To treat with Chemicals?or...not

[ShadowBass]

Limit water changes to when the nitrates in your tank get above what the nitrates in your tap are. Otherwise you'll be raising the nitrates in your tank rather than lowering them.
Use prime to detoxify.

Other than that there's not much you can do unless you get an RO unit to filter your tapwater before it's added to the tank. This would, however, be your best option.

 

[Nick660]

Prime detoxifies ammonia, nitrItes and nitrAtes but it does not remove them and they will still show up in water tests.

Personally I would just use Prime on it's own rather than mixing it with other water conditioners.

If there is high nitrates in your tap water then yes, your only option is RO or nitrate absorbers, both of which add complication and expense

If your tap water nitrAtes are relatively low then frequent, large water changes are the best answer. Unfortunately this would probably mean more than once a week and more than 20%!

 

[Plecos_Ftw]

Yea I agree with you both.. Im going to test my nitrates in my tap when I get home, then do like 35% water change and condition it with prime. Then test the water after a few hours or the next morning see how the levels are...I wish i could get an RO unit buttttt I dont pay the bills haaha.. (aka Im a 22 year old broke as livin at home) I think it will be alright. They have been in that tank for months and havent (knock on wood) lost anyone major. Id die if I lost my sailfin or my frontosas But yes thanks again for the help and yep Im still open to any opinions. Tomorrow night Ill post what I got in results wise in case ne one wants to know

 

[Plecos_Ftw]

Whats interesting, I did a water change like every 3 weeks and the nitrates were high but not as high (i know im terrible) but i got smart and I do them once a week. I think its because my tank is over stocked. Im goin to buy a 90g tomorrow and keep it at my office, I can take some of my fish over there so that way I dont have to worry as much maybe that will help as well. I know im over stocked on plecos in my tank so i can move those and some of my cats.

 

[fishdance]

If your fish are happy then I wouldnt worry too much about nitrates. I think your fixating on the chemical tests too much. Where I live the nitrates often come out of the tap around 80ppm so its pointless water changing. Values of 400 ppm nitrates are usual in my tanks and I do a lot of breeding so the fish are happy.

 

[ShadowBass]

If your fish are happy then I wouldnt worry too much about nitrates. I think your fixating on the chemical tests too much. Where I live the nitrates often come out of the tap around 80ppm so its pointless water changing. Values of 400 ppm nitrates are usual in my tanks and I do a lot of breeding so the fish are happy.

This really depends on what fish you keep. Some fish don't tolerate nitrates well and such high numbers would lead to their demise.

Some fish can almost live in a waste pit with no noticeable issues.
Breeding isn't an indicator of health or happiness in all fish either. Many species are triggered to breed by a drop in water quality.

 

[Plecos_Ftw]

I have lets see... (i know you all are gonna hate me but im gettin a 90g up and goin to get my 60 not so crowded) 2 sailfins plecos, 2 common plecos, full grown male and female frontosa, one mbuna, one featherfin cat,one angelic pim, some unknown synodon.,one demasoni, one borleyi. yea so im gonna go pick that 90g up tomorrow and get that bad boy up and going then move some of my fish in there. please dont hate me! they will have a big home soon!

 

[Ianab]

I have lets see... (i know you all are gonna hate me but im gettin a 90g up and goin to get my 60 not so crowded) 2 sailfins plecos, 2 common plecos, full grown male and female frontosa, one mbuna, one featherfin cat,one angelic pim, some unknown synodon.,one demasoni, one borleyi. yea so im gonna go pick that 90g up tomorrow and get that bad boy up and going then move some of my fish in there. please dont hate me! they will have a big home soon!

Overstocking is OK IF you have super filtration and keep up with the water changes. You can have as many filters as you want, or a sump filter bigger then the tank, but all that does is convert waste to Nitrate. To get rid of that you have to change the water.

OK if your tap water has 80ppm nitrate it makes it tough. I think the outflow from our town sewerage treatment ponds is about 20 Still you can get close to what your tap water is.

Cheers

Ian

P.S. tap water here is about 0.5ppm nitrate

 

[Plecos_Ftw]

hmmm yea i have 3 and sometimes 4 filters running i knew it wasnt the filtration because i read up on the cycle and how it works. yea they are a bit over crowded but they still show no signs of anything bad (knock on wood) bah ill be home after work tomorrow . i never had a nitrate problem with my other small tank i had set up a while ago it was just a 20g but still the water i would think be the same if my tap had crap levels of nitrate. lol now im all excited to test my tap in a strange way haha. i have a master chemical kit so i dont have to waste my strips.. oh and since we are on that topic... how do you all feel about strips vs chemicals? i would think the obvious choice is chemicals? haha a thread within a thread

 

[Nick660]

P.S. tap water here is about 0.5ppm nitrate

NZ - God's own country

lol now im all excited to test my tap in a strange way haha. i have a master chemical kit so i dont have to waste my strips.. oh and since we are on that topic... how do you all feel about strips vs chemicals? i would think the obvious choice is chemicals? haha a thread within a thread

Yep, liquid tests are generally cheaper and more accurate.

I find water testing gets strangely addictive!