Help! Nitrates above 160ppm after water change and killing fish!

[Armani Garcia]

I recently did a 20% water change on my 46G bow front and added some Nutri Seawater. Then I tested my parameters and everything was fine but my NITRATES WERE 160PPM when they were previously 50ppm. My Heniochis butterfly and Royal Gramma have died because of this. I’ve been battling this issue by buying Natural Nitrate Reducers like Wonder Shell big those are coming in the mail and won’t arrive until next week! The fish that survived are all looking healthy but I’m nervous and i don’t want them to die too! Any suggestions for anything I can do in the meantime, until I can lower my nitrates? Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: By the time all these fish grow I will have a 125G

Livestock:
Baby Maroon Clown
Baby Yellow Tang
Baby Blue Tang
Baby Yellow Watchman Goby
Scooter Blenny
Diamond Goby

 

[Crabs McJones]

You can try stopping by your local saltwater fish store and seeing if they have any kind of denitrifying solution or if they even sell RO/DI water or already made up saltwater. But my best recomendation would be to make your own water at home using an RO/DI unit and salt mix. When you buy premade or even RO/DI from the local fist store you just never know what you're getting.

 

[Dom]

I am skeptical that nitrates above 160 are the sole cause of your fish deaths. There must be other things going on.

You said that after a water change, everything was "fine" except for elevated nitrates. A posting of ALL water parameters will go a long way in helping us determine the cause.

Are you using RODI water or is it "conditioned" tap water?

 

[Armani Garcia]

They have no denitrifying solutions at all [emoji24] but they do have Nutri Seawater I just have nowhere to put it

 

[Armani Garcia]

I am skeptical that nitrates above 160 are not the sole cause of your fish deaths. There must be other things going on.

You said that after a water change, everything was "fine" except for elevated nitrates. A posting of ALL water parameters will go a long way in helping us determine the cause.

Are you using RODI water or is it "conditioned" tap water?

Conditioned tap

 

[Dom]

How old is the tank?

 

[Armani Garcia]

I have no RO/DI Machine

 

[pelphrey]

Have you tested your tap water for nitrates?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Conditioned tap

That's probably why. Tap water in of itself can contain nitrates, phosphates, and even ammonia. Not to mention copper and other heavy metals. "Conditioned Tap Water" only means that its been de-chlorinated. I would strongly suggest getting an RO/DI unit from here-on-out.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/5-stage-premium-ro-di-system-bulk-reef-supply.html

 

[Scotty Buttons]

I don't think the nitrates are ther cause of your fish deaths. My old tank use to have nitrates over 150ppm and i never experienced any issues. What are your other parameters at? With a bio-load that heavy I would suspect ammonia especially with those tangs.

 

[Armani Garcia]

Have you tested your tap water for nitrates?

I used conditioned tap water to start up my tank, I used pre mixed Saltwater from my LFS to do a water change

 

[Flippers4pups]

Conditioned tap

This likely the cause of the high nitrates. Like others have said, there is likely other issues contributing to the deaths. Over stocking your tank is one that is apparent.

 

[Dom]

Please post a good quality picture of the tank. This will be useful in looking for indications of possible problems.

 

[Armani Garcia]

How old is the tank?

1 month 2 weeks

 

[Dom]

1 month 2 weeks

Woah.... yeah... you have too much going on in that tank at such a young age.

Besides the fact that tap is high in nitrates, that you have such a young tank is compounding the problem as you haven't a large enough nitrifying bacteria colony to support the bio load of all the fish in the tank.

 

[Flippers4pups]

1 month 2 weeks

That's a lot of fish in a short time, for such a small tank. Aggression would be a factor as well. As stress would be high too.

 

[Armani Garcia]

That's a lot of fish in a short time, for such a small tank. Aggression would be a factor as well.

Don’t know if this matters but I used API Quick Start and my Nitrate cycle completed before adding fish. I also added them gradually

 

[Dom]

What I would like to see... besides a pic of the tank is a complete listing, not only of your inhabitants, but of ALL your equipment and all tests you've done.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I used conditioned tap water to start up my tank, I used pre mixed Saltwater from my LFS to do a water change

There has to be other things going on then. As stated by other users above, age of the tank, bioload, and agression between fish is most likely coming into play.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Don’t know if this matters but I used API Quick Start and my Nitrate cycle completed before adding fish. I also added them gradually

What do you consider gradually given that the tank is a month old?