Nitrate troubles

[C.B. Anderson]

I have freshwater 55gal tank with just a few fish...like 8 small fish and 2 algae eaters...several plants one piece of driftwood a HOB filter with bio spools and cartridges and a medium sponge filter.  The tank is now about 6 weeks old....but the nitrates seem to test a tad high....5ppm.....I have not done water change because I don't want to mess up the cycle....the fish have been in for about 2 weeks...so am I just going to have put a lot more plants and give in to changing water or is it going to settle down at some point pretty soon.  Ammonia isn't really high...so, Im just not sure what is going on and what to do....does any of that nitrate gone stuff really work?  I use the water conditioners that the co op sells when I add water...says it helps with nitrates.....I am so paranoid ..I used to have fish tanks like 30 years ago before I knew anything about all this testing business and never lost fish or had cloudy water or any problems and now....just because I know about this stuff, I have problems....any suggestions?

[tolstoy21]

5ppm nitrates is pretty low in my book.  I wouldn’t think about changing water till you’re closing in on 20ppm. I think some people go even higher before a water change. 

Unless you mean ‘nitrites’?

[Wesley]

Can you please post all water parameters? (Temperature, PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, KH / GH)

Nitrates at 5ppm is fine and nothing to worry about. I'm not sure why you thought it would be a problem?

You just started building an ecosystem that needs to come into balance where fish waste is converted into plant food. I would suggest to read up on these articles: 
 

The Easy Guide to the Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

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Are you getting started with your first fish tank? Then you may have heard of something called the “aquarium nitrogen cycle,” followed by a bunch of complicated scientific terms and graphs that seem a little overwhelming. No...

Freshwater Fish Tank Cycling - How to Prepare for New Fish

WWW.AQUARIUMCOOP.COM

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Have you ever seen a fish in the wild living in pure, crystal clear water with no other contaminants? Probably not. That’s because life doesn’t flourish in “pristine” conditions, but rather when there’s a whole ecosystem of...

 

[Jollypop4321]

Any elevated ammonia levels in your tank will stress your fish.  When a fish is stressed it can cause your fish to be susceptible to various illnesses.  Elevated ammonia can also cause damage to gills.

A water change would be in order to ensure the health of your fish.  
 

I like to add nitrifying bacteria to my tanks when performing a large water change.  I Believe it helps keep the nitrogen cycle going without a hitch.  

[Jollypop4321]

I forgot to add that spikes in nitrates and Amonia are normal when cycling an aquarium.  when I cycled my aquariums With fish in them I performed a lot of
Water changes.  Your fish will do well if you stay on top of it.  

[C.B. Anderson]

Thanks everyone....yeah, I am talking about nitrates.  All the other readings were nice and what I call normal...or good...ph 7.6, ammonia.25  , nitrite 0 ppm ,,,yah and as I said it is my first tank since 30 years ago...and back then I didnt even worry about any of this...becoming educated has been my  enemy for now...Im sure after a while it will be my friend.  I just didnt realize things had been so complicated beck when I used to have an aquarium...I guess it was beginners luck way back when.......I might add to this...I tested my tap water and the Nitrates were just about the same as what was in the tank.  I will test it again today and see if all the water conditioners changed it after a few hours.   Thanks again to everyone.....this forum is great....(Thanks from an old lady newbie, who would think that someone 70 years old would renew a hobby like fish keeping....especially when I also have chickens and horses to care for....

[KoolFish97]

It sounds like your system is still cycling. Ammonia really would be 0 in a matured aquarium that is cycled and would only be present if still maturing or a problem has occured. 

The 5ppm nitrate is bugger all. You can have it reach unbelievably high levels (higher than you can test) before it has a negative effect on fish but it's defiantly a good indicator for water changing and for keeping low to control algae growth. 

If you have plants I'd actually say aim for 20 ppm nitrate always to feed them. If you don't have any plants I'd try to keep it as low as possible. But don't chase a number just keep it reasonably low. Maybe for you that's 20 others it's 10 etc. It's just about how quickly algae will growth. 

Tap water can have nitrates ammonia etc. Always good to just see what your working with in your water also to keep it as a baseline of what to expect. 

Just keep at it and watch that your ammonia only goes down not up as even small doses really can upset fish may not kill them but can damage gills/organs etc. This isn't to scare you just to advise you to let it keep going down before you add more. 

Many nutrients don't show much change with our tests for around 16-36 hours as it's the growth rate of the bacterias that control those waste products. So just test every day or 2 days to get the trends. Don't panic yourself it's just to check how it's travelling and keeping an eye out for anything major. Remember as said in this thread your building an ecosystem not just a tank so this is part of it and your learning your own home made one.

Keep at it as Cory has said many times before the aquarium hobby is for everyone and we welcome you back  and want to keep that passion growing. 

[C.B. Anderson]

Thank you so much.  I posted over on the Facebook group....and then came back to the website and saw your answer here.  But what you say helps....I just panicked I guess...I will just keep tracking and not panicking.....I really appreciate help.  And yeah....Cory is so great....I have watched so many....if not almost all.....of his videos.  So much info.  Thanks again so much for answering.

[C.B. Anderson]

well, I just realized all the answers come to the same place.....Im learning.....thanks yall

[tolstoy21]

55 minutes ago, C.B. Anderson said:

yah and as I said it is my first tank since 30 years ago...and back then I didnt even worry about any of this...becoming educated has been my  enemy for now

Yup. Paralysis by analysis. I kept goldfish and turtles when I was a kid in the 70s. I don't think I even knew what a test was then, or 'cycling'. Just had a tank with nothing but a plastic box filter and the fish did well and lived for years in my recollection. My mom used to marvel at how long they lived.

In all things these days, we can definitely get too mired down and fixated on all the minutia and gadgets and forget to just keep things simple and enjoy.

55 minutes ago, C.B. Anderson said:

I might add to this...I tested my tap water and the Nitrates were just about the same as what was in the tank.

The nitrates coming out of my tap are about 40ppm. I have well water and I get runoff ferts from a long running golf course behind me. So it's not unusual to have that going on. (I have my well water tested professionally every other year, as I live in a VERY polluted state, and I'm one of a few homes in my town to still have a well. But those tests are for the humans, not the fish).

That level of nitrates in your water are fine and nothing to worry about. Nitrates in ground water are not uncommon in agricultural areas, if that's your situation. 

As for ammonia, my API test kit always appear to read .25 ammonia to me, even on pure RO water. I think others have reported this phenomenon as well. It's nothing to worry over, in my opinion. 

Edited October 19, 2020 by tolstoy21