Hi guys ,

well my tap water is very high in nitrAtes , and i cant lower it !!!!!!!!!!!

I tried to keep water in a bucket for 2/3 days,it didnt help.

I tried using bottled water,it didnt help and i was told that it might be dangerous because it could contain sodium !

I tried using nitrate minus,it didnt help ....

My local fish shop do not have this RO water...

So what now ?????? Does that mean we can not keep fish ?

Please help me,this fish tank was set up for 5 & 4 year old kids ... ???

Anyone ?????

Put a whole lot of plants into the tank. Check with your water company as to why you have such high nitrates. How high is it by the way?

__________________
SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

Fast growing plants will help.

If you can't buy bottled water (can get pricey over time), then you could always try ordering some Nitrazorb. For your small tank you only need the small pouch, (which is around $10.) It lasts for approximately 2 months. I'm using it in my 10g tank and will be using it in my 20g and 36g when they have cycled.

I'm also using AmQuel Plus. It's supposed to detoxify any ammonia, nitrite or nitrate that are in your tank. So, it will lower the levels and make them less toxic. I bought an 8oz bottle for around $10.

So far, I'm using those 3 methods for my tank, (plants, Nitrazorb and AmQuel) and my nitrates are under 40ppm. Usually around 20-30ppm.

__________________
20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

tank is planted... bottled water tried....

nitrazorb,how much does it help Holly ??

my tap water is 40-80 ppm .

these figures long term dont do any good... from what i been told.,

plants been there for a while... before fishless cycle started.
And what could possibly water company say ? i mean i can give them a ring,but how do i react to whatever they say ? what answers am i lookiing for ? what do i say to them ?

Well, my tap water has 80ppm and using the Nitrazorb takes it down to about 30ppm. I've just started using AmQuel as well, just to see if I can get the levels lower.
It's made enough of a difference that I can keep Oto Cats, where as without the Nitrazorb, they always died on me. (Sensitive fish...)

__________________
20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

I have had great success using Seachem's Matrix and Purigen together. I brought down the nitrates from 80+ to 5 without water changes in about 2 months.

It would be a good idea to have two purigen pouches, so that you can alternate them. I had a huge nitrate spike when a fish died while I was recharging a purigen pouch, alhough the levels are coming down fairly repidly now that I have replaced the pouch.

And I know, shame on me for not doing frequent water changes.

how many and what type of plants exactly?

if you just have like 3 or 4 small plants, the effect will not even be noticed. but if you have enough, they will eat up all of the nitrates. my ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates all stay at 0 and never budges because of all the plants in my 30 gallon. Java Ferns (Lace and regular), Anacharis (3 bunches, each 10-15 shoots), Argentine Swords (about 10 of them scattered around the tank), a single Amazon Sword, Apongetons (6 or 7 main bulbs, and about 5 new plantlets that have spawned off of those), and what I think is the biggest nitrate eater is the Westeria; it's growing now as kind of a "bush" made up of about 5 small clippings (well, started off as small about 2 weeks ago, but now it's reaching all the way from the back of the tank to the front)

__________________


My 30 gallon planted freshwater - CONSTANTLY CHANGING

Thank you

These are plants in my tank :

5 x Aponogeton natans , ( small )
7 x Java Ferns,
2 x Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite' , ( small)
10 x marimo moss balls ,
5 x Elodea Densa ,
Hornwort,
2 x Nymphaea rubra red lily ,(small)
10 x Ludwigia repens .

I am kind of limited because i only got one 15w light , some plants wont grow in such a low light . and the tank is only 60x30x30 cm .

I could fit few more plants in it,will have a look at westeria .

Plant wise, I would be a little concerned with these two for what you have going on in your tank.

I'm sure the Hornwort is loving your high nitrAtes. Another good plant to use but can get big if you don't keep it in check is Ceratopteris thalictroides (Water Sprite). It's a nitrAte sponge as well.

You do have quite a bit of plants in there. Kinda surprised that they aren't keeping the nitrAtes down.

The reading you took, was that out of the tap or in the tank? Can you provided readings for both?

Seems like the majority are slow or medium growers. The more stems you have in there the better. Ambulia is a good one. Wisteria another. Cabomba maybe. They will have to be kept pruned, but not overly so. More ludwigia will work....I could send you a ton if you weren't in the UK.

Usually when nitrates are that high from the tap there is some problems in the water lines. I had that problem once. Called the water company and they did some investigating of the problem and found where there was some organic matter leaching into the lines in the neighborhood. They finally found the area where it was happening and had to replace lines. It happens a lot in older areas where the main lines are older and actually in need of replacement.

After the lines were fixed, I never had that problem again.

__________________
SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

You might want to check your phosphate levels as well. If both nitrates and phosphates are high, dosing your tank with sugar will help provide a source of organic carbon, and the three (nitrates, phosphates, and organic carbon) will feed bacteria that consumes all three. Not sure what their byproduct is, but I'll see if I can dig up the article one of the other posters on here gave me on the subject...

Here it is:
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

__________________
Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Thank you all

Been in a pets shop today,bought 2 more plants,but not sure what the are called,even staff at the shop didnt know , lol
Could you please help me with this .

I did have water sprite,but got rid of it,because it got too big ...

I also bought "Aqua-detox" , says "Nitra-zorb" inside , so thats the one that Holly been using

Attached Images

	DSC02740.JPG (59.2 KB, 8 views)
	DSC02741.JPG (53.4 KB, 7 views)

I've never seen those plants before. Were they underwater at the store you bought them from? They might not be aquatic plants....

__________________
Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Incandescent or flourescent?

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

As I understand this your are doing a fishless cycle with plants and have nitrates.


As you dump ammonia in the there the plants will consume ammonia and get all the nitrogen they need from that ammonia. And not consume nitrates.

Then as the tank matures bacteria reduces the ammonia and the plants start getting thier nitrogen from nitrates. At that point nitrates will drop.

the nitrates will come from the bioload (even ammonia you add) almost exclusively and not from your input water. With sufficient plant life nitrates will read 0 regardless of the input water. Which is further helped by not doing water changes as well.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

Yes they were under water .



Guys what to do when plants get too high ?

Some of my plants grow too fast ... already got rid of water sprite , it was taking over my tank,and my elodea densa & hornwort are growing very fast aswell , but as they dont have roots i just cut them from the bottom , is that how it should be done ? But with water sprite it had big roots,so i didnt know what to do with it ..

Thank you

Its Flourescent light . Fishless cycle finished , got fish in it now . Added 5 neon tetras last week,2 of them died,so added 6 more today .