How soon after a water change should you see the results in Nitrate Change?

auntkaren

auntkaren

Member
Our Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels are too high. We took our water to our LFS to just assure ourselves that our levels were good (as they have always been). We watched the tests being performed and were surprised at the rise in all our levels! I haven't trusted our test kit from day one and after the differences in levels between ours and the LFS's, we bought a new test kit. (I then used both test kits to test for levels and found that our old test kit was practically useless.)
Anyhoo.... our Ammonia was now .5, Nitrates .8 :scared: and nitrites .25 :scared: no wonder our corals were looking peeked! We did a 10% water change yesterday afternoon and re-tested again this morning. The ammonia had lowered minimally ( now .25) but the nitrites and nitrates had not changed. (The old test kit again showed everything was where they should be at <.10 nitrate and .25 nitrite) Even if the old test could be correct I'd rather err on the side of safety. So...
How long does it take to see a difference in parameters after a water change? (Hubby says 24 hours) I say the change should be pretty much immediate since you are in essence diluting the toxins with new water.
How much of a water change should really be done with the above levels?
 
auntkaren

auntkaren

Member
We mixed the water the night before using ro/di water. We also made sure the temps of the new water and the tank water matched.
Thanks! I wish I had made a bet with hubby on the time of results.
So what is a good percentage to change out? I'll need to go back to the LFS for more ro/di water as I only have a gallon left.
 
laddy

laddy

Active Member
It doesn't appear that ur tank is fully cycled yet. I believe you don't have enough mechanical or biological filtration to keep up with the amount of organics being introduced in your tank. Do you have a skimmer, live rock, or live sand? And if so, how much rock and sand, and what kind of skimmer?
 
jamie814

jamie814

Member
The results will be instant your are diluting the toxins down so if you have .500 ammonia and you do 10% water change it is only going to go down to about .450 which is going to be hard to tell on a test kit. Its just simple math. In the meantime you should get some Kordon's Amquel plus it neutralizes ammonia nitrite and nitrate and makes it harmless. but the main thing is you need to find the cause of the high levels have you tested your makeup water?? How old is the tank, have you added anything to it recently?
 
auntkaren

auntkaren

Member
The tank has been up and running for 5 months. I am sure it's cycled as we have had fish and corals and a cleaning crew in there for 2 months. We know where the spike came from, overfeeding (that's a different story LOL)
What I am trying to find out now is how much water to change to get my levels back to where they need to be.
We have not added any new life into the tank for over a month. (Yes, there is live rock 30 lb and live sand 3" and no skimmer since it's a 24G nano.)
 
jamie814

jamie814

Member
Well look at it this way doing a 50% water change will cut your levels only in half. That is why you should use some Amquel+ in the meantime to protect what you have in the tank and continue to do small water changes every few days. Cost about $10 online but I'm guessing in a LFS it will be around $20 for a 16oz bottel wich will be plenty for you. It's pretty common I know ***** sells it.
"Amquel+ protects fishes and invertebrates by eliminating Nitrite, Nitrate and all forms of Ammonia, Chloramines and Chlorine. Amquel+ does not interfere with the biological cycle. Amquel+ functions equally will in fresh or salt water. Amquel+ removes fishes toxic pheromones and toxic organics. Amquel+ does not affect the waters pH. Amquel + is safe to use in reef andlive rock aquariums."
 
auntkaren

auntkaren

Member
Jamie, your info on how much water to change makes great sense! I will do a bit of research before I buy ammonia, nitrite and nitrate neutralizers and see which I need to purchase. Your Kordon's Amquel + will be the first one I check out!
Y'all have been really helpful Thanks to all of you!
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
Amquel simply masks the Am, it's supposed use is to detoxify ammonia. however it's really a waste, it only encapsulates the ammonia and unless it is removed all together through water changes it will always be a problem and you also must find the source of the problem, like you mentioned, excessive feeding has caused this event. I would do another large water change, run some carbon and then use a bottle of Fritz-Zyme#9 or other source of bacteria. The Fritz-Zyme#9 will actually supply you with a good dose of bacteria that will speed up the cycle or assist with establishing a larger bacteria colony to bring down the Am. If it's a critical situtation and the fish are doomed, do a water change and then dose with amquel, but only as a last resort.If your running a skimmer, it's gona go nuts.
 
auntkaren

auntkaren

Member
We've done a 30% water change total. The Nitrite and Ammonia are down to acceptable levels. The nitrates are still at 8 though. What's up with that? I've retested twice actually and the reading is always the same... 8. The pH is on the low side at 78 but we are fixing that with a buffer cube. The critters all seem to be happy and are eating and all are their old active selves. I'm grateful that the fish are chromis or we would probably have sick fishes.
Any one have any opinion or suggestion as to why the nitrates remain high?
 
mcsd22

mcsd22

Member
In my poinion, nitrates are always the last t come down and the slowest. Keep on with the water changes and stay away from any type of nitrite or ammo lock type products. They can't do anything that you can't do by changing water. If your spike was from over feeding, how often do you feed? What is your fish stock? How much food and what type are you feeding?
 
jessecnc

jessecnc

Member
You're on the right track. Remember, never add anything you don't absolutely have to.
Dillution is the solution to pollution!
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
I was having some problems with nitrates and it was driving me nuts, I'm pretty methodical about feeding, cleaning etc...Then I finally found the source, I have a HOB overflow and it has a tube filter/prefilter inside the overflow, before it goes to sump, You can't see it and never would know it's there unless you stoood over the tank and looked down (black back tank) sure enough, yanked it out & rinsed it in a bucket of tank water, it was so filthy that it turned the water black. Then I found another source, I'm using a converted wet/dry as a sump fuge and the cover over the bio-balls or rather that plate with the holes drilled in it had a mesh pad (10x10), I left it in place but had forgotten about it, sure enough it blackend the water also, now trates, fish and the owner is really happy
 
auntkaren

auntkaren

Member
Maxalmon, our system isn't that elaborate but you did make me think about the sponges and ceramics in the bottom of the filtration area we cleaned out the sponges and removed the ceramics (at least temporarily). Since the other levels are coming back down we will do another 10% tomorrow that will make a total of 40% all said and done. Boy are we learning on this little tank and grateful it's not a huge one to harm so much more! All the critters crabs, shrimp, snails and 2 little chromis are faring well. We will just keep on checking more often and better and we will be sure to clean the sponges each week too. We really don't want to add any supplements or "cleansers" to get rid of nitrates so we will keep trying water changes and see what happens.
Thank each one of you for your input it has been VERY helpful!
 
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