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Someone Help High Nitrates!!!

zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
Hey guys. I have a problem.

I checked my nitrate yesterday on my 29 gallon. It has 3" of sand on the bottom, and 6" of water on top of it. (The set up is for a dual betta-breeding operation) It was at 25!!!!! I changed out 50% and checked back today, and it's still at 25!!! It has no filter running so not to disturb the water, but still! What can I do? I am going to fill it up and cut it down to about 4".

Thanks!
 
JasonC

JasonC

Members
25ppm isn't all that high for nitrate. If your fish are not stressing, I would not worry too much about it. If you want, throw in some guppy grass, water wisteria or duckweed to help soak it up.
 
Forester

Forester

Members
When I got home from a long trip the nitrate had gotten up to 80 ppm and none of my fish died. I'm not saying that that high is okay but if you're fish aren't stressing it should be fine.
 
zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
Oh. Well, this is EXACTLY why I use the forums. Baby bettas usually don't do well at all in unhealthy water. I will do daily changes still for this tank because of the lack of filtration. Thanks guys!
 
hollyfish2000

hollyfish2000

Members
If I read this correctly, you don't have much volume of water, so that will concentrate the nitrate much more than if you have more water. You could add more water (dilutes the nitrate), cut back on feeding or just keep up the water changes.
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
Is there a chance that your nitrate test is faulty? I know with the API testers, bottle 2 needs to be very well shaken to get an accurate result.
 
Tony

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
25! pfff....

Don't want to tell you how high my 180 Malawi gets between changes, lol.

You're fine. Keep doing what you're doing (and reduce the amount of sand like Andrew said).
 
Becca

Becca

Members
Are you on well water? Might be in your water.

Also, thick sand can be an ideal medium for decaying food, poop, etc. to get stuck in, which could up your nitrates. Is there a reason you're not breeding in a bare-bottom tank?
 
zackcrack00

zackcrack00

Members
Yes, I am on well water, but it ranges from 3-6 ppm. Thanks for all of the replies! And Becca, my mom would have a cow and a flock of chickens if I spilled A PINCH of sand on her floor.
 
D

DougGosnell

Members
It is not, especially for babies. I can thank the Dept of Agriculture for this. I did see some interesting experimentation going on with reducing this on a more regional scale but do not think that much will be done in my lifetime.
 
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