HELP!!! NO3 levels shot up through the roof!

[Linkisnotzelda]

I’ve had my axolotl for about six months, and have had a very successful aquarium that is heavily planted and cleaned by myself, ghost shrimp, and a healthy population of limpets. My PH is around 7.5, GH around 180 (pretty sure harder water is good for axies), and KH around 80. I have 0 ammonia, .5 nitrite, but recently my nitrate shout up to over a 100 ppm. My axolotl appears healthy, and he acts normal. The only thing I’m a bit worried about is that his tail is losing a bit of pigment and developing shiny white spots. What should I do to lower the nitrate levels, and what could be causing it? The only problems I’ve had recently is a slight green algae bloom and slight fluctuations in temperature, as it gets around 67 in the day and drops to 61 in the night (I open my window to cool down my room for the next day). Luckily, soon he will be moved to the basement, so temperature should no longer be a problem. Here’s some pictures of him, his tail, the tank (due to be cleaned in a couple of days). Please let me know what I should do!

 

[Axolotl Queen]

Hi, thanks for reaching out. In order to work out what the best course of action is can I ask what your current tank parameters are? The white spots that he is developing could be part of his design coming through as they can develop more patterns with age or it could also be signs of a fungal infection. Water changes will help lower your nitrates but will need to know your current parameters to judge how big a water change you will need to do.

 

[Linkisnotzelda]

Upon doing further research, I’ve learned that what I've been using (those cheap test strips) are known for being super inconsistent. Besides the water parameters I mentioned earlier, I don't have any other info. His white spots he's had since I got him, but they have been growing, which concerned me a bit. I've recently spent a bunch of money getting ready to breed shrimp, and I don't really have a lot of wiggle room to buy one of those huge aquarium parameter test kits. I've been using a fan lately, so my water evaporates, making water changes less of an actual change and more of a top off... could that be the problem? Thanks for your feedback!

 

[Murk]

Yeah, if you've been doing less water changes than usual, it makes sense that your nitrates have gone up. This is consistent with an increase in green algae.
There are basically only two ways to remove nitrates:
- To remove the water they're in
- To let plants eat them

You have plants, but unless you see lots of plant growth, they're probably not growing fast enough to use up all the nitrates. Hence, algae will come in to use the excess nitrates instead.

The white spots on the tail seem harmless (but of course keep an eye on it).
You could do a 50% water change (that would lower the nitrates to 50ppm, which is fine), but I think the ghost shrimp wouldn't like that. Maybe you'd be better off doing a 25% change now and another one in a week or so. That should be plenty.

Also also: I'm happy to see an axolotl tank with lots of live plants! Usually, a lot of plants would prevent any nitrate problems - are they relatively new? Do you see lots of growth? What kind of lighting do you use (and how long each day)?

 

[Linkisnotzelda]

I’ve done more research on the test strips I’ve been using, and they are known to read either 0 or max in nitrates. I don’t want to take any chances, so I’ll go ahead and do a 50% water change. Most of my ghost shrimp have been transferred to a breeding tank, so I’m not worried about that aspect.
I’m glad you like my plants! I love them because they help with water quality and are more natural habitat wise. Most of those plants have been in the tank since January, before I got Oaki. Some of them I’ve raised from bulbs, but all of them have grown considerably! I still have to “prune” them pretty regularly, but not as much recently, partly because Oaki is really hard on them and uproots anything in sight, as well as chewing on leaves and spitting them out like tobacco or something! My lighting choices also has to do with algae outbreaks, as I leave the lights on at night with the lowest red and blue setting (I love to watch him as I’m going to bed, and he comes over and watches me). They are special plant-growth LED lights that are adjustable in both intensity and color. This does create a bit more algae, so I do an algae clean every other day and feed a bit of it the shrimp in the breeding tank. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to create a natural, well planted tank that can manage self manage nitrates when I leave for a week on vacation. I’ve probably been too thorough, but I take my role as Oaki’s owner very seriously and want the best for him!
*here’s a picture of his tank right before I got him. I had to get rid of the pot because he never used it and my plants went nuts!