Nitrate Bit High

[faolteam]

Hadn't done a reading for a while and found a fish dead ,

Hi folks not sure if im reading this correct i find it hard to match the colour anyway i think its between 5 ppm/10ppm,

I do have the Seachem Matrix

Anyway i do a water changes once a week, im hoping that the fish didnt die with me pouring ( any tips on this ) in the new water,

I maybe a bit over feeding tank is 36x15x18,

feed then frozen brine shrimp at least 4 times a week with flake food

Any recommendations to bring this down a bit should i stop feeding ?

[Boundava]

Nitrates at that level aren't toxic to fish. Nitrites yes. Lowering the level is easily completed doing a water change and if you feel that you're overfeeding do a gravel cleaning along with your water change. You can do a large water change and gravel cleaning or you can do multiple small water changes over the course of a day. if you feel that you're overfeeding your fish most fish are okay with eating every other day or even every third day.

[faolteam]

Nitrates at that level aren't toxic to fish. Nitrites yes. Lowering the level is easily completed doing a water change and if you feel that you're overfeeding do a gravel cleaning along with your water change. You can do a large water change and gravel cleaning or you can do multiple small water changes over the course of a day. if you feel that you're overfeeding your fish most fish are okay with eating every other day or even every third day.

Everything you mention above bar the food i have done i even increased the aeration in the tank and have a sponge filter in it too, is this a good thing to do for the tank?

[Boundava]

Yes it is. Have you tested your tap water to see if it has nitrates? Sometimes you will have nitrates in your tap water before it even hits the tank. Plants can also help with nitrate issues, do you have any plants in your tank? Some people use fast growing plants like water sprite, elodia, even duckweed to help pull the nitrates out of the water. Other use fast-growing house plants to pull the nitrates out by placing the roots in the water and having the plant absorb all the nitrates from the water column. Pothos one of the plants you could use.

By the way I don't really recommend duckweed, once you have it you can never get rid of it and it spreads to other tanks like the flu. Ask me how I know...

[SueD]

Just to be clear, you are talking about nitrates, not nitrites? If it is nitrates, there is no problem at the level you're reporting. In fact, it is unusual (though not impossible) to have zero nitrates all the time. They will usually climb between water changes and are reduced at the next water change. I've had them climb as high as 40 when I slack off maintenance for a while - not a recommendation, of course. But I had no issues and brought them back down to 10-20 with water changes.

[faolteam]

Yes it is. Have you tested your tap water to see if it has nitrates? Sometimes you will have nitrates in your tap water before it even hits the tank. Plants can also help with nitrate issues, do you have any plants in your tank? Some people use fast growing plants like water sprite, elodia, even duckweed to help pull the nitrates out of the water. Other use fast-growing house plants to pull the nitrates out by placing the roots in the water and having the plant absorb all the nitrates from the water column. Pothos one of the plants you could use.

By the way I don't really recommend duckweed, once you have it you can never get rid of it and it spreads to other tanks like the flu. Ask me how I know...

I have no plants

Nitrates Not Nitrite its the Api Test Kit you do twice 10 drops bottle 1 and 10 drops Bottle 2

[Boundava]

Is your test expired? Also that test can be tricky. Make sure to shake both bottles before, and really shake the second bottle till your arm feels like it will fall off, then switch arms. Also once in the test tube shake it the full minute too. Again, the results you have are nothing to worry about.

[faolteam]

I just Did a water change and water from tap was 0ppm so water from tap is fine,

Would a dead fish cause it

[Boundava]

Yes it would.

[faolteam]

Yes it would.

Im wondering if one was sucked up in external Cannister Filter 'CristalProfi' External Filter if anyone has any videos or help in cleaning out these filters,
one question u have is when i remove all the cannisters with handles the water thats left do i still keep this ?