What Causes Nitrates In Aquarium Water

Change 5 to 10 of aquarium water every hour.

What causes nitrates in aquarium water.

First perform water changes with dechlorinated water to reduce the nitrite level. In the united states drinking water may have nitrates as high as 40 parts per million ppm. Assuming there is 40 ppm of nitrate before a 20 water change 80 or 32 ppm will remain post water change. Nitrate occurs naturally in your aquarium as a byproduct of the breakdown of waste be it feces uneaten food or decaying organic matter.

If your nitrate levels are above say 10 or 15 parts per million ppm you ve got some stuff to do. What you are essentially doing is diluting the amount of nitrites that are present in your aquarium. This will cause the levels of nitrites to increase. Performing a water change will buy time until you can use another method listed below to get your nitrites under control.

If you use tap water for your water change test for nitrates before putting it in your tank. Reliable nitrate readings can be quickly and easily obtained using a quality test kit such as the api nitrate fresh and salt water aquarium test kit. Do not use iodized table salt. Changing more than 20 of the water per week will affect the colonies of bacteria in the tank.

When too much is present in your tank s water this chemical compound can be toxic to your fish and other life. The addition of a half ounce 1 tablespoon of salt per gallon of water will prevent methemoglobin toxicity by blocking the nitrite absorption through the fish s gills. You are swapping out nitrite filled water for water that is nitrite free. If high levels of nitrates are found consider using a different water source like reverse osmosis ro water.

Additionally tap water used to fill the aquarium may contain nitrate in it. These are essential to transform toxic ammonia and nitrites into nitrates. In reality however water changes are more of a nitrate dilution then removal. How to remove aquarium nitrate.

That being said to fix the high nitrate levels in your aquarium water follow these exact steps. Nitrate adsorbing filter media and anaerobic denitrifying biofilters will remove dissolved nitrate but they will do nothing to eliminate the cause of the problem. A common practice used to lower aquarium nitrates is the water change. Before adding water to your aquarium test it for nitrate to discover if the levels are unusually high in your water source.

Any aquarium salt or marine salt mix can be used. When you remove a volume of water from your aquarium you remove all the nitrate in that volume. To lower excess levels of nitrate doing a water change is necessary to physically get rid of the contamination in the quickest possible way. The simplest solution is a water change.