80 ppm nitrates?

[ozorowsky]

Hi all, I had ich, had to move my fish from DT to QT.

That said, my ammonia is about 0, but nitrates reading 80ppm in QT. My QT is 40 gallons but I'm changing 5 gallons per day to try to bring this down.

My nitrates ARE too high for QT right? Any tips on how to bring these down/anything I should do?

THe fish are all acting normal and healthy in there, but I can't figure out whats up with nitrates in QT.

Any help?

 

[geaux xman]

80ppm nitrates in a QT tank is a non-issue. I wouldnt even waste time testing it as fish arent bothered by nitrates unless its at some absurd level(think well over 200ppm).

If you insist on dropping it, a couple of 10g WC should get you down to about 45-50ppm.

A 10g WC once a week would help in keeping water quality up in QT.

 

[Irenicus]

Just keep doing daily water changes in the QT. Maybe do a 20 gallon change to knock a dent in it.

 

[ozorowsky]

Just keep doing daily water changes in the QT. Maybe do a 20 gallon change to knock a dent in it.

So the concensus here is if I do a 5 gallon water change every 2 days my QT should be fine right?

My fish all seem SUPER happy in there; I'm giving them a few weeks in copper treatment so they don't wake up with ich in the main tank.

 

[b0bab0ey]

So the concensus here is if I do a 5 gallon water change every 2 days my QT should be fine right?

My fish all seem SUPER happy in there; I'm giving them a few weeks in copper treatment so they don't wake up with ich in the main tank.

Remember to add more copper after each WC to maintain your copper level. But, as stated above, 80ppm Nitrates is a non-issue for fish.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Remember to add more copper after each WC to maintain your copper level. But, as stated above, 80ppm Nitrates is a non-issue for fish.

Yeah; Nitrates are not toxic to fish like it is to inverts. I'm sure this myth got started when reef-keeping became possible with LR. IMO, going to extra work because of nitrates at 80ppm is a total waste of energy. I'm not advocating extremely high nitrates in any tank, because that's simply a sign of poor housekeeping. Wholesalers and dealers often have fish-only systems with nitrates in the hundreds, even thousands of ppm with no ill effects (from Bob Fenner). That said, nitrate at 80 ppm in a QT does indicate that its probably time for a WC anyhow.
I'd like 10% of the money that's spent by owners of fish-only tanks trying to keep nitrates at reef-tank levels.

 

[ozorowsky]

Yeah; Nitrates are not toxic to fish like it is to inverts. I'm sure this myth got started when reef-keeping became possible with LR. IMO, going to extra work because of nitrates at 80ppm is a total waste of energy. I'm not advocating extremely high nitrates in any tank, because that's simply a sign of poor housekeeping. Wholesalers and dealers often have fish-only systems with nitrates in the hundreds, even thousands of ppm with no ill effects (from Bob Fenner). That said, nitrate at 80 ppm in a QT does indicate that its probably time for a WC anyhow.
I'd like 10% of the money that's spent by owners of fish-only tanks trying to keep nitrates at reef-tank levels.

So for my QT, should I mainly watch ammonia? I have an ammo meter and I have done tests and my ammonia is sitting solidly at 0

 

[MrTuskfish]

So for my QT, should I mainly watch ammonia? I have an ammo meter and I have done tests and my ammonia is sitting solidly at 0

You're fine.

 

[ozorowsky]

You're fine.

Cool. Thanks so much everyone