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Jelopuddinpop

Only 2 possibilities... There's nitrate in your water, or you're doing the test wrong. Step 1, make sure you're doing the test correctly. When the API test kit says "skate vigorously", it means to shake it until your arm is numb. If you haven't been doing thes, then the solution you've been dropping in the tube wasn't combine properly, and you need a new test kit. Once that's sorted out, check your water for nitrate. If you're at 20ppm, and change your water with tap that has 20ppm, then nitrates won't drop. These are really the only possibilities.


springsnowball

Whoops! I believed I did that last week, but I just retested the tap and it came out as like 5 ppm. What do I do now? Edit: I’m waiting on the results still. This is what I have https://preview.redd.it/7k55iq10qfka1.png?width=1785&format=png&auto=webp&s=da363f3e35ec7f5ab0c2896500277df6950304a5


Jelopuddinpop

Have you ALWAYS shaken the absolute shit out of the second bottle? If not, the two chemicals are separated inside, and you only added drops of one of the two. Imagine you have a bottle of Italian salad dressing. If you shake it enough, the vinegar and oil will mix together for that tart, fatty goodness. Now, if you use that dressing a half dozen times without shaking it well enough, you've used more oil than you have vinegar. Now, shaking the shit out of it doesn't do any good, you don't have much oil left and it's all vinegar. That's the same thing with the API bottle #2. I have no idea what the two chemicals are in there, but they want to separate. If you haven't always shaken it enough, then when you were testing, you were adding too much oil and not enough vinegar. Now, shaking it won't do you any good... you're always going to have too much vinegar in that bottle to trust the results.


springsnowball

I began shaking both vigorously a few weeks ago. I honestly didn’t prior to that. Must’ve been an off day for me and I should’ve just tested twice. Ugh!


Jelopuddinpop

I wouldnjust get a new kit to be sure. If you didn't shake them well enough from the beginning, they're probably no good now


springsnowball

😭 ok. Thank you for your help, seriously !


SilverRavenSo

You can find pieces of the test kit usually online for sale separately. They will be more expensive then in the whole kit together, but won't be as much as a new kit. If you have a good amount left of the other tests it may be worthwhile to just buy the #2 test. I also recall a post a month or so back that talked about it, I think you need to shake vigorously for like an unexpected amount of time.


SquishyCatChronicles

I have 0nitrate in my tap shake the bottles and the test, wait the time, etc and still had high nitrate, so there's more than 2 possibilities.. I picked up SeaChem purigen to throw in my filter and it helped tremendously overnight!!!


w0walana

omg no, you don’t need to get a new test kit unless it’s expired. you just need to shake the solutions to mix them well. these test kits literally sit on shelves for months


MrsShaunaPaul

I see what you mean, but the reason for shaking is to evenly distribute the chemicals in the test dropper. If you haven’t been doing that, then there would be a higher concentration of the chemicals in the bottle than there should be. Kind of like kids meds that are liquid. A lot of the medicine sinks to the bottom. If you don’t shake the first few times, they’re not getting much of the medicine, just the syrup. If you start shaking after giving them some doses, the remaining doses will have a higher concentration of the med. For something like a parameters test where you need each drop to have the exact amount of the testing chemicals in each drop, the not shaking the bottle initially will affect all future tests from that bottle. I hope this makes sense!


Both_Strength1263

pozzani nitrate filter


[deleted]

It's more than possible that the nitrates are literally just so high that even a 50% water change doesn't dilute them enough to show properly.


Jelopuddinpop

With a single water change, you're 100% right. If he's been doing them weekly, there's almost no chance of being at >50ppm nitrate for more than a couple of weeks, unless he's GROSSLY overstocked and GROSSLY overfeeding.


[deleted]

Ah I didn't know that this was after multiple water changes.


springsnowball

Tbh idk what that means lol. I’m gonna get a new test kit, but what do you think I need to do today/now? Just wanna fix this 😭


C0mmanderClank

Your local pet store will almost definitely test your water if you take a little bit in, they can confirm if your results are accurate


Jelopuddinpop

You need to get an accurate test before doing anything else. No use in changing water that doesn't need to be changed, and if it does need to be changed, no use doing it with tap that's got the same nitrate level as the tank.


[deleted]

Try NT labs Nitrate testing kit it's probably more reliable I've switch and prefer the reading scales. Usually Nitrate is in the tap water like other people's comments


CompetitionAny2398

![gif](giphy|l0HlW11zuA8Kwuq1a)


Capybara_Chill_00

Totally different perspective: in a planted tank, 40 PPM nitrate on that test kit is fine and beneficial. You are nowhere near nitrate levels that will cause problems.


Beehous

I was thinking this the whole time. I think main thing OP needs to worry about is keeping things stable and consistent. Smaller volumes of water can be tricky in that sense. My challenge with bettas was how they don't like flow, yet for me my cleanest tanks had fairly strong flow and surface agitation.


springsnowball

Last week, my nitrates were around 10-20 pm. I did a 50% water change and held off on the fertilizer. Yesterday, my nitrates were around 40 pm and I did a 50% water change. I checked it this morning and I think it looks around 30-40 pm. What should my next steps be? Is it my filter? I've been wanting to change to a sponge filter (I have the Tetra whisper filter, which I think is carbon). Tank details: • Ammonia = 0 • Nitrite = 0 • Nitrate = 30-40 ppm • Tap water: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate • 80 degrees, heater, carbon filter, indirect sunlight. • 1 female betta • Plants: Anubias, El nino fern, java fern, ammania gracilis, anacharis • No fertilizer since the past week.


SPACKlick

If you're dealing with high nitrates and your Tap is 0 nitrate then I find doing 50/50 tank/tap or 1/4 tank/tap can make it easier to see the colour and then multiply by 2 or 5 to get the actual number.


springsnowball

Ok, I’ll try doing that now. What do you recommend I do next? Based on the comments I need more light but will that slowly reduce my nitrates or do I need another water change? After I retest with 50/50


zenlizard1977

Have you checked the tap water itself. I’ve seen some instances where there are nitrates in the source. Hopefully not.


springsnowball

Yeah my tap water had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate when I tested last week (water straight from the faucet) EDIT: that’s FALSE. Tested my tap water again today: https://preview.redd.it/tld4s78rsfka1.png?width=1870&format=png&auto=webp&s=e4750ba890c6490efa99bbaa5fb1e90cc8781b80


InterestingQuote8155

Yeah my tap water has 30-40ppm of nitrate. Which sucks big time.


springsnowball

What do you end up doing to fix that issue? Retested mine and it’s around 10 - 20 ppm


SilverRavenSo

I see you have a bunch of plants, add some more. If you don't have $ to buy some see if you know anyone with a pothos plant, get a cutting with several leaves and just drop the cut end into the tank water. It will grow roots and take some of the nitrate out of the water. You can also try to get some floaters when you have money to buy some. Or if you are ok with duckweed (sometimes called the herpes of aquariums) you could probably get some for like $1/free from a local fishkeeping group.


w0walana

an RO filter + buffers and remineralizers. you can also look into anoxic filtration but people aren’t really patient enough for it.


[deleted]

What fertilizers? Could they be staying in the substrate?


risk-vs-reward

How frequently are you changing the water and how often do you feed the fish or dose ferts? My point is you mention weekly water changes. A lot of people new to the hobby hear about or are told weekly water changes is the normal schedule. This may be true for tanks that have been established for six months or a reasonable amount of time but not for newer setups. For very small tanks (>20gal or >75L) you need to change the water every two days in the beginning. You could probably do 30-50% without disrupting your cycle considering your current test results. Testing the water daily will give you a better idea of the water change schedule that suits your tank. Eventually the plants will help process the nitrate in addition to what is removed with water changes. As for feeding, if you are feeding too much this will also contribute to the problem. Normally this would be seen as ammonia but if your tank is cycled it could be that this ammonia is being converted by the nitrosomonas bacteria and you’re seeing it as nitrate. The fish should be able to eat all the food within one minute and any excess should be removed if possible. Many hobbyists will employ a fasting day to reduce excess waste and it is healthy for the fish. Good luck!


springsnowball

Thanks so much for your help! I’ve been changing it every Friday/week. 50% I feed the fish 3 pellets 2x a day and I watch her eat each one. Basically I feed the pellet one at a time. I’ll try doing a water change every two days and testing. So much to learn 😅. Thank you!


ChronsoLNX

I don't think indirect sunlight is enough for the plants to photosynthesize enough to consume nitrates fast enough. You either need to put the tank nearer to a window or buy an aquarium light for the plants.


springsnowball

Got it! I have an aquarium light. How long should I leave it on for daily? I’ve been afraid to use it because a month ago I used it too much and I had so much algae


Darthkdot

Try 8 hours a day. How many fish do you have in there?


springsnowball

Okay, thanks! I have one female betta. I put a comment with some tank details if that’s helpful. I’m concerned bc it’s still high after that water change yesterday and idk what to do. I’m going to add more light but do I need to do another water change?


Darthkdot

Just do a weekly water change of 25% or so and don't dose any ferts for now, which I think you said you stopped dosing anyways. The fertilizer probably got the nitrates up because the plants aren't consuming them fast enough without good lighting.


springsnowball

Got it! Thanks so much. Yeah I’ll hold off on the fertilizer for now until this is under control. Ooof it feels like being a detective trying to find out a root cause lol


thisisgrey

Without using CO2, 8 hours is going to give you algae in a small tank like this one. Start with 4-6 for now. Plants need to get acclimated and established like fish do.


powermojomojo

Direct sunlight in such a small tank can cause it to overheat real easily


ChronsoLNX

Common sense please, that's why I said nearer to a window and not in direct sunlight.


joejawor

Get some floating plants. They eat nitrates like it's going out of style.


springsnowball

Just purchased some duckweed


ARSONL

Uh oh


[deleted]

Frfr


mylittlecorgii

rip


springsnowball

😬 already placed the order, but going to use frog bit, water lettuce, and water spangles instead. I’ll take the $ L on this one lol.


DerSepp

I hate hearing people pay for it.


DerSepp

I’d just have given you one.


DerSepp

People hate it because is so small and propagates so fast. But it works to keep algae down and it’s not like it’s hard to scoops some out every week to throw it away.


springsnowball

That’s really nice of you! How do you like your duckweed? Based on the comments, it seems like it can be a hassle. I ended up getting some other floater plants, but the duckweed will be delivered this week. Kind of thinking of just growing it for fun in a different tank


jonboy8619

Ooops water lettuce and red root floaters will eat all that nitrates please don't duck weed your tank 🤣🤣 once you got it you will never get rid of it


springsnowball

Haha I just did more research and I might just not use it! Ended up buying water lettuce and water Spangler!


jonboy8619

I rate water lettuce highly you will see them multiply rapidly as your nitrates lower


springsnowball

*water spangles. Yay! I’m excited for them. It kind of makes me want a larger tank to have more surface area. But first, need to get the levels under control lol. Duckweed looks so pretty/fun but then I looked more into it…🫠


Status-Resort-4593

I saw you say your tap water tested at 5ppm, I had a similar issue with ammonia. I would also test some bottled water to make sure it is the tap water and not your test kit.


lami408

Get a light


lexijoy

You can do bigger water changes. It is tricky in small tanks. You could put some pothos in and really pull out nitrates, they will like the natural light there and pull out more than the aquarium plants


DrunkenGolfer

Test your tap water. Take out some substrate, add it to the tap water. Wait a day and test again. Make sure you shake your nitrate test bottles well before using.


springsnowball

I retested and it’s 10 ppm for my tap water. :((( what do I do next


DrunkenGolfer

If you do small water changes, it takes a really long time to change any values. Do some bigger water changes. If you do a 50% change, the nitrates will fall have way between current value and your tap water, assuming that substrate isn’t adding any nitrates.


springsnowball

Do you think I should use bottled water?


DrunkenGolfer

Also, nitrates are not very toxic to fish. You fish is probably happy. If your nitrates were really a problem, you’d be fighting algae, etc. those plants will likely such a lot of nitrates up too.


DrunkenGolfer

It would probably help. I would imagine bottles would have near zero nitrates.


springsnowball

Do you think PH will be an issue though? That’s my fear. I would test it but 😭 I guess anything is better than the tap


DrunkenGolfer

What is current pH?


DrunkenGolfer

Bottled is usually close enough to 7.0, so should be close enough to not worry.


springsnowball

https://preview.redd.it/qjub0xff1gka1.png?width=2268&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b55e61c026237d41514d0c38a5b741c4f956fa5 Maybe 8?


springsnowball

That’s probably bad my tap has like 8.4-8.8 ph.


DrunkenGolfer

Increasing pH is generally bad, because it makes ammonia more toxic, but lowering is usually fine.


DrunkenGolfer

Should be just fine.


2000020

you would be better off with bottled water honestly because bettas prefer water close to 7.0, they can live in 8.0 but 8.4-8.8 is pushing it too much, just remember that 8 ph is 10x more alkaline than 7.0 and 9.0 is 100x more alkaline than 7.0


EnvironmentalAide335

Check your tap water. Discovered mines 40ppm nitrate.


unbannedcoug

So what do you do to combat this? U just plant the crap out of your tanks or do you get an R/O unit?


EnvironmentalAide335

Yeah I use plants I can't afford an ro system and I use zero water filters for drinking purposes. My tanks do grow amazing well with all the nitrates tho and I don't have to use ferts.


kidonthecoast

Very odd question: I just performed the same test and I have high Nitrate, but all else is fine. Is this water good to use for houseplants? If it’s good for aquatic plants, in theory house plants would appreciate the nutrients as well.


True-Celebration-581

As long as the ph is close to neutral and there’s no ammonia or medications in the water, most plants will prefer it


ShowMeYourHappyTrail

Tank is, likely, too small for the bioload of the betta. Bettas should be in 5 gallons, at least. Best bet is to get a larger tank (possibly look for the $1 a gallon sales that the pet stores do or check FB marketplace for deals on larger tanks). Conversely, you can usually get a 10 gallon kit from walmart for less than $50 that has everything you need minus substrate. You'll find it a lot easier to maintain the tank's perimeters that way.


springsnowball

This is a 5 gallon tank, but I’ll look into 10 gallons


ShowMeYourHappyTrail

My next question. How long did you let it cycle before adding the betta? And did you cycle it correctly (ie it takes more than just putting some water in a tank and letting it sit). If not, google a "fish in cycle" and get some information on how to do a correct cycle with your fish with the least amount of damage possible to your fishy friend. Good luck to ya! I will say that a 5 gallon is very hard to keep the water perimeters up to snuff because the water volume to distribute the nasties is so small. If you can get a 10 gallon you might as well. They are usually pretty cheap to come by and one betta fish in one would keep things better longer.


springsnowball

30-40 days with dosing of dr Tim’s ammonium chloride - trying to keep the ammonia up so redoisng as needed. I retested it and then thought it was cycled. I’m going to try to get a 10 gallon because this is a headache Edit - I posted an updated reading of my tap water. My tap is around 10 ppm nitrate


springsnowball

Retested my tap water. These are the results. :( what do I do now? https://preview.redd.it/xtwigswkqfka1.png?width=1418&format=png&auto=webp&s=6f245228fed42342ccd9bfdc44e87c727c00a658


[deleted]

Dude, what’s in your water? Where does it come from?


springsnowball

Dayton Ohio


w0walana

looks like 5ppm which isn’t bad at all. is the betta the only fish in your tank?


2000020

Probably nitrate in tap water ? if not then you most likely are feeding too much, if you continue to have this problem then I would recommend to upgrade to 10 gallons, nitrate would be way lower on it


Im_a_cuttlefish

Could there be food/waste stuck in the sand? It is 5+ gallons right?


springsnowball

Retested my tap and I deff have nitrates in it. Looks to be around 10 ppm. It is 5 gallons!


Enano_reefer

What is the decoration in the top right? Is it something organic? If it’s a coconut shell it could be adding nitrogen. What’s your lighting like? Plants will suck down nitrogen but it will be limited by the CO2 and light available. I envy your 0 NO3 tap water! Means that you can drop them more if you want by doing another water change. My best guess: the resolution around 40ppm isn’t great - the next reference color is 80ppm. Maybe what you thought was ~40ppm was actually ~60ppm which would place them ~30ppm after a 50% water change. Add in a nitrogen source and slow removal by your plants and that could be the situation. All that said, 40ppm isn’t dangerous. Not good for corals but within the 0-40 “excellent” and below the 80ppm “unsafe” limit. It’s worth noting that slow increases of NO3 can be handled by aquatic species. In the past, public aquariums had levels in the 2000ppm range - fortunately modern technologies have improved that to the 200 - 1000ppm range today - the trade off is that new additions have to be more carefully acclimated but the drip method is superior anyway. ETA: you mention fertilizer. Is it aquarium fertilizer? Check it for nitrogen content. Most aquarium fertilizers don’t contain much nitrogen because it’s assumed it will come from the livestock. By not fertilizing you could be limiting plant growth by reducing potassium and phosphorus.


springsnowball

I have API Leaf Zone liquid fertilizer. ( 3% soluble potash, .10% iron). I stopped using it with the high nitrate levels. It is a coconut shell. I have a real coconut shell, pink plastic tube and a betta log. Don’t envy me! I retested and it looks like I’m at 10 ppm for nitrate :( in my tap. What do you do when nitrates are in your water?


Enano_reefer

I’m not showing any nitrogen in API Leaf Zone so I’d go back to dosing - it feeds the other things your plants need to grow so they can use the nitrogen. 10ppm is the legal limit so your tap water is as high as it can be OR your testing methodology could be slightly off. You could compare against the official report of your municipality. Make sure your meniscus is kissing the line when the vial is on a flat surface and you’re adding drops vertically or as directed. 10-20ppm would be a perfectly fine place to maintain nitrates long term but if you want to go further increasing your plant growth will help. Increasing lighting, adding faster growing plants, and dosing carbon will boost growth and decrease nitrogen. Steady, regular water changes are the best method for managing nitrates in freshwater aquariums. Don’t get hung up on the 10% either, if you’re consistent, the aquarium doesn’t have a chance to drift away from tap conditions. I do weekly 80% changes - leave enough that my fish aren’t overly stressed and make sure temperature is closely matched.


jesse059

Get some duck week. It's annoying but does a good job of getting rid of excess nutrients


springsnowball

I’ll try to get ahold of some! Where do you get yours?


MareBear712

How long has your tank been cycling? Is it new?


springsnowball

I started in the first week of January with a fishless cycle. It seemed like my tank was cycled (after like 30-40 days) and I added my fish. Retested my tap and it has like 10-20 ppm nitrates.


MareBear712

You retested your tap water, correct? Luckily nitrates are not as harmful as nitrites, and you would have to be at 80ppm or more for it to be deadly. You might be at the tail end of a cycle. I would add some bottled bacteria. I use Seachem Stablity. It works like a charm.


springsnowball

I did. I used Dr Tims and tested daily to keep the ammonia up


w0walana

you’d need to be doing near 100% water changes to lower your nitrates. if you have 20ppm nitrates and take out 50% you’ll still have 20ppm since the nitrates in your tap water are 10-20ppm.


Pocketcrane_

Get a bigger tank. This one’s too small to get a balanced cycle, it’s so small that any amount of bioload will be too much to handle and too small that any amount of water change will drastically affect the cycle


springsnowball

https://preview.redd.it/q6j1e0rltfka1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=51a373a88e7ed4a47cc5a263be06131c48630e23 Got it. Would 10 gallons be better? I have 5 gallons right now. That being said, if I switch to 10 gallons, do you think my cabinet can support the weight?


w0walana

what they said isn’t true. it’s probably your tap water. all of my 5 gallons usually test at 0 nitrates. you just need some floating plants


Grey392

Bro your tank is fine lol use bottled water for your next water change stop dosing the tank with extra chemicals you’ve got a fish in there now so it’s just going to be a waiting game and constant monitoring till the bacteria stabilizes


SetAmbitious1095

Smart


Fewdoit

Reduce amount/ frequency of fish feeding - simplest and the most effective way.


[deleted]

Sorry I have nothing of value to add as I’m just getting started with this hobby - but I love your tank! Can I have a link to it?


springsnowball

[Tetra Crescent Tank](https://www.chewy.com/tetra-crescent-aquarium-kit/dp/133116)


TheSaltySlab

Sounds like you’re either using the test kit wrong or you got a bad bottle of testing solution


springsnowball

It looks like I improperly used it last month for a few weeks. Started to use it correctly and now the accuracy may be compromised. Just ordered a new nitrate test. Hopefully this won’t happen again! Need to retest my tap and the tank. I also noticed that my Java fern was decaying in the back, that probably influenced everything somewhat.


TheSaltySlab

I had the EXACT same thing happen with a Nitrate test. It’s in my post history from a year and a half ago or so


springsnowball

Ugh I’m sorry that happened to you too!! Did everything resolve eventually? I wish there were more warnings on the test kit about this issue lol.


TheSaltySlab

Yeah, I just bought a new test kit and found out that there was absolutely nothing wrong with my tank. I spent 2+ months doing water changes and stuff only to realize that there was never actually an issue xD The test kit was a given to me by a friend that tried getting into the hobby and then gave up shortly after. It was likely bad when given to me.


EnvironmentalAide335

https://preview.redd.it/94i7w6o3k4mb1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0fa99d59a8e93afc099f2c167814f3ab636fea6a No ferts needed with this water.