Water test help

16 posts • Page 1 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


mzhantsche
 
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:27 am

Water test help

by mzhantsche

I finaly picked up liquid testing kit for my tanks.

My ph is around 7.8. I would really like to see it come down to 7.0. Suggestions?

NO3 is really high! somewhere between 80-160 ppm. I know ideal is around 40 ppm. How do i get this down?

I tested my tanks after doing about 40% water changes. The NO3 tested around the same before i did a water change. I really thought it would go down after the water change but it dosent seem to work. Water isnt cloudy.

Help please.


Alasse
 
Posts: 993
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:35 am
Location: QLD Australia

by Alasse

Have you checked your water source (tap water). If not you should as then you'll have a base reading.

My suggestion, leave your PH alone. Mucking with PH can cause fish deaths, fish will adapt to what they are put into.


natalie265
Site Admin
 
Posts: 746
Joined: Sat Nov 01, 2008 9:48 pm

by natalie265

Did you shake the chemicals really well before you used them to test your water? I've been told that not doing so can really effect your results.

Why do you want to bring your ph down? If your fish are doing okay, i wouldn't mess with it. If not, the best way to bring down the ph is to use 1/2 RO water every time you do a water change.


dream2reef
 
Posts: 521
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:19 am

by dream2reef

or pee in it


mzhantsche
 
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:27 am

by mzhantsche

Yea shook the chemicals exactly the amount of time it told me to. I was worried the high ph would shorten the life or growth of the fish. But i know the high NO3 is really bad for them. Ill let the ph be.

i pee in my tanks everyday


dream2reef
 
Posts: 521
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 4:19 am

by dream2reef

well good at least someone does.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

80-160 ppm nitrate reading is practically lethal...I agree, leave the ph alone, most fish will adapt to a 7.8

the nitrate is cause for serious alarm...nitrates can only be removed by live plants, water changes, and commercial nitrate remover. Nitrates are always present in most aquariums. They do not get removed through normal biological filtration. They are removed by algae which consumes them as food, by anaerobic de-nitrifying bacteria which occurr naturally inside of live rock, and by water changes (the most common way of reducing nitrates).

Fish will feel the impact of nitrates by the time the levels reach 100 ppm, particularly if levels remain there. The resulting stress leaves the fish more susceptible to disease and inhibits their ability to reproduce. High nitrate levels are especially harmful to fry and young fish, and will affect their growth. Furthermore, conditions that cause elevated nitrates often cause decreased oxygen levels, which further stress the fish.

Detritus, decaying plant material, dirty filters, over-feeding, and over-stocking the tank, all contribute to increased production of nitrates.

So what can you do outside of the only chemical I will suggest in a moment, is the following:

1. Keep the tank clean – waste ultimately produces nitrates. Cleaner tanks produce fewer nitrates in the first place.
2. Don’t overfeed the fish – overfeeding is a significant contributor to excess nitrates and other undesirable wastes, such as phosphates. Feed your fish the correct amount. The number one reason for high nitrate levels in a tank is overfeeding. Make sure your fish finish their food in 2 minutes or less. You may want to feed your fish twice a day instead of dumping a large amount in once a day.
3. Water changes – performing regular water changes with water that has little or no nitrates will lower the overall nitrate level in the tank. RO/DI water is an excellent choice for keeping nitrate levels low.
4. Keep live plants – live plants utilize nitrates, and will help keep nitrates in check.
5. More fish means more waste, which leads to nitrate buildup
6. Replace filter cartridges, which may be holding decaying food and waste in your tank, raising the nitrate levels. Increase the overall aeration by cleaning filters or adding additional pumps or hoses. This should lower your nitrate level.
7. Add 50 mg of aquarium salt per gallon of water in your freshwater tank. The salt will not harm the fish and will be removed during water changes.
8. Test the water 24 hours after changing the water. If levels are still high, you should replace another 20 percent of the water and then retest the next day. Continue small water changes each day until nitrate levels drop below 50 ppm.
9. If your water continuously tests high for nitrate, then you need to find a new water source. You may have to buy water from an aquarium store.
10. Prime enhances nitrate removal and does not cause a pH drop.

Prime will significantly reduce the nitrate level during the water change, be sure to add Prime directly to the water before it is added to the tank.

If you decide to purchase a RO system, online they run about $150.00 for a basic 3 stage chemical removal unit, see link:

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... 12093&s=lh

(hope link works, if not, this is the unit: Coralife Pure-Flo II RO Unit, 24 gpd 3-stage)

Hope the above info gives you plenty of info to choose from. Nitrates at the levels you have should be taken very seriously. 50 ppm is the highest it should ever go...80 ppm is practically lethal...and at 160 ppm, I am very surprised your fish are still alive...but I am sure they are not breathing as well as they should be, the stress on their systems will actually affect their growth rates

let us know what you choose to do...I truly like to help you on this, this is a very serious matter if left on its own


mzhantsche
 
Posts: 115
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2010 10:27 am

by mzhantsche

ok. Yasher you win this year for longest blog. hahaha its great!

Tonight ill start on the water changes. So its safe to do 20% change every 24hours untill the levels come down?

Weird thing is all my fish seem fine. I dont want to wait untill they arnt but if these are leathal levels they arnt showing it.

On one of my tanks i have 75 gal of filtration on a 20gal tank. The filtration is spread out between three diffrent filters. I figured it would be enough to really keep it clean.

And in that 20 gal tank i have like 13 fry fancy guppys in a breeding cube. They are doing fine and are about a week old. So if the levels are so high i dont understand how they are surviving.

I have been feeding live brine shrimp and blood worms. Could this be why the levels are so high?


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

It is truly amazing any of your fish can survive at 160 ppm. It's lethal, period at that point. Unless the liquid test results aren't reading as they should. The nitrate test I have only goes up to 100 ppm, can you give me the exact brand you are using, I'll do some research on it and get back to you.

75 gallon filtration for a 20 gallon tank...do you mean you have 750 gallon per hour (gph) which is absolutely great or do you have only about 4 times the rate of the 20 gallon tank. Key to filtration is, 10 times minimum on the tank itself, so in your case, it would be 200 gallons per hour (gph) or for every hour of filtration ALL the water in the tank goes through the filter(s) at least 10 times. In regards to filtration, there is never enough...the more the better.

20% water change every 24 hours is fine to bring down the nitrate...only thing that concerns me is, after it is brought down, possibly something in your tank may be bring it back up...so do this, every 24 hours, water change 20%, after each water change, test the water (keep a log to make sure you see results, that the nitrate by ppm is going down; do this until the nitrate reading is 30 ppm...then go back to your normal routine (best routine would be 25-30% water change per week or about 15 gallons one day (say on Monday) then another 15% water change (say on Thursday), after each water change, do a liquid water test...if it holds steady between 30-50 ppm for one month, then all the tank needed was a good water change; if the nitrate slowly goes back up or shoots back up to 160 ppm or so, then there's something else the matter in the tank

if that is too much to do, let me know and I'll figure another way around this
Last edited by yasherkoach on Tue Oct 12, 2010 6:53 am, edited 1 time in total.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

oh, and by the way...thanks for the compliment (((smiles)))

Water test help

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