my amonia and nitrite levels are at zero, tank has been up for about 8 months, but my nitrate is at about 40 to 50 ppm, cant really get it lower do about 25, 30 percent wc every week if not twice. is this level ok?
Nitrate 40 ppm, is this ok
- Thread starter amanning
- Start date
That's pretty high...It should be around 10ppm or lower. Check what your nitrates out of the tap are...if they are lower than 40 then it is something you are doing to make them spike that high....make sure you are not over feeding. Maybe try vacuuming your substrate right after feeding time...
Honestly, I'm a stickler for Nitrate, and I shoot for 20 or below. Most of my tanks are not heavily stocked, by MFK standards, and I feed sparingly. 40 is a little high, but you'll find members who routinely deal with higher nitrates and don't worry. Personally, I think that water quality is the most important aspect of keeping fish, and the most common cause of illness, so I tend to be cautious and keep it below 20.
I agree with fallin49er about testing your source water, as well.
I agree with fallin49er about testing your source water, as well.
you can test your tap water as suggested... if the problem is created after the tap, i would suggest feeding less, performing 50% water changes once a week, and looking into some low maintenance low light plants to help eat up some of the extra nitrates.
Water changes really should be 50% a week. Do 2 or 3 weeks at 60% and you will see them come back down. Elevated nitrates shut down the immune systems of fish. If you introduce NOTHING new to the tank (feeders, room mates, plants etc,) you would be ok with high nitrates. But if you are feeding live feeders, get those nitrates down to the 10-20 range. They should be 10, or lower after a water change and no more than 20 before one.
Believe it or not, i can keep my nitrate at zero, i know that this is slightly undesirable if you have plants. But i use something called JBL 7 kugeln ( 7 balls ) and it works wonders plus it's a plant fertilizer. It clouds the water though. But it helps big time, because of this i can keep the hardest of fish.
But the only way i have acess to this stuff is my sister in college in Switzerland, she brings them every time she visits and it's great. I think they only sell it in Europe/Germany/Switzerland, but i am not sure.
But the only way i have acess to this stuff is my sister in college in Switzerland, she brings them every time she visits and it's great. I think they only sell it in Europe/Germany/Switzerland, but i am not sure.
It was after a water change, just did a 50 % water change so it totaled about an 70 to 80 % change in one day and the nitrates are at about 20 now, maybe a little higher, I have about 4 plants in the tank. Should I up my changes to about 50% a week to keep the nitrate low? Also it is 3 juvi reds in a 36 grow out. Im switching to a 75 in about a month, but I can do it now im just waiting till I get some more cash so im not strapped for cash for a little bit. If i did the switch to the 75 would I have lower nitrates due to the larger tank? Also if I add about two more plants would that help alot, also i vaccumed to gravel so much that there was nothing getting sucked out anymore so the tank is really clean. Answers on the questions would be helpful and also any tips to get it down?
Oh yea nitrates out of the tap are zero so what is it, and I feed fish and whole shrimp and not that much gets spread in the tank its actually pretty clean for P's
amanning;3622241; said:
Water changes are your best tool for nitrate removal. Just continue to increase them (amount is better than frequency) until you get them down to a healthy level (as I said earlier, 20 or lower is best).