Did a water change and still high Nitrate.

[brrlong]

So i posted earlier about the high nitrate levels in my tank, everyone said do a water change, so i did. And i changed 15gallons. My levels are still HIGH HIGH HIGH! im talking 80+ still!!!!!!! What the hell am i doing wrong???? :-( all i have in my tank is 16lbs of live rock right now , 1 powerhead, and 2 heaters, runing an emperor 400 filter..... Why would it be soooo high still? This is sooo depresisng i wanna add fish but for sure not at that level.

 

[jjlittle]

How big is you tank for you would have to do a huge water change to put a dent in the levels . Have you found the source was it lack of water changes , over feeding, poor filtration? I would make sure you find out why they are high. And for now do weekly water changes and you will see it come down one water change like I said does not fix it. POst your tank info an d what you been doing and we might be able to locate the problem .

 

[oreo12]

How old is this tank? What type of base do you have sand or cc? If your tank just finshed a cycle they will be high. It is part of the cycle. Try doing another large water change around 80% so if you have a 50 gal tank change 40 gals of the water. Please tell us more info on your tank so we can help you out I went through the same thing My tank was 10 years old maybe did one water change a year. I had fish a live I never checked nitrates untill I started a reff tank. My leavels where around 300 now after many many water changes using ro water they are down. This just came to mind. What type of water are you using? what dose it test right befor you put it in the tank? Maybe your source water is high off the start I have heard of that befor as well.

 

[lion_crazz]

Well, it says in your profile that you have a 75 gallon tank. Simply put, taking out 15 gallons will not affect the nitrates all that much. What I would recommend doing is start vacuuming out 40% of the water (30 gallons) every 3 days to 5 days. After a few water changes, you should see a significant drop in nitrates.

 

[ruaround]

You should NEVER do a water change over 50%... do a water change of 40% test your perameters and do another in 4 to 7 days...
how old is your tank???

 

[nofish4u!!]

How come you never want to do a water change over 40%? It seems like there are a number of conflicting views out there (I'm new at this so I'm trying to learn, that's why I am asking).

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by ruaround
You should NEVER do a water change over 50%... do a water change of 40% test your perameters and do another in 4 to 7 days...
how old is your tank???
I would agree with this as well. 40% every 3-5 days would be an acceptable amount and give the tank enough time to stablize after the warer change.

 

[ruaround]

Originally Posted by nofish4U!!
How come you never want to do a water change over 40%? It seems like there are a number of conflicting views out there (I'm new at this so I'm trying to learn, that's why I am asking).
The reason for not doing a large change is water chemestry... you can shock your system by doing this...
there is a method for a large change though... it involves taking water out, introducing new water, taking out a % of that water, then topping with the water from the second portion taken out, taking out a %, introducing new water, and repeating the steps... I am not sure how effective this method is for I have never tried it...
I would stay with small changes every other day 10 to 15% or a large change and wait a few days an change again...

 

[oreo12]

I belive he said there is nothing in the tank so a larger water change would be safe. How old is the set up?

 

[lion_crazz]

Well, the tank has living bacteria, as it is a cycled tank. Thus, an 80% water change would affect that.

 

[oreo12]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Well, the tank has living bacteria, as it is a cycled tank. Thus, an 80% water change would affect that.
Nope don't think so. Did you say once you worked in a oet shop. That your bad advice made someone mad and they burnt the store down?

 

[lion_crazz]

oreo, what is your problem with me? In the other post you told me to get a life and now you are jumping down my back here. Just because your opinion is in the minority does not mean that you need to attack me. I think we can all be civilized adults here, can't we?

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Well, the tank has living bacteria, as it is a cycled tank. Thus, an 80% water change would affect that.
I wouldn't do an 80% water change.
On the other hand, I don't believe bacteria will be adversely affected by significant water changes either.
For the best success possible during a water change make sure the new water is an exact salinity match, pH match, Temp. match etc.
Have you tested your new water to make sure it doesn't already have nitrates?
Have you tested your test kit? Test kits can be wrong.

 

[brrlong]

thanks all i havent had time to read all the post but my tank is 75 gallons! i did more like a 10-12 gallon change that is like a 12 or 13% ish water change.... No fish are in the tank, so i cant be over feeding.. thats all ive had time to read will continue and post again

 

[az]

Originally Posted by brrlong
So i posted earlier about the high nitrate levels in my tank, everyone said do a water change, so i did. And i changed 15gallons. My levels are still HIGH HIGH HIGH! im talking 80+ still!!!!!!! What the hell am i doing wrong???? :-( all i have in my tank is 16lbs of live rock right now , 1 powerhead, and 2 heaters, runing an emperor 400 filter..... Why would it be soooo high still? This is sooo depresisng i wanna add fish but for sure not at that level.

other questions also need to be answered. Do you have a sump?
more circulation and aeration to your system.
More live rock to have the bio-load for the tank of that size
Some of those filters house the detritus in the plumbing or filter area and can also cause problems.
As some have asked test your test kit and water you use for changes and topoff.
But I think with a larger bio-load area you will get much better readings.
And remember mitrates is the last part of the cycle and it to needs time to balance.

 

[brrlong]

Some of those filters house the detritus in the plumbing or filter area and can also cause problems.
can u inform me more about this???
i think they are starting to go down, my test kit says that at least. Tomorrow im going to take it into my lfs and have them test it to make sure. It must have just needed to be cycled soem more after adding the new water i guess???
Thank you all for replying, i also bought another powerhead to put lower in the tank a submer.... one so that it can blow around the live rock etc... hopefully that will help