api test kit says high nitrates...

[acanfor420]

In my 40gal breeder tank tonight my nitrates tested at about 160 the darkest of reds.
Did a 10 gal water change and now i'm pushing 80ish according to test...
But dip test says its more like 40...
How soon is it gonna be safe to do another 10gal water change??
or should i do smaller daily water changes til nitrates get back in check? ph is 7.8
after water change. Didnt add any balance to raise ph. Will recheck all parameters in the am
Water parameters before 10 gal water change was
sal 1.025
ph 7.8-8.0
alk 10
nit 160

thanks

 

[Nibejeebies]

im going to ask a question and please dont take this as an insult, but are you sure you are preforming the test correct and reading the test correct?

The API tests are great in a pinch, but there accuracy leaves very very very much to be desired. I have one laying here that I'll used from time to time; but last week I tested with API and turned around and used my Red Sea and my Nyos. API was showing more than 40ppm more than the other two.

I would suggest taking a water sample to a LFS and get them to test it to ensure.

Also... check the glass vial once its had time to dry, look closely. Is there anything that appears to be a white power? If so splash some vinegar and shake it up pretty good, repeat this a few times, then rinse multiple times with fresh RODI water. alow to air dry and then repeat the test.

Also Are you using RODI water or de-chlorinated tap? That could also be a a cause if your using unfiltered water.

Whats your livestock look like and your feeding schedule?

 

[tankaholic]

No offense taken...accurate to my best ability. Time the 30sec shake of #2 bottle...and timed the 1min shake...then the 5min bake time.
Get all water from lfs
As for livestock....some live rock 5-10lbs, ghost shrimp, peppermint shrimp,snails and hermits rest is frag tank basically

 

[tankaholic]

Going to retest everything with red sea kit I have before I do another water change.

 

[tankaholic]

How much and how often would it be safe to do water change?

 

[Nibejeebies]

do you feed this tank at all? Based on no fish, it seems like it shouldn't have that high nitrates...

 

[Nibejeebies]

Well I would wait for at least 24 hours, you could do a 40% fairly safely once every 48-72 hours. You can do three of those back to back, will take a week and a half but that should drop them significantly

 

[tankaholic]

Yes I feed tank every couple days a mix of things...fuel,reef chili, and this German drop stuff oh and reef roids...

 

[tankaholic]

I am using a hang on back filter...tank will be a yr old oct/novish...

 

[Nibejeebies]

how often are you feeding? if its a frag tank, I would back off the feeding to maybe once a week until you can get the nitrates under control. Do you have life rock in this system?

 

[tankaholic]

And it showed ammonia in the green...added some ammonia pads just in case but will do a full workup with the red sea kit. And will also take water sample to lfs for 2nd opinion

 

[Nibejeebies]

did something die recently?

 

[tankaholic]

Don't think so...like I said livestock was about 6 ghost shrimps, 1 peppermint shrimp, 2-3 trousers snails,maybe 3 or 4 turbo snails and just added 4 or 5 hermits...rest is coral no fish

 

[Nibejeebies]

you might could also try some seachem Prime, it will detoxify the nitrate and bind up the ammonia but it wont actually get rid of it until you preform a water change. Do a 40% and retest if its still ungodly high, I would dose the prime for a day or two then another 40% WC and repeat until the nitrates are at a more desirable level... >10

 

[shoelaceike]

The API ammonia test will not match the card for 0. It will have a slight green tint to it. It's quite unlikely that an established aquarium will have ammonia.

I have always found API to be pretty accurate on everything.

 

[Nibejeebies]

unless some form of contaminate made its way into the tank un noticed and ravaged the bacterial population.

The slight green tint is very very hard to notice with proper lighting.

I use daytime CFL lights, they are a crisp clean looking light with out a yellow tent, and when i test with API for ammonia its never shown anything but complete yellow (0).

I don't think the amount he has causes alarm, but it is a concern. Prime of course is a chemical and natural remedies should be attempted before resorting to chemicals, but it would speed up the process at this point for him

 

[shoelaceike]

Mine always looks slightly green.

 

[lazlodawg]

I'm pretty sceptical that the test results you got were in any way accurate. If you had a reading of 160ish, it would have taken a 50% water change to bring your nitrates to 80. They're probably still really high, but if you don't have accurate measurements, you don't have the information you need to perform the proper corrective measures. Next step = buy a new test kit.