reducing nitrates

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SnaKeheAdSrAwSomE

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 23, 2008
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wherever god takes me LOL
hey guys i need help reducing nitrates. my other params are fine
ammonia is at .25 ppm
nitrites are at .25 ppm
my ph is at 6.6
but my nitrates are at 40ppm but idk if these are accurate because i got the api master test kit. so does anyone know how to solve this problem? thanks
 
bacteria "eats" ammonia and "poops" nitrite... other bacteria "eats" nitrite and "poops" nitrate...

So in a mature tank there should be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite...

Then we do water changes to keep the nitrates under control...

The typical suggestion or base to begin with is 25% water change per week. This does not include replacing water that has evaporated as nitrates do not leave the tank via evaporation...

So I suggest starting this practice of draining 25% of your tanks water each week and replacing it. After your water change then test your water parameters to see where you are at... If at 25% your nitrates have not come down to an acceptible range, feel free to increase the percentage of your water change.

As a general rule regarding nitrates, 20 ppm or less is considered great, 40 ppm or less is considered acceptible, 100 ppm or more is considered problematic... Yet different species have different tolerances to such poillutants... and different hobbyists have different standards...
 
your other parameters are NOT fine. you should have zero ammonia and nitrite. you may be underfiltered and/or overstocked
 
I aqree, your parameters are not fine. It looks as if your tank has not finished cycling.
How long has the tank been set up?
What are the occupants of the tank?
How did you cycle the tank?
The only way to get your nitrates down is to do water changes.
 
the tank has been set up for about a year. current occupants are what i have in my sig. i cycled the tank for 7 weeks with four gold fish i believ i am under filtered i only have an ac70 on it
 
While I agree that .25 ppm of both ammonia and nitrite are not "fine" and that this reflects the tank has not completed cycling...

The fact that nitrates are present and rising suggests that the tank is nearly finished cycling... and that the proper solution to being nearly cycled and having a small but detectable ppm of ammonia &/or nitrite is to do a water change...

By the following week the cycle will likely be complete and the ammonia & nitrite will be at 0...

0 Ammonia/Nitrite is ideal, any level is not good, less than .5 is reason to be concerned and to do a water change to lower them, but not a true "big deal"...

I would suggest keeping a close eye on the ammonia and nitrite and if they get higher than .25 do a water change and start trouble shooting...
 
I didn’t see your second post when I made my post above… so much of it I’d like to change…

The tank has been set up for a year… have you been doing water changes at all? What, if anything, have you done previously to keep the nitrates in check.

Your situation seems odd and raises several curiosities… but all in all, my suggestion would still be to do water changes to keep nitrates at a reasonable level and ammonia and nitrite as close to zero as possible…
 
I agree

You are going thru a mini cycle.

Because of etheir a lack of maintenance or wrong technics while doing maintenance.

If you have been doing water changes and cleanings please tell us your steps for cleaning the tank.
 
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