HIGH NITRATES

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T

TheBroc

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 1, 2014
888
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CALIFORNIA
I tested 4 different tanks all get the same nitrate reading. is that possible or is it my water? the 4th test tube in the picture is my 10 gallon planted tank. you would think the nitrates would be low on that tank but they are exactly the same as the others. advice?

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all are registering off the scale, hence they all look the same. water should never be blood red. orange. no red. water change all of them. what is you water change schedule?
 
Check your tap water. If it shows 0 then your test is accurate. If it doesn't then either your test kit is bad or your tap water is a source of nitrates.

When I first started my current job my coworker showed me several of his planted tanks. He bragged about how seldom he changes water because "the plants will keep the nitrates close to 0". A quick test of all of his tanks yielded similar results to yours...

Do you rinse your test tubes soon after testing or do you tend to leave tests in them? Test tubes can become contaminated if they aren't washed promptly and properly. At work we have to acid wash our glassware a couple of times per year.
 
and to give some advise i would do 2 fin level water changes and get that nitrate down to 5 or so. plants in a tank do not really reduce nitrate creep, some? yes but enough to notice? nope, would need a out side pond with a flowing trickle, and its own water exchange. and we talking large pond per say, 5k at least and well planted.
 
:nilly:
 
Pomatomus said:
Check your tap water. If it shows 0 then your test is accurate. If it doesn't then either your test kit is bad or your tap water is a source of nitrates.

When I first started my current job my coworker showed me several of his planted tanks. He bragged about how seldom he changes water because "the plants will keep the nitrates close to 0". A quick test of all of his tanks yielded similar results to yours...

Do you rinse your test tubes soon after testing or do you tend to leave tests in them? Test tubes can become contaminated if they aren't washed promptly and properly. At work we have to acid wash our glassware a couple of times per year.
Click to expand...
no offence to OP but i am thinking this just a case of bad water maint,
 
I do over 50% water changes every 2 weeks. these tests are 4 days after my last water change. I just did another water change about 75%. when can I re test and see?
 
yikes. water changes need to be every week, at least 90% or fin level, i would test now, find out ware you at for a base level.
 
water changes are what it is all about, just because water is crystal clear does not mean the water good, more fish die early or just plain die because folks think water clear fish are fine, this can not be further from the truth, do a 90% though out the week, wither one water change on the weekend or 2 50% through the week, but the water changes have to happen.
 
well my water straight from the faucet shows nitrates. on the left is tap water around 10 ppm and the right is a tank I just did a water change on so im down around 20 ppmguess ill just change them all weekly now.
 
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