# Nitrates



## jeffskio (Nov 3, 2003)

everything else is good except nitrates. they are on the high end of the scale. i just did a 15% water change, and addes stress zyme. anything else?


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## mechanic_joe (Dec 4, 2003)

How often have you been doing water changes ? Is there possibly some left over food buried in the gravel ? I think you should have done at least a 30% probably even a 50% if the nitrates were really high. You have a single 5 inch red belly in a 20 gallon tank ?


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## jeffskio (Nov 3, 2003)

i have been doing water changes once a week about 10-15%. ya i think there might have been a couple tiny pieces here and there of left over food but i get usually all of it out.

Right now my RBP is 6.5 inches


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## benefit (Sep 3, 2003)

Your tap water might be high in nitrates right out the faucet. Other than that the only way your going to get them down is water changes. Do 25% water changes daily untill they are down. Or less larger water changes if your tanks water matches your tap water. Remove all uneaten food promptly and clean your filters out weekely or more as needed. Thats about all you can do







. Make sure if you test your tap water for nitrates that it is a dechlorinated sample. So it doesnt throw off your test kit.


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## jeffskio (Nov 3, 2003)

thanks guys. i shall try it out.


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## joefromcanada (Apr 16, 2004)

if u have nitrates in ur tap water how are u ever going to lower the nitrate lvl in ur aquarium? just outta curiousty...(besides having an extremly planted aquarium). would u have to buy bottled water?


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## benefit (Sep 3, 2003)

RO water or some sort of dentrification filter such as this one. Generally if they arent that high out of the tap then you are ok. It just means you have a bigger responsibility doing more water changes than others


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## acehigh (Mar 5, 2004)

Make sure your test kit is working ok!

Try on another tank or a friends tank, they can sometimes give bad readings!


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## mrnewbie (Apr 14, 2004)

i know in the my area my tap water has nitrate readings of 10 - 20 naturally straight out of the tap , so maybe worth testing your tap water ?


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## CoolD (Apr 16, 2003)

why didnt anyone mention amonia/nitrate removal media in this thread?


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## benefit (Sep 3, 2003)

Because water changes are the most effective way to reduce/remove nitrates. Nitrate sponges are just another junk product on the market like Cycle etc IMO... Why use chemicals when you dont need to? The only chem's i use are water conditioners. I dont see what ammonia removal has to do with this problem. If there is a source for alot of ammo (left over food) then it should be removed from the tank completely, not just with media. Good luck


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## ineedchanna (May 27, 2003)

benefit said:


> Because water changes are the most effective way to reduce/remove nitrates.











agreed!


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## sccavee (Feb 11, 2003)

I have the same problem. My tap water has pretty high nitrate and my 75G is always high. I do 20G water changes every 4 days and have 2 denitrators on the tank.


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## mechanic_joe (Dec 4, 2003)

> My tap water has pretty high nitrate and my 75G is always high


 Aren't nitrates really bad for humans to consume ?


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## Davo (Jan 29, 2004)

I have the same problem with Amonia. Water changes are the best. Then you have to do the entire process again. Balance your PH, Check for Amaonia / nitrate ....


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