nitrate testing

[Glen]

Hi I would like to know the right way to use a nitrate test kit, the kit I have purchased is a Sera and I completed a test yesterday the first test I did was 10ml tank and 10ml boiled filtered water (cooled of course). The test came out at 80mg/l, I done another test using 5ml tank and 15ml boiled filtered water and the test came out at 20mg/l. Where do I go from here. Tank is 500litres stocked with three Oscars between 160 and 195 mm plus one Pleco 200mm and three small bristlenose who live in a Schist rock formation, an older cannister Fluval 403, an Atman F104, and a sump filter, jury rigged from an old 60 litre tall tank.

I recently had a prob with HITH but the advise I got from this site helped me overcome with larger water changes more often, for that information I want to thank all you people who helped, and now would like to know if I am staying on track with the excesive nitrate problem I must have had with my Oscars. Thank you David from New Plymouth

[LYNDYLOO]

Hi David,

Sorry, not going to be of much help to you here, I have used the Sera Products before, but not the Nitrate Test Kit, Nitrates should be kept around 40 or lower if possible I think it is, So more water changes and more frequently, You may also want to test the Nitrate Level of the water that you are putting back into the tank, as this can also be High in Nitrates, Not sure why you have to use boiled filtered water with this test, Hmmm, I'm abit confused there. :-? :-? :-?

Maybe wait and see if some-one else here has used the Sera Nitrate Test Kit, and see what there advise is, I think alot of people use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Test Kit.

Anywayz Good Luck and hope you get it sorted. :bounce: :bounce:

Lynda

[alanmin4304]

You would need to know the nitrate leval in your tap water or the test has no meaning

[Glen]

Just tested the tap water 20ml tap water came out 0mg/l.

So I do not have to use boiled water after all Lindy

[Glen]

But I am still non the wiser as to the nitrate leval of my tank ??

[suphew]

you should be testing with just tank water, not sure why your are mixing it with tap?? from what you say it sounds very high, I would do a big water change anyway because it can do no harm only good. If you cant figure out the instructions on your test kit take it back to the shop with some of your tank water and get them to show you how to do it, I would also get them to test it using there own test kit so you know if yours is reading correctly.

[Glen]

straight tank water gives maximum nitrate level on the chart so the directions say I have to dilute to get proper reading which I have done just completed 50% water change on 15/4 fish are all very healthy just the test kit I am stumped on. Shop where I bought it has not got a clue cheers

[alanmin4304]

Where is your water suppy from. Most water supplies would have some nitrate.

[Glen]

New Plymouth District Council water supply Zero nitrate tested

[beachy]

Hmm sounds weird that you have to dilute, how would that give correct readings?

Anyways how often do you do filter cleans, oscars are pretty messy.

[Glen]

I dilute because that is what the instructions say to do, if I used straight tank water then the test would come out maximum nitrate leval on the first scale, has no one used the Sera NO3 test kit before or am I the only one

[Glen]

I do filter clean one filter every water change beachy, I have three filter systems running and yeh Oscars are real messy fish

[beachy]

I do filter clean one filter every water change beachy, I have three filter systems running and yeh Oscars are real messy fish

Good call, i have not used sera nitrate test kits, only aquarium pharm, and they are hard enough to read on f/water sometimes.

[sharn]

ok first off i suggest getting rid of one oscar, third wheel syndrome aint a nice thign to see with oscars, they will buddy up and nail the third one if your oscars permit maybe add a school of Silver dollars or a jack dempsy if youd like another large fish, males are real stunners but do like somewhere to hide. while HITH is associated with poor water quality i beleive it is equal with diet, www.theoscarspot.com has a really good beefheart recipe that you can make up which the oscars go nuts for and gives you a chance to get some vegies and shelled peas in there for digestion. at 20cm or so they are around adolesence size, they can get nasty then so just keep your eye on the little buggers, i was lucky that my boy didnt get too bad during that but ive read about oscars killing their buddies over night during that stage :-?

if you have enough filtration on your tank (reccomended 10x per hour with HOB's, internals and 5x per hour with canisters, sumps etc) it shouldnt be too bad, i run two filters and i do one each week but im am slightly under filtered (3000lph on a 360L tank). i see you have a canister, a atman internal? and a sump, sumps would only need cleaning monthly if that, same with canisters IMO, internals every second week or so.

get the shop to test your water with their kits and see what comes up, you may have a faulty kit. if not you need to do some serious water changes, i have a friend who was having nitrate probs on his oscar tank and he upped water changes to 30% twice weekly and that solved it. hope that helps!

oops, edit bout mate with water changes. it was twice weekly not once, nearly every tank should have weekly water changes

[beachy]

Sharn, good post , i was going to say weekly water changes. I always done weekly changes when i was keeping oscars, and other various big fish,and still my nitrates would be around 30-40 ppm. Good thing they are hardy fish, never had any real probs though.

[Glen]

third wheel syndrome thats what its called eh, I too have been thinking I should lighten up on one Oscar? the one that gets bullied is the nicest fish, a red, the two tigers have buddied up and knock the crap out of him. I now have partitioned him off and he is gaining weight and giving the other two all sorts of evil messages through the glass partition, how would it go if I got rid of the smaller tiger who is an ugly bugger with a deformed jaw, would the remaining tiger buddy up with the red do you think.

[sharn]

to be honest i dont think anyone would be able to give you a definate on that, oscars can be real hard fish to figure out, theyll act all buddy with a fish one minute and then decide it has to be killed :lol: getting two oscars that will stand each other in schools of less than about 6 is tricky to say the least, i think youve got four options, you have to weigh them up, prettyness vs peacfulness in your tank

1: get rid of the woose, if you take out a bully the remaining bully might still decide he just dont like him and give him a hard time.

2: get rid of one bully, first you would have to take the one you wanted to get rid of out of the tank, into a spare (you dont want the bullys in the same tank so they can see each other i dont think), to see if the remaining bully lets up on the woose, it could take a week or so for things to be worked out. if hes still giving him a rough time you can try the re-decoration trick. take the bully out into a bucket/whatever for a few days, re arrange the tank and let him back in, it will make him feel hes the newbie in this 'new' tank he isnt familiar with and may give the woose a bit of extra boost he needs, however this doesnt always work but its worth a shot.

3: get another tank for your fave, it only needs to be around 250L and you could have maybe a smaller plec in there, you can never have too many tanks!!

4: get rid of both bullies, that way you can have your fav still and add more fish. often oscars dont mind other fish (ones that have been alone for a while dont often like anything being put in their tank) as long as its not other oscars. my oscar doesnt mind what i put in his tank as long as it isnt another oscar, but like i said every fish has a different personality theres alot of options for other tank mates for oscars, silver dollars for dithers, clown loaches, jack dempsys, blue acaras are often used too.

in the end its up to you, if you cant bare to part with your softie it doesnt cost much to set up a new tank and oscars really dont mind being on their own, they are more owner responsive IMO. quite a few options to think over huh? :lol:

[Caper]

Can't buy nitrate test kits here! Last year, when I was in Halifax, the guy at a pet store told me I didn't need it!

Anyway, my question is...if ammonia is 0 and nitrites are 0, could nitrates still be too high? As I said, can't get the kits here, so I've never tested for nitrates.

[suphew]

yes they can, nitrate is the last stage of the bacteria cycle and is only removed by plants using it for food or water changes, is in fact the main reason for doing water changes. Now your tank has been set up for a while I dont know that you need to worry to much about getting a test kit. as long as you dont over stock, dont have messy fish, and do regurlar water changes is shouldnt ever be a problem.

[Caper]

Thanks Suphew

That's good to know whew

I do regular water changes...mostly weekly but occasionally I have gone 2 weeks between but more on the weekly basis.

[Fee]

Let me try to help,

The Sera test kits are very accurate and in the case of NO3 has the ablity to test up to 400mg/l.

Fill the test vial up to the 20ml mark with sample(Aquarium) water, add reagents and compare colour after 5 minutes. If the colour is dark red, the sample contains more than 40mg/l. Retest with 10ml of sample water and 10ml of distilled water and add reagents. If the test value can now be read, you then add the the value from the last reading on the line before, eg I now have a value of 20mg/l +40mg/l from the last line equaling 60mg/l nitrate in the aquarium.

If the colour is still red the value is 80mg/l or more, in this case you can dilute 5ml/sample+15ml/Distilled & if necessary also 2ml+18ml.

Water MUST be distilled water, rather than boiled tap water, which is never pure.

This may sound difficult, but after you've done it once it's really easy.

Best Wishes,

Mark

[Fee]

sera toxivec

sera toxivec contains the innovative QuickClean Formula and immediately removes dangerous ammonium and nitrite. Therefore it prevents the conversion into nitrate and immediately supports prevention of annoying algae growth.

Try it for yourself by putting a dose of toxivec into a test sample of water known to contain ammonium or nitrite and or nitrate, re test and see a 0mg/l result. Sera Toxivec can be used up to five times at recommended dosage before it is recommented to do a water change. Especially good for large Cichlid aquarium fish like Oscars.

Mark