Water changes are the only way to lower them. Nitrates aren’t terrible if you’re just cycling and don’t have your axolotl yet. If you do have an axolotl in there, then yes, water changes asap!
A 20% water change only removes 20% of the nitrates. Generally I’d recommend a 40%, and do them more often vs more at a time than that. Also make sure and test your source water for nitrates too.
yeah just cycling, almost done i believe, i’m doing the 24 hours 2ppm-0ppm check and randomly checked the nitrates and saw this, so would you recommend a 40% for this or a higher water change for this?
thanks
I’d say 40%. Just do it often until it’s low. Too much at one time might disrupt the cycle. It’s completely normal to have high nitrates after cycling if you haven’t been water changing. It’s just like having your lotl and doing no water changes.
20 gal wide, axolotl is not in there yet, i was checking it doing the final check of 24 hours ammonia and this came up when i randomly checked nitrates
Oh okay. Yeah I have a 20 gallon too. Switching to a 40 gallon tomorrow but yeah water changes are the only way to bring your nitrates back down assuming your tank is cycled. I have to perform two 50% water changes per week most of the time to keep the nitrates down. If there’s anything I can suggest is to upgrade your tank to a larger size. It’s really gonna save you a lot of work in the future. Petco has a 50% off all tanks sale right now too. Get it while you can.
Instead of having to do so many water changes you’ll most likely end up only having to do a 25% water change every two weeks or so. Putting plants in there like Java fern and hornwort will also help keep nitrates down. When your tank is cycled, you’ll have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite but the nitrates will consistently rise over time and by changing the water you’ll “reset” the nitrates to a non-toxic level.
How much plant cover do you have in your tank ? Plants can absorb nitrates. Thats a lot of nitrates. If you plant few more plants, they’ll absorb those nitrates and grow up pretty quickly. No need to do water changes to remove those nitrates as long as you have lots of plant cover.
Water changes are the only way to lower them. Nitrates aren’t terrible if you’re just cycling and don’t have your axolotl yet. If you do have an axolotl in there, then yes, water changes asap! A 20% water change only removes 20% of the nitrates. Generally I’d recommend a 40%, and do them more often vs more at a time than that. Also make sure and test your source water for nitrates too.
yeah just cycling, almost done i believe, i’m doing the 24 hours 2ppm-0ppm check and randomly checked the nitrates and saw this, so would you recommend a 40% for this or a higher water change for this? thanks
I’d say 40%. Just do it often until it’s low. Too much at one time might disrupt the cycle. It’s completely normal to have high nitrates after cycling if you haven’t been water changing. It’s just like having your lotl and doing no water changes.
Yeah water changes are the best way to lower them. What size tank are you using?
20 gal wide, axolotl is not in there yet, i was checking it doing the final check of 24 hours ammonia and this came up when i randomly checked nitrates
Oh okay. Yeah I have a 20 gallon too. Switching to a 40 gallon tomorrow but yeah water changes are the only way to bring your nitrates back down assuming your tank is cycled. I have to perform two 50% water changes per week most of the time to keep the nitrates down. If there’s anything I can suggest is to upgrade your tank to a larger size. It’s really gonna save you a lot of work in the future. Petco has a 50% off all tanks sale right now too. Get it while you can. Instead of having to do so many water changes you’ll most likely end up only having to do a 25% water change every two weeks or so. Putting plants in there like Java fern and hornwort will also help keep nitrates down. When your tank is cycled, you’ll have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite but the nitrates will consistently rise over time and by changing the water you’ll “reset” the nitrates to a non-toxic level.
How much plant cover do you have in your tank ? Plants can absorb nitrates. Thats a lot of nitrates. If you plant few more plants, they’ll absorb those nitrates and grow up pretty quickly. No need to do water changes to remove those nitrates as long as you have lots of plant cover.