does nitrate readings even matter?, i tried to return a sick fish i bought from a pet store and he tested my water and it had 160 nitrate reading and wouldnt let me refund it. is he a butthole and i shouldnt go there anymore or does 160 readings actually mean something. this is the first time i tested my water by the way
how bad is 160 nitrate reading? all my fish still alive?
- Thread starter Poklei
- Start date
depends on the fish, but generally its seen to be pretty bad. its at the top of the test kit scale. 160 is the highest his probably goes, so your nitrates may be even higher.Poklei;3771137; said:
you should probably do a water change
also dont do a huge one do several small ones over the next week or so, you risk shocking your fish.
edit: i should add for reference below 40 is seen as a safe level
Nitrate readings that high are usually considered "too high". 40 and below is usually a good place to aim for, but if you are under 100 you are (depending on the fish) usually ok.
160 is pretty high though, so do 2-3 25-30% water changes weekly.
160 is pretty high though, so do 2-3 25-30% water changes weekly.
Yuup that's pretty high for most fish. How much/often do you feed? What's your filtration system like?