by plants.

I realise that plants in the tank might be a bit difficult, but you might be all right with floating ones.

PM if you want some floaters, I've got plenty of Pistia (Nile Cabbage) spare at the moment.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...
Hi i do have it planted but they die quick even though i use fertilser, im going to test the tap water tommorow. ill let u know about the floating plants.
thanks
 
K

kirst_518

Member
Mar 30, 2011
46
0
6
Sussex
Tener ds said:
Hi, have u tryed a new test kit? I had very high nitrate once, or so my test kit told me.
Turned out is was all down to a gone off test kit.
Click to expand...
Ive just ordered a new one the old one was about 5 months old but we have had this nitrate problem for a while and fish shops have tested it too.
 
M

macvsog23

Pleco Profiles Team - RIP FRIEND
May 1, 2009
2,671
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36
71
Bristol
About the only way to go is to do 10% water changes if its in the Tap water then RO would be the way to go.
 
Z

zeebo

Member
Jun 11, 2010
1,986
1
36
ct ,usa
​
macvsog23 said:
About the only way to go is to do 10% water changes if its in the Tap water then RO would be the way to go.
Click to expand...
agree , if it's not in the tap water, 10% daily wc's should do the trick. I was able to bring mine down from 40 to below 10 with this method--that's why i bought the python-- and nitrates have been running under 10 since(more than a year now). HTH

Georgie
 
K

kirst_518

Member
Mar 30, 2011
46
0
6
Sussex
zeebo said:
​

agree , if it's not in the tap water, 10% daily wc's should do the trick. I was able to bring mine down from 40 to below 10 with this method--that's why i bought the python-- and nitrates have been running under 10 since(more than a year now). HTH

Georgie
Click to expand...
ol will give it ago just done 160 litres half R/O half tapwater.
 
Z

zeebo

Member
Jun 11, 2010
1,986
1
36
ct ,usa
L777 said:
Hi,

How do you know you have high nitrates? Home test kits are notoriously inaccurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrate_test

Chris.
Click to expand...
thanks for the link..so ain't no way i can do that to test for nitrates, wonder if there is an easier way?

Many fishkeepers depend on that product and now i have to wonder if the master test kit company is making false claims about their product ? or am i getting too anal about this now ?

wonder how you and other members test accurately for nitrates? follow the link's formula ?

thanks,
Georgie
 
D-MAC

D-MAC

Member
Jul 24, 2009
992
0
16
Lossiemouth
www.danditropicals.co.uk
zeebo said:
thanks for the link..so ain't no way i can do that to test for nitrates, wonder if there is an easier way?

Many fishkeepers depend on that product and now i have to wonder if the master test kit company is making false claims about their product ? or am i getting too anal about this now ?

wonder how you and other members test accurately for nitrates? follow the link's formula ?

thanks,
Georgie
Click to expand...
To be Honest most test kits are as accurate as we need them to be, just don't use them is if have had them for a long time as they do spoil, and make sure that you buy new stock and not some kit that has been on the retailers shelve for years.
I have used off the shelve test kits for over 40+ years of fish keeping and found they have served me well in all that time and I am keeping more fish than most of you.
You do get some kits that are not great and I'll not name names on a public forum but there are a few that are better than ok for our needs.
 
L777

L777

Member
Feb 8, 2011
165
0
16
Dunstable, Beds. (just outside London)
Hi,

I never test for nitrates, don't need to.

I test the TDS regularly and the ammonia and the nitrite when cycling or suspect issues. Those tests are fairly accurate and reliable. But Nitrate testing is so hit and miss that the results from common home test kits can lead you to believe that you have problems when in fact you don't or worse still that you don't have problems when in fact you do. The guys that keep reef tanks have much greater issues with nitrates than we do and a quick look into any one of their forums will quickly set you straight on just how unreliable Nitrate testing can be.

When you know that your maintenance regime and tank setup is robust you don't need to test for nitrates. Don't overstock, don't overfeed, over filter and do plenty of water changes. Equals no need to worry about Nitrates ever becoming an issue.

The TDS is a pretty good indicator of when the water is getting 'dirty' and is a pretty accurate measurement. As long as you know what the TDS of the 'clean' water that you put in is you can have a pretty good idea when things are going astray.

Also the majority of fish species are not overly adversely affected by high levels of nitrate in the water its the production of the nitrates that are actually the issue normally. Which you can test for with ammonia and nitrite tests.

I guess that it also helps that I use 100% remineralised RO water (0ppm nitrate guaranteed no need to test) and do 50% water changes weekly.

Chris.
 
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