Sudden High Nitrates..

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M

mlowe22

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 31, 2007
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Michigan
So I have been a fish keeper for years and have never had a Nitrate problem. I've worked in pet stores galore and managed all the tanks there with no problems but now my 30gal tank (community, fresh, set up since June 06) went from around 10ppm of nitrate to about 50ppm! This happened in about 2 weeks.

I am hoping to get some opinions on Cycle to help with this problem. I've always been a small frequent water change kind of gal and never used Cycle...or any bacteria starter for that matter. Do you think this will help the situation improve more quickly or is it just a waste of money? I just purchased a pair of Gold Sailfin Mollies today and would hate to lose them. Any thoughts? Thank you!!!
 
on a 30 gal? hmmm i would try a bio wheel filter... they seem to do well back when i had a 30... also you can cut the cartidge and replace carbon with more bio media!
 
Jkoziatek;1402639; said:
on a 30 gal? hmmm i would try a bio wheel filter... they seem to do well back when i had a 30... also you can cut the cartidge and replace carbon with more bio media!
Click to expand...

Your filter will not remove nitrates. If you have suddenly a high nitrate count, it probably means you had or have a high bio-load in your tank. This can come from overfeeding, dead fish in the tank, rotting plants, or skipping water changes among other things. Also, have you added new fish?
 
No extra chemical or filter will help with a Nitrate problem - it's the end product of a properly working filter system.

If your ammonia and nitrite are still zero, then dont muck about with the filters.

You still need work out where the Nitrate is coming from though, have you tested your tap water. If the water company has switched you to a different water source it may have high nitrate out of the tap. Otherwise look for something decomposing in the tank (dead fish - old food etc) If your filtration is good it will handle that extra bioload but in the end it will end up as Nitrate in the water.

Assuming your tap water is good, the fix is to up your water changes. Dont just do one big one as you will change the water parameters too much / too fast. Do multiple smaller changes, as often as you like really. Once you get the tank water to similar parameters to the tap, then you can do bigger water changes as nothing much is changing.

Cheers

Ian
 
Jkoziatek: Thanks, I have a Penguin Bio Wheel 170 on right now. I like the idea of adding in more media though.. the preassembled don't seem to have too much. But I didn't think that filters helped too much when there is already a nitrate problem.

Scottfree: thanks. I like the idea of staying all natural. I'm glad someone else thinks that Cycle doesn't help with Nitrates.

Potts050: my test kit is only about a month old. Tested with a sightly older kit as well and got the same results.

ewurm: I added in 3 new fish total. One plain old molly about 2 weeks ago and the two sailfins on sunday as I mentioned in the original post. Now to add to my issue. The sailfins brought in mouth rot and my blue gourami (oldest fish in the tank) died. Then the plain old molly had 30+ fry.

Ianab: thanks! I have been doing 5% changes twice a day. First thing in the morning and at night. I tested the water again today and it seemed to have gone down a little bit so I think I am on the right track.
 
I don't know what you have for plumbing and filters. The scum that builds up on the inside of most of your plumbing can make for higher nitrates as it ages. salvage the bio media and deep clean the filters and plumbing.

I agree with potts. verify the readings.
 
So a funny thing just happened. I went upstairs to check the condition of the sailfins with mouth rot and saw my husbands little sister closing the drawer on the stand. I asked her what she was doing and she said she took the net and poked at the fish. I asked which one and she said an orange one. So I looked and only saw the male who is looking awful. I asked if that was the one and she said "no, the dead one." Long story short. If she sees a dead fish, she buries it into the gravel!!! Of course I freaked a bit. But I am guessing this would be part of my issue. Not as bad as the time she put dish soap in my In laws tank because "it looked dirty".

Thanks so much everyone for your comments and help. I kind of knew what to do I just feel so much better being reassured. You guys are fantastic!

PS....I tested my tap water and it's perfect. I was actually very impressed.
 
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