Okay, I'm quickly becoming confused. The more I read, the more I'm uncertain first off, how high is TOO high, and how bad high NitrAtes are. Some articles say they're not bad at all, others say that new studies say they're bad period.

We just tested all our tanks, and the NitrAtes are somewhere between 40 and 80 in the 12 gallon Eclipse, with ammonia and nitrItes at 0, and ph around 7.2. We cant tell if its over 40 or under 80 becasue the orange color in the test kits is SO close to both.......

What's the danger in higher NitrAtes? And is a water change sufficent to keep it under control? I gotta say, I let that test slip sometimes because its SUCH a pain in the rear to do with the shaking of the tubes for a minute each before you add the next chemical......

We just did a 30% change in the tank, and I'll retest later.

Hi,I can see where it gets to be confusing.The best area for your Nitrates to be,is 20ppms and under.The higher your Nitrate level is,the more it kind of shows you that you're not doing quite enough of Aquarium Maintainence-whether it be not doing gravel vacs often enough,or changing water out often enough. People worry so much about Ammonia/Nitrites,and they should because they can cause quick deaths,but they kind of forget about the climbing Nitrates until they get to a place where they're having problems & they don't understand because their Ammonia/Nitrite levels are reading normal. Continuous high levels of Nitrates,can & will eventually cause serious issues with your tank.Here's an article that you can read.Maybe it will help.If you have any questions post back. Nitrates

Tinker nitrates should be around 10-20 for ideal water. Anything over 20 is setting yourself up for sick fish.
Readings over 40 can if left unchecked continue to rise and the possiblity of nitrate poisioning sets in.
High nitrates also make the fish vulnerable to SBD.

And unfortunetly water changing is the only method in keeping them under control. Live plants can help to lower it but it is minimal in doing so.

Nitrates are the good bio bugs that keep the bad ones in check so therefore they are important.........but remember to much of a good thing is sometimes a bad thing.

Thanks guys. I'm going to print out the article now and read it. We have been doing regular water changes in that tank, but somehow this got away from us fairly quickly. I'll ask more if I dont see what I need to get them down in the article. THANK YOU!!

hey Devs that's a great article u posted! i'm gonna bookmark it! thx mate

I did too, printed it and gave it to a friend!! THANK you. The water change brought me down to 20.

Yeah! That's great!

Thank you all, that article was WONDERFUL!!

Now, about those balls I saw people talking about in another thread, can those be bought in the LFS?? Are they made from some specific plants? Will goldies eat them??

Also test your tap water. We have very high levels, so even doing water changes doesn't reduce the amount very much. I bought a (very expensive) nitrate filter, but I think I've broken it, when it was working it was very good!
bw
cupoftea

They make NitrAte filters?? REALLY? How does THAT work??

I think it uses a certain bacteria that are sort of add on to the nitrogen cycle. I think their end product is nitrogen gas which just "bubbles" out of the water. So the filter is just a colonizing area for these special bacteria.

I think i got it right

Kevin