WTF!!! Evil Nitrates

[michael]

I don't think 60ppm is crazily off the charts but it would be nice to get it below 20ppm. My tap is 60ppm and I always have a reading over 100ppm with ammonia and nitrate at 0. Fish don't seem to be affected by it but don't know if its going to affect them long term.

 

[DeLgAdO]

I don't think 60ppm is crazily off the charts but it would be nice to get it below 20ppm. My tap is 60ppm and I always have a reading over 100ppm with ammonia and nitrate at 0. Fish don't seem to be affected by it but don't know if its going to affect them long term.

not likely

 

[TankBuster]

Well I am up to 2x50% water changes a week now and it is driving me crazy trying to figure out why they get so high so fast. I dont leave any uneaten food laying around and I dont over feed too much. I like doing the water changes but I am worried what if I have to leave town for a week or even a vacation?

 

[zennzzo]

Has anything changed around the filtration...is there adequate ventilation so the Nitrate can "gas-off".
I try to keep a slight breeze over my bio-stack with a small fan. It's good for 20 ppm Nitrate reduction. I had it all in a cabinet at first for looks and my nitrate ran 40-60ppm.
Out in the open with a fan it stays at 20-40ppm tops.

If all else is normal, except just a tad up with the nitrates, try a little venting around the filtration...

Don't this kinda situation drive you nutz trying to figure out?...it does me.

 

[JAK]

I have a 250g. tank with 4 6 inch pbass, 1 Takifugu puffer, 1 10 inch Garrrrrr and a BGK. I do 30 to 40 gallon water changes every morning. My nitrates are off the charts. I do not over feed. The pbass get 3 feeders each on aa daily basis, the puffer gets half a market shrimp once a day and the gar gets a chunk of krill each day, the ghost gets shrimp and krill, I also alternate between food types. How can the nitrates be soooo high. I mean off the chart like 60ppm.This is insane. am I going to have to do 100 gallon water changes each day. Also I leave no food remaining in the tank. All is eaten. I have sand substrate so when i change the water I always vacuum. When I add the water I use a mag 2400 to pump the water back in so I stir up the water to loosen any lodged waste.

can you make a sump out of your vacant 55 and get a wet dry going with a load of plants ? would suck up some nitrates.60ppm isn't that high.but 20ppm is better.

 

[TOM A.]

60 PPM is where my tanks are all the time . never had any problems. I tried to lower it but it drove me nuts. I think 60 ppm is fine ,its your ammonia and nitrites are the killers

 

[dr_sudz]

I have a 250g. tank with 4 6 inch pbass, 1 Takifugu puffer, 1 10 inch Garrrrrr and a BGK. I do 30 to 40 gallon water changes every morning. My nitrates are off the charts. I do not over feed. The pbass get 3 feeders each on aa daily basis, the puffer gets half a market shrimp once a day and the gar gets a chunk of krill each day, the ghost gets shrimp and krill, I also alternate between food types. How can the nitrates be soooo high. I mean off the chart like 60ppm.This is insane. am I going to have to do 100 gallon water changes each day. Also I leave no food remaining in the tank. All is eaten. I have sand substrate so when i change the water I always vacuum. When I add the water I use a mag 2400 to pump the water back in so I stir up the water to loosen any lodged waste.

Personally I would cut back on the feedings, to 2 or 3 times a week. The less the food intake the less the waste output. Also I would check the filter media when was the last time you changed your media?

 

[ShouneN]

i use this product called "EasyBalance® with Nitraban" which is manufactured by Tetra Fish and that has helped me keep my nitrate levels down... then again my tanks are relatively small compared to urs and i use nitrate remover+carbon inside my filter cartridge which helps a great deal too http://tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=74

 

[TankBuster]

Wow, thanks for all the input. I will try the fan idea over each XP3. and also I cannot cut back on the feeding of the Pbass or the will not grow to normal size. They are too young for that still. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[DeLgAdO]

Has anything changed around the filtration...is there adequate ventilation so the Nitrate can "gas-off".
I try to keep a slight breeze over my bio-stack with a small fan. It's good for 20 ppm Nitrate reduction. I had it all in a cabinet at first for looks and my nitrate ran 40-60ppm.
Out in the open with a fan it stays at 20-40ppm tops.

If all else is normal, except just a tad up with the nitrates, try a little venting around the filtration...

Don't this kinda situation drive you nutz trying to figure out?...it does me.

whered you get that crap from?

nitrates dont turn into gas with a breeze

thats total bull****!

for nitrate to be converted into nitrogen gas the bacteria that do this need an anerobic enviroment to live. and any introducion of oxygen will kill them.

this idea may be benificial to the aerobic bacteria that oxidize ammonia and nitrite, but will in no way affect nitrate levels.