Large Water Change

[Trigger780]

Heres what's going on, A family member has a 55gallon setup for a few years now,with very few Ihabitants.

there Nitrates are crazy High and maxed out the Salifert test at 100PPM(No Idea how it got like that). They want too put there Few fish into my tank and do a 100% water change.

How harmful too the benficial bacteria will this be?

 

[RcToners]

I am suprised the fish are alive at that level. A 100% water change is not going to do much as far as bacteria, most of your bacteria is attatched to the rock and sand and in comparison the bacteria in the water is laughable. They are obviously going to need to figure out what is causing the high levels but at this point the most important thing is a huge water change. I would personaly do a 100% water change but i am sure some people will pop in here and say maybe a 50% then another 50% or something.

 

[Trigger780]

Yes Im surprised aswell that the fish are not dead. I also didnt think there would be much harm in doing a 100% water change as her fish stay in my tank for a few weeks while everything stabilizes again. but thought I should ask Just in case.. Thanks

 

[Rich1427]

retest with another kit i would leave the fish there and just do a 30% water change then retest if still high do another 30% in a couple of days if you do 100% you have to wait for the tank to recycle again

 

[DC_40gallon]

I'd do a 20 gallon water change then a 10 gallon water change every 3-5 days for 5 more water changes.

You'll have that tank looking flawless in a month.

 

[Rich1427]

one other thing if only a couple of fish probably overfeeding and what is used for filtration sump with bioballs?

 

[Trigger780]

I doubt the Kit is off, I used my own Salifert Test which is new. I tested my tank afterwards and it came back at 2PPM. If i remember correctly she has, 2 percular clowns a few blue devil damsels and two bangai with snails and hermits

Unfortuantly her tank is sumpless, Just a canister filter which is only used for flow and the canister is empty.

 

[dzfish17]

Some fish will acclimate to high levels of nitrate, I would do 50% now and keep checking. You can shock the fish by changing to much to fast. Make sure that the make up water is the same salinity and temp as the tank water.

 

[Trigger780]

I plan on keeping her fish In my tank while we get her tank under control.

 

[Rich1427]

any live rock in tank? i would talk her into a hang on the back fuge that will keep nitrates down in the future

 

[dzfish17]

Sorry, I didnt get that. I quess what Im trying to say is that some fish dont handle quick changes in water quality.

They may get in youre tank and get stressed out and show up with ick. I dont think I would move them, just do some gradual water changes like everyone suggested. Thats just my opionion.

Dave

 

[louie07]

Most fish can handle higher nitrate levels. It may not be optimum, but they can deal with it. Regular water changes will help, and a sump with chaeto or other algae will work wonders once you get it under control. Inverts are the most sensitive to nitrates.

 

[Jstdv8]

I'd also retest, and make sure you time it at exactly 5 minutes when it says wait 5 minutes (Or whatever yours says) This does make a difference.
And I would do a series of 5 25% water changes every 3-4 days, Like DC said, you can have the tank running perfect in a month.
The downside to doing huge water changes is that some o the perameters may not be exactly like the waer coming out which could cause things to go into shock in the tank and die off.
I don't know about the fish but I bet your inverts arent happy if your test truely is 100

 

[Trigger780]

Sorry, I didnt get that. I quess what Im trying to say is that some fish dont handle quick changes in water quality.

They may get in youre tank and get stressed out and show up with ick. I dont think I would move them, just do some gradual water changes like everyone suggested. Thats just my opionion.

Dave

Thats what I was worried about, Mabey it is best just too keep them in there own tank and tell them too do a series of small water changes.

 

[RcToners]

if you do 100% you have to wait for the tank to recycle again

Rich,

I am curious as to what your reasoning for this belief is?
Are you saying that the shock of new water would cause die off and a recycle?

 

[KafudaFish]

If the fish are not showing signs of stress than it would be easier on them just to keep them there and do multiple WCs like others suggested.

Fish can handle higher levels and some tanks report even higher than 100 ppm.

Things to think about are why are they in that range and what are the odds those levels will return over time?

Also look at their equipment as well. They may need to improve some of it.

If the tank is several years old and has a sand bed be careful not to disturb too much of it in case there is any anoxic layers that could cause more hard than good.

Finally if your rock is older it may have build up. Take a turkey baster or a small powerhead to them and see and then do a WC.

Remember only bad things can happen when you go too fast or do too much at once.

 

[lordofthereef]

I would be more inclined to think your tests are bad. How old are they?

That said, I don't think a water change would hurt anything assuming you got the params matched with what your current tank has. If you nitrates really are as high as you say, I wouldn't doubt your params are off in the tank as well. Something to consider.

 

[Palting]

Nothing wrong at all about a 100% water change. In fact, it is the single best thing to do for the fish and for the tank at this point.

I have personally done it for off the chart nitrates with a tank fulyy loaded with the fish in my sig. Worked wonderfull. There is nothing to this "fear of shocking fish" thing. Just make sure the water is temp, SG, and pH compatible.

Here is a link: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/nitratecontrol/ss/sbsnitratereduction.htm

 

[drew1]

I would not remove the fish. 100 ppm for FO tanks is not unheard of. Just do a series of 5-10 gallon water changes and they'll be fine and the nitrate level will get to a more reasonable level (it will take time, but getting them that high took time too). And then she needs to get in the habit of regular maintenance. I'm guessing that weekly water changes have been ignored for a while. My 55 FOWLR tank was off the charts with nitrates not too long ago. I'm now at, or close to, 0. All fish look healthy and happy, and I'm now back to 10% water change per week.

 

[jeff@zina.com]

Large, even 100%, water changes don't really cause any problems for fish, as long as temp and pH are identical. I'd be more inclined to do three or four 30-50% changes to be safer, but a 100% change works fine.

One technique would be to put the fish in a 5 gallon bucket of half tank water, half new water (an air stone wouldn't hurt...). If they are fine after an hour, dump all the water from the main tank, refill with new and acclimate the fish to it with a drip over several hours.

Jeff