sorcha Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Hi there, I'm having some nitate issues. I've recently sold a few fish so wouldn't say my tanks too overstocked. It's a 430l african cichlid tank, just tested the water from the hose and tap which I use for water changes and nitrate is around 5-10. So if I'm adding nitrate each time I do a water change how am I going to lower nitrate levels in the tank? I guess being such a low amount of nitrate it should gradually lower in the tank. Any other ideas? I feed once a day, however have recently been feeding home made fish food aswell which is fairly messy. I've just had one fish go missing and another that looks sick and have just put it in a different tank, I haven't lost any in this tank for 6 months to a year and don't want to lose more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubbo Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 I didnt think a nitrate level of 5-10 would make that much diff would it ? my planted fish tank is consistently on 10 regardless of whether I do weekly or biweekly water changes. I had a few fish deaths but 99% of stock survived. I hear plants will use up nitrate anyway if given the right light etc, but my tank is well planted and still have low nitrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Hi sorcha. I'm having some nitate issues. What is the nitrate reading? I've just had one fish go missing A decomposing corpse will increase nitrates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Hi there, I think they're around 80-160, so very high. I've looked under as many rocks etc as I can and can't find a corpse. The nitrates have been creeping up for awhile, I do weekly water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 How big are your water changes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Um, I guess 25% thereabouts.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 IME Africans can handle much bigger water changes than that. I do weekly changes of at least 30% and often 50%. During upgrades and major cleans I've used 80% new water with no trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Ok cool, I might do a larger change and get the nitrates right down, the hardest part is I can't use tap water so am using bore water from the hose and adding kettle water (mixed with cold so not boiling)to try and keep the heat up, so it's hard to change too much without freezing the tank and fish.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 the hardest part is I can't use tap water Hooray for Christchurch water. I forget how spoiled we are down here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 Yeah, I've always been the same on either rain or spring but have had to move home temporarily and it's not good having the tanks here!!lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 So I've just done around a 50% water change and nitrate is still high at least 40+, hard to tell! Any other ideas? nitra zorb? No plants in the tank. I guess i'll do another big change in a couple of days, just ashame i'm adding nitrate back in the tank with each water change, feels like a losing battle!lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 I'm happy to be corrected, but I reckon nitrate at 40 ppm is quite acceptable. I know the lower the better but I've seen fish thriving in water with higher readings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Cool, Yeah I'm hoping it's 40 which I'm sure is ok, very hard to tell the difference between 40 and 80+. Still they all look happy so far so we'll see how things go and still do another water change in a couple of days oh yay lol Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 hard to tell the difference between 40 and 80+. It's the same with my test kit. :lol: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sorcha Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 I'd say! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubbo Posted July 15, 2008 Report Share Posted July 15, 2008 I would do gradual water changes and monitor the all parameters on a daily basis and some experimentation, I read cichlids can be quite messy and you suppose to get a filter that can handle 2x what the tank size is for effective filtration, not sure if there's any truth in that though but it makes sense to me. I would also wonder if putting fishes on a diet makes your nitrate go up slower also did you check for dead fishes ? awhile back I had a small tank and a fish has gone missing, I thought it was lost but never found it until a week later when I took off the powerhead / filter, and it was stuck between the powerhead and the glass rotting away. I also had dead fishes caught under drift woods etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.