# NitrAte up around 200.. how to get down ASAP?



## noslenwerd (Jun 30, 2005)

Hello,

I have a 55g with 1 4" German Red, 10 demasoni, 3 (now 1) red zebra, 5 (now 4) yellow labs, lost 3 albino socolfi (I think due to the dems killing them) and 3 (now 1) clown loach.

I havent tested my levels for about a week, until I came home today to see 2 dead red zebra, 2 clown loach, and 1 yellow lab dead. Turns out my nitrates are up around 200 (at least).

This tank is relatively new (2 months), so not quite sure what would cause this as my media is not that dirty, and there is very little in the way of fish waste in the sand.

I did a quick 25% change, is there any other way to expedite this process? And how soon will my strips show a change in the nitrates with only the water change method?

Thanks!


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

first off, if it's just 20ppm, then a 75% water change should cut it down pretty good, and i'd also do a follow up 50% to get them even lower

or you can do multiple 50% changes until the nitrates get under 40 or even better under 20, but it will tank at least 3, and they need to be done in the same day imo.

I do have a few questions though.
1) how often do you do water changes and how much do you change each time?
2) when you say your tank is a few months old, did you cycle the tank prior to adding the fish?
3) what are you other levels, nitrite and ammonia ( I ask this because nitrates tend to not kill very quick but instead cause other issues that you should have noticed problems long before they died)
4) what brand test kit do you own? (you really need a liquid test kit, not the strips, it's much more accurate, i like the api test kit)


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## kmuda (Nov 27, 2009)

Its all math. If your nitrates are at 200ppm and you perform a 25% water change, your nitrates will now be at 150ppm.... and increasing.

How you proceed depends on a lot of factors. If you just go ballistic with water changes you could do more harm than good. Please google "Old Tank Syndrome" to verify this process does not apply to your situation.

What is the pH of your tank compared to the pH of your tap water?

Since the water change, have you tested for ammonia and nitrite?

The best method of recovering from excessive nitrate is daily small water changes of about 20% until you get nitrates down to below 80ppm. Once below 80pm, perform a 70% water change, refill, perform another 70% water change, refill, and do it a final time. This will set nitrate back to zero. But you do not want to do this if old tank syndrome applies (or until you solve the OTS issue.)


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## noslenwerd (Jun 30, 2005)

cjacob316 said:


> first off, if it's just 20ppm, then a 75% water change should cut it down pretty good, and i'd also do a follow up 50% to get them even lower
> 
> or you can do multiple 50% changes until the nitrates get under 40 or even better under 20, but it will tank at least 3, and they need to be done in the same day imo.
> 
> ...


1) About 25% once a week
2) Yes I had 3 giant blue demasoni in the tank for about 6 months prior to loading the tank, added all the other fish at once with a dose of "smart start"
3) Nitrite at about .5-1 ppm, and i do not have an ammonia test kit
4) Jungle quick dip.. I do realize i need to get the liquid kits though


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

jungle is a bad brand for test kits, i find them very inaccurate

nitrates present is bad for fish, there is a chance that the test is just wrong and you don't have nitrates, but have ammonia and nitrite poisoning. if i were you i'd get a test kit now, or find an lfs that will test it for you, but i would make this a priority

what is "smart start"? what's it's purpose and what company makes it?

what's your pH?

there is still the chance that the nitrates are too high as well though. but imo never trust the jungle labs test kit, i would use another test before i act


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## Cichlidude (Feb 7, 2010)

Bottom line, your tank is NOT cycled. You will most likely loose more fish. Daily water changes should help, but you need an API water test kit and perform daily measurements.


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## noslenwerd (Jun 30, 2005)

Cichlidude said:


> Bottom line, your tank is NOT cycled. You will most likely loose more fish. Daily water changes should help, but you need an API water test kit and perform daily measurements.


How can i expedite this?

I took my water to the LFS and turns out the nitrates are 40ppm, not terrible but could be better. All other numbers checked out fine. My pH is 8.2, forget exact numbers on ammonia and nitrite but they were in the save levels.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

noslenwerd said:


> Cichlidude said:
> 
> 
> > Bottom line, your tank is NOT cycled. You will most likely loose more fish. Daily water changes should help, but you need an API water test kit and perform daily measurements.
> ...


the only "safe" level of nitrite and ammonia is zero so if it's not maintained at zero it's an issue

now cichlidude jumped the gun a little imo, without knowing all the correct numbers you can't say that the bottom line is it's not cycled. it could have been cycled then you messed up the bacteria somehow, it could be on the tail end of the cycle, or the numbers could all be perfectly fine and you could have bloat or some other disease killing your fish


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## Bearbear (May 8, 2010)

Adding so many fish at one time created a new cycle. High ammonia probably killed off the newcomers and you caught it at the tail end with high nitrates.
Even if you are able to add smart start or another product you should watch parameters closely after adding a lot of fish in a short time frame.
The effectiveness of smart start and other products are dependent on proper storage procedures before you get it, too hot or too cold and the bacteria die off.


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

Bearbear said:


> Adding so many fish at one time created a new cycle. High ammonia probably killed off the newcomers and you caught it at the tail end with high nitrates.


 :thumb:

Add some prime to detoxify the baddies. You will still measure them but they will not do any harm. Add the prime daily until you do not measure any ammonia or nitrItes. The fact that you are reading trAtes means you will be outta the woods very soon.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If ammonia and nitrite is safe, I would assume any reading might be inaccuracy of the test strip. And I would confirm by testing with the API or other test tube/reagent kit. Then you know your tank is cycled.

If it is not, you can expedite by adding Dr. Tim's One and Only.

If it is, you can reduce nitrates by changing water. If you have 40ppm and change 50% of the water you will end up with 20ppm which is a much better reading.


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