How fast should nitrate accumulate?

[skjl47]

I will try to be clearer. After a water change nitrate is 10 ppm. As time passes the nitrates seem to accumulate to 100 ppm then 200ppm.
Is their a ratio about ppm per week increase. That indicates a dead fish or something is wrong.

Hello; This makes the question more understandable but more information is needed. Nitrates are the end product of two types of beneficial bacteria (bb) metabolism. Ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. The tank has a working population of bb and this is an indicator of an established cycle.

Sources of ammonia include fish waste, decay byproducts from things such as dead fish and also excess uneaten food. I keep snails in my tanks and they also produce such is my understanding.

Water changes (WC) are likely the most common method of dealing with nitrates. On first blush it would seem you need to do more frequent WC, at least in the short term. I like to keep tanks with live plants as the plants will use up some of the nitrate. Other have posted about algae scrubbers or pothos plants to do the same thing. Some decades ago I went to both a light fish stocking density and lighter feedings with fasting days.

Please give us an idea of your stocking and feeding practices.

 

[skjl47]

that indicates overfeeding or way too many fish in the tank if your nitrates get that high that fast.

Hello; I like this post. This post gets right to the point unlike my rambling. Lots of ammonia being produced quickly.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Hello; I like this post. This post gets right to the point unlike my rambling. Lots of ammonia being produced quickly.

Haha that's how I roll brotha, your posts are always extremely informative though, great detail.

 

[markstrimaran]

Well currently, my nitrate is at 15ppm after a huge spike two weeks ago. I don't even know we're they were. Blood red, Did a 98% water change. Which left it at 20ppm test sample was 50/50 deluted. My tap water is 4ppm. Then over the course of a week shot up too 250 ppm.
Dilluted 16 to 1 sample. Removed some dead stuff. A tree limb.
Tank has been up for 6 months. Been doing weekly 10% wc. At 60 ppm I started an 1 gallon anaerobic drip filter. That was removing 95% of my nitrates one gallon per day. It was not working fast enough to keep up with the tree branch.
So I reconfigured the ug filter to reverse flow at 5 gpd. Sugar dosed 3 cc for 3 days and it actually dropped from 200+ppm to 15ppm. I also added about 500 billion +?- quart mason jar home grown anaerobic bacteria with the first sugar dose...
I have been testing daily and so far so good. It just got me thinking about some stuff. I thought I had long forgotten.

 

[markstrimaran]

Please give us an idea of your stocking and feeding practices.[/QUOTE]
Half full of fish at 1" per gallon. My wife over feeds them. 1 possibly dead under gravel plate. Or it jumped out and got eaten by the cat.
One little one got eaten by a bigger one
30 gallon
4 @ 2" bait minnow
2 @ 5.5" bait minnow, Creek chub.
500 gph w/d
4" pumice/sand mix substrate with UG

 

[predatorkeeper87]

Well currently, my nitrate is at 15ppm after a huge spike two weeks ago. I don't even know we're they were. Blood red, Did a 98% water change. Which left it at 20ppm test sample was 50/50 deluted. My tap water is 4ppm. Then over the course of a week shot up too 250 ppm.
Dilluted 16 to 1 sample. Removed some dead stuff. A tree limb.
Tank has been up for 6 months. Been doing weekly 10% wc. At 60 ppm I started an 1 gallon anaerobic drip filter. That was removing 95% of my nitrates one gallon per day. It was not working fast enough to keep up with the tree branch.
So I reconfigured the ug filter to reverse flow at 5 gpd. Sugar dosed 3 cc for 3 days and it actually dropped from 200+ppm to 15ppm. I also added about 500 billion +?- quart mason jar home grown anaerobic bacteria with the first sugar dose...
I have been testing daily and so far so good. It just got me thinking about some stuff. I thought I had long forgotten.

Explain the sugar dosing....

was the tree limb fresh? or was it driftwood quality?

 

[markstrimaran]

Explain the sugar dosing....

was the tree limb fresh? or was it driftwood quality?

I have a recent post in filtration and set up. That describes it in theory.
The wood was green and was rapidly decomposing.

 

[predatorkeeper87]

I have a recent post in filtration and set up. That describes it in theory.
The wood was green and was rapidly decomposing.

Ya that was definitely part of your problem.

alright ill look at that, im interested as to the use of sugar in a tank

 

[Drstrangelove]

The intentional use of rapidly decomposing wood plus sugar in a fish tank is not how most people keep their tanks, so I doubt that many people can tell you what to expect in your nitrate levels.

Probably, if you want to keep putting rotting wood in your tank, you should plan on doing 95-98% water changes every day or at worst every 2 days. From your posts, you are adding 30-40 ppm of nitrates a day, so that would be the WC schedule you'd want to follow to keep nitrates down to a tolerable level.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Sugar in a tank is a new one to me. The sugar will be food/energy source for something. Maybe bacteria or yeast? Some yeast could likely generate Co2 and alcohol?

Whatever used the sugar could have a population bloom? Then, if bacteria, perhaps add to the ammonia levels from metabolism or as they die from decay by products?

Just guessing as I type.