Nitrates at 40 ppm

[dakotanut]

Finally got the test kits for my nana 8 gal. Just did them all and e everything is good but nitrate. It's at 40 ppm. I will change water out in 2 to 3 days for the algae remover I just put in also. Chemi clean. Food is already low.

 

[i lik fish]

What test kit is it?

 

[vanpire]

Why put in chemicals? 8 gallon is so easy to do a water change.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

I agree with vanpire, why not just do a 4 gallon water change now and in a week do another 4 gallon change. That should bring the nitrates down to 10ppm.

 

[John3]

Water changes help but if your sand bed is leaking out nitrates or if your filter setup is decomposing crud leaking nitrates the water changes won’t help much in the long run. It all starts with how much you feed your tank so that is the first place to start.

Do you have any idea how your tank is in regard to the above?

 

[vanpire]

OK. 8 gallon nano. Replace the sand/rock. Gotta be pretty easy to do.

Also possible to remove the sand, wash in RO to remove any decaying matter and perform consistent water change.

That’s what I would do.

 

[lbacha]

If you have fish overfeeding even a little will lead to high nutrients quickly in a tank that size

 

[dakotanut]

Ok. I have a cyno algea problem. I put in what was recommended here and at 2 fish stores here in my area. It says to remove all carbon and chem pure. So I did. I've been battling this algea for awhile now and have tried everything. I checked everything like I said and the nitrates are at 40 ppm. I have salifert and red sea. I will have to do a water change with the chem clean in 2 days.

 

[dakotanut]

I've already stopped feeding my 1 damsel. It gets 3 very tiny pieces of food a day. I put the light on a timer so it only stays on for 8 hours. The clean up crew is working hard too.

 

[dakotanut]

Water change tomorrow. I have to get RO/DI 1st. Does algea cause nitrates to raise?

 

[lbacha]

Distilled works as well. I use it in a pinch and it's always 0 tds

 

[dakotanut]

I did the 20% water change and cleaned the tank very well. Dropped to about 20 ppm nitrates. So waiting a few days and check it again. Then if necessary do another change. Get my 32 gallon bio cube Sunday.