High nitrate and low ammonia?

A

anne-marie

Guest
I have had this problem in my axolotl tank for ages!!! It is a 120 L tank, two corner foam filters, two mature axolotls living in it and they seem to be happy. No problem you say? Well - the nitrate checks in at around 40 ppm, the pH at around 8, No ammonia at all (although I did a water change yesterday) and no Carbonate Hardness. I am stumped. Any ideas?
 
sounds to me like its cycled. i was going to say that might be the prob. maybe the nitrate is eating the amonia (or however it works) but not producing much nitrite becuase its feeding lots, thats the only thing i can think of. some of the more experianced people will probably know whats wrong
 
The cycle works this way: waste-ammonia-nitrite-nitrate.

Since nitrate is the end of the line, as more and more ammonia/nitrite are metabolised, more nitrate builds up. Normally, live plants help with this by feeding on the excess nitrates and phosphates in the water, but in a home aquarium most people use plastic scenery. 40ppm isn't deadly, but you can lower it by doing more water changes. 10-25% weekly should be enough to keep things at around 20ppm. From what I've been told/read, there isn't enough info out there on what levels of nitrate are actually harmful. Maybe someone else here will know of some studies?
 
Level of toxicity of nitrate depends on the animal in question and the temperature of water. Thats why theres not enough info, because there are lots of variables in each individual case. Considering an axies natural environment and their low temp reqirement, I'd say 40ppm is probably below their tolerance levels. However, you really want your nitrate to be as low as humanly possible. With the addition of a few live plants you can get you nitrate down to an unmeasurable point (even without water changes). I'd suggest adding some Hygrophilia spp. (Hygrophilia deformis is my favourite). They grow ungodly fast, sucking up all excess nutrients, nitrate, and CO2 as they do so. Not only will they keep your nitrate down, but they will stop most algae from growing. And they will provide more hiding places for your axies, and look really nice.}
 
I agree with what the others have said. I wouldn't worry about the nitrate. However, I wonder how it's possible to have pH 8 and no carbonate hardness. High pH and hardness usually go hand-in-hand. Are you doing anything to manipulate the pH or anything else about the water chemistry?
 
You beat me to it Jen,

Also plants prefer ammonia over nitrate, but this will also help with the nitrate levels as less will be available to be converted to nitrate.
Ed
 
Wow! Lots of useful advice - thanks guys. I think I will try some plants in the tank then. Jennifer, I am not quite sure what you mean by manipulating the pH but I'm not doing anything unusual or adding anything other than water conditioner at change time. Maybe my test kit is just old?
 
You may be getting a false reading from your Carbonate Hardness test kit. Check the expiry date. Also, is there any driftwood in your tank? Certain kinds of wood can alter the pH of your water indepenently of your Carbonate Hardness. Wood the raises your pH is generally bad for your fishtank, but sometimes get sold because they tend to be cheaper. Also, I'd check the pH of the water you are using before it goes into the tank. It may be coming in at a slightly acid level.
 
Hi Brian,
Wood usually releases tannins which are a weak organic acid that would lower the pH.

Ed
 
Yes, most wood drops the pH, but I've seen other woods sold in pet stores that would raise it, and sometimes people gather wood from outdoors without thinking about what it will do to their water chemistry. I've seen people using cedar in their tank.
 
how do you make the wood sink....i have been soaking it now for 5 days and it still floats. do i have to weigh it sown? i thought it should have just sunk after soaking for a few days?

you may have guessed by now that i havnt used wood before...
 
ahhh i had some wood that was pre sunk and it was out of the water for a week and its still not sunk after two weeks, ive put rocks on top of it to hold it down. on the other hand i had a big piece that was pre sunk too and that was out of the water for about a month and sunk after two days. i think it depends on the type of wood
 
While we're on the subject of wood, has anyone ever used large chunks of grapevine in a tank before? It's something new they got in my lfs as a cheaper alternative to mopani wood. I've been soaking it in a bucket for almost 2 months now (took about 3 weeks to become completely water-logged), and it still seems to be leeching tannins and a oily residue into the water. I'm thinking this stuff may be just unsuitable for use under water. Anyone have any experience?
 
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