can some one help with my nitrate levels in my tank?

Question

i have been testing my tank every couple of days for ammonia nitrite and nitrate the amonia and nitrite are fine but the nitrate is off the scales test kit at 100mg/1.i am using interpet easy test kit for nitrate its in tablet form and i am following the instructions right,
i decided to test the tap water today with the kit as well and i was surprised at the reading for nitrate in the tap its 50mg/1 which is a orange red colour.
if my tap water is 50mg/1 and my tank water is 100mg/1 how do i reduce the readings for my tank,at first i thought it was my tank until i tested the tap water.
i have done plenty of water changes to try to rectify this but now feel im making the problem worse,by adding the tap water,
i am adding aqua safe which makes tap water safe made by tetra aqua
can some one please help as im lost what to do.

thanks john v my tank has been set up a year now ive never had this problem before i have fully mature fish in the tank,angels clown loach pink kissing gouramis ,fire mouths and rainbows i bought them fully grown ive had no deaths ,they are all fit and healthy disease free and eat well

Answer 1

Thanks for the link and confidence Jon V

The first question I would ask is what problems are you having from the tank? If the fish seem to be behaving normally and not in any distress, I wouldn't be too concerned frankly. Most kits and even books and websites warn of nitrate problems before they are really a problem for your average aquarium fish.

As you have determined, your tap water is currently reading a fairly high level of nitrates and no matter how many water changes you do with that tap water, you will not get your nitrate levels below 50 ppm (or mg/l). The only solution for you is to find some water source that currently has no nitrates. RO water is one possibility, however it will certainly affect your hardness and pH as well as your nitrates. My first thought would be to ask if you have friends that live within an easy drive but are on a different water system, maybe you could arrange to get some water from them, enough for a few 50% water changes.

It's not uncommon for water systems to see spikes of nitrates, especially during the summer months, so odds are very good it will see a drop within a reasonable period of time as well, just keep your eye on it and return to your tap water whent he nitrate level drops.

MM

Answer 2

That would be the explanation as to why your tank having not completed the cycle has such a high range of nitrates already. I am sure there are some treatment options to use to remove nitrates from the water, and I think you are also doing the right thing not using your tap water source. I would say for now, you're going to have to use a bottled or other purified water source until a solution to remove nitrates is found. I am not directl familiar with what to do, but I am confident there is something that can be done and I'll try to find an answer for you.

JV

Answer 3

Thats tough. The only thing i can reccomend being your tap water is so bad is to get an RO/DI tap water filter this will remove everything from the water and leave you with just pure water. The problem is that fresh water fish need certain trace elements in the water so you would have to add them back in since the RO/DI will remove all of these trace elements. There may be a better solution that i am not aware of I reccomend emailing magicman he will be able to better help you.
The only other thing i can think of is getting a nitrate sponge for you filter that will lower the nitrates in the water but that is only a temporary fix.

Answer 4

As people have said you are fighting a losing battle if your tap water has nitrates of 50ppm then you will never get it under that even if you done a full water change.

Bottles water would be ideal to put in your tank but would b costly.
It might be a good idea to buy some large garden bins and collect rain water as this will also be ideal for your tank, be sure to cover the bins with mesh so nothing gets into the water.

Good luck
Pete

Answer 5

If it is a tropical tank sometimes adding aquatic plants to your tank can help reduce levels but it will take a little while to go down. If your fish are fine I wouldn't worry too much about the nitrate. Just check it every couple of weeks and do a 10% water change every couple of weeks. It's the nitrite and ammonia you need to worry about more.

Answer 6

Just to be sure, get another test kit, preferably from another brand to do the testing again.

I have used the same Interpet pill form test kit and I found it not really effective, mine probably on the shelf for ages but since there is no expiry date, I can't tell how long it's been there when I got it.

Good Luck.

Answer 7

java moss brings nitrate levels down drimasticaly, here is a site about it and how to get it read the whole article on the java moss : http://www.bettatalk.com/buy_supplies.htm