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Nitrates between 40 - 80?

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Sbenson11
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Post by Shell Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:53 pm

For those who may not know, we have recently adopted two zebra loaches at the last minute ( I.e. Completely not planned! An unexpected surprise....further details in "tankmates for guppies"). Anyhow, I set up a new 10g temporary tank quickly last night. I put in some water from the well, some water from the 220 gallon, and a little bit of water from their bucket, hoping to better control temp and comfort. I added in a few decorations, a moss ball from the 10g, media from the 20g, and a sponge from the 55g. Did a test just now, and ammonia is reading zero, nitrites are reading zero, but nitrates are reading between 40 and 80?! This is a first for me. All of our tanks consistently read around 5 for nitrates. Just did a 40% WC. What the heck is going on?
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Post by Sbenson11 Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:00 pm

Hmmmm did you test the well water? If it's not your well or the 220 water then it was probably the water they were in. If that's the case then a couple of water changes will take care of that.

Steve
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Post by Shell Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:04 pm

Sbenson11 wrote:Hmmmm did you test the well water? If it's not your well or the 220 water then it was probably the water they were in. If that's the case then a couple of water changes will take care of that.

Steve

I tested the water in the 220 and it still reads 5. I honestly didn't consider the water in their bucket! Haven't tested the well water, but we did a WC on Sunday, so I imagine if that were the problem, something would read on the 220. Maybe it was due to the water from their transport bucket? I sure hope so, otherwise, I am at a loss! Going to test the 20g now....
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Post by Sbenson11 Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:22 pm

You never know what the water is like from another system when people donate fish. I never add the water from one tank to another, even in my own systems.

If I have to hastily set up a quarantine tank it is usually in the form of a rubbermaid tub and an air stone. Followed closely by an Aquaclear 50 off one of my other tanks.

My preferred way of acclimating new fish is to put them on a drip from the tank they are going into. When the bucket is full I scoop them out and trow them in and the water they were in goes down the drain. I have learned the expensive way that someone else fish could be the death of your own.

Just out of curiosity I will sometimes do a full water analysis on the water of fish I get from other people just to see what's in it. It's usually followed by an email, "Did you realize that..."

I'm willing to bet it was from the water they came in. Unless for some reason surface water has recently gotten into your well.

Steve
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Post by Shell Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:39 pm

I believe you are right, I tested the guppy tank with the new cories and it reads 5 for nitrates. I honestly did not want to add the bucket water into this newly set up 10g, but I did so because I was so worried about temp, etc. and the loaches had been in the bucket for waaaay too long! The cories were acclimatized in a timely fashion...but only because I had planned for them! The loaches, however, had to wait for me to clean out the 10g, wait for me to fill it and scramble to get media, etc. thanks Steve - I do believe the bucket water was the culprit...!
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Post by Starfish Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:11 pm

I would test the well water just to be sure it is okay. I was having consistantly high nitrate reading last summer even after water changes. Turns out the nitrates in the well water was off the charts for the aquarium.  affraid That's when I had to start hauling water in from town. Fortunately the nitrates went down in the winter and I could use water from home. Now I am back to hauling from town again.  So test your well water just for piece of mind.
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Post by CAAIndie Wed Jul 23, 2014 8:31 pm

If the well water was the cause of the nitrates you would have seen it in the other tanks. Yikes to think of what the nitrates in the tank they came from could have been.
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Post by Sbenson11 Thu Jul 24, 2014 4:32 am

Starfish wrote:I would test the well water just to be sure it is okay. I was having consistantly high nitrate reading last summer even after water changes. Turns out the nitrates in the well water was off the charts for the aquarium.  affraid That's when I had to start hauling water in from town. Fortunately the nitrates went down in the winter and I could use water from home. Now I am back to hauling from town again.  So test your well water just for piece of mind.

Did you ever find out where the Nitrates is coming from in your well water? Are you near a farm?

Steve
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Post by Starfish Thu Jul 24, 2014 7:58 am

Sbenson11 wrote:
Starfish wrote:I would test the well water just to be sure it is okay. I was having consistantly high nitrate reading last summer even after water changes. Turns out the nitrates in the well water was off the charts for the aquarium.  affraid That's when I had to start hauling water in from town. Fortunately the nitrates went down in the winter and I could use water from home. Now I am back to hauling from town again.  So test your well water just for piece of mind.

Did you ever find out where the Nitrates is coming from in your well water? Are you near a farm?

Steve

There is a chicken barn just to the south of us which is surrounded by crop fields (alternating years of corn and soybeans). To the east is 50 acres of brush/new forest, 50 acres of crops and then the dump. So depending on which way the water table moves; either west to the lake or north to the river, I supposed it is could be coming from either?

There does not seem to be any nitrate testing program around here which seems very odd to me. It is recommended that well water be tested twice a year but it only tests for bacterial contaminants. There is one nitrate testing machine in all of Grey, Bruce and Huron counties which covers a very large area. And only one person who is able to use it. Trying to coordinate with them was virtually impossible and then they could not guarantee that it would test for the "right" form of nitrates, or any solution to my problem. What good is that? Obviously Public Health and the Government are not too concerned with the amount of nitrates we as humans consume. So we drink RO water. Anyway, that was my rant and a long winded answer to your question.
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Post by nyleveiam Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:45 pm

The only good news about the high nitrates in the bucket...they wouldn't have been high without a working nitrogen cycle.
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Post by Sbenson11 Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:49 pm

nyleveiam wrote:The only good news about the high nitrates in the bucket...they wouldn't have been high without a working nitrogen cycle.

Not to mention without "Shell to the rescue" they would probably not be alive much longer.

Steve
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Post by Shell Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:54 pm

Sbenson11 wrote:
nyleveiam wrote:The only good news about the high nitrates in the bucket...they wouldn't have been high without a working nitrogen cycle.

Not to mention without "Shell to the rescue" they would probably not be alive much longer.

Steve

Ha! Both good points! I'm just glad we have them, even though they were not planned - and I do hope they do well and are comfortable here  Very Happy 

I would feel terrible if anything happened to either one or both....I suppose the next few days/weeks will tell...
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Post by l_l_l Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:55 pm

Good deduction skills you got, but coming out of a bucket, HOW MANY NITRATES WERE THERE IN THAT TANK?! OH GOD!
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Post by Shell Thu Jul 24, 2014 6:08 pm

l_l_l wrote:Good deduction skills you got, but coming out of a bucket, HOW MANY NITRATES WERE THERE IN THAT TANK?! OH GOD!

Yep - makes you wonder!
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Post by nyleveiam Thu Jul 24, 2014 6:14 pm

Dave, even worse...what were the original ammonia amounts to ultimately convert to those high nitrates???
Good thing Shell came to the rescue!!!!!

About rescue... I have to be careful since the older I get, the less control I have over giving the offenders a piece of my mind!!!  Today I did lose it...we had an elderly sheltie come for grooming.  He was one solid matt, and probably had close to a thousand fleas.  It took me THREE hours to comb out his matts before we could bathe him.
The owner starts blaming the dog when he picked him up... telling me how stupid he is to lie out in the driveway and get fleas.  I was tired, and that put me over the edge.  I informed him that I could easily have called the ASPCA when the dog came in and they would certainly have taken the dog, and on and on and that the only blame lies with him, and more!
Sadly, these are people who claim to "rescue" these dogs and cats, then keep them in completely substandard conditions, rarely get them groomed (one in particular is a maltese who gets his hair cut ONCE a year!!!)  and then tell everyone who will listen about their rescue deeds and how wonderful they are to spend all this money keeping these poor, homeless dogs and cats.  
Those that can, do.  Those that can't, please shut up! (Ok, I feel better, I am done now!)
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Post by Sbenson11 Thu Jul 24, 2014 6:33 pm

nyleveiam wrote:Dave, even worse...what were the original ammonia amounts to ultimately convert to those high nitrates???
Good thing Shell came to the rescue!!!!!

About rescue... I have to be careful since the older I get, the less control I have over giving the offenders a piece of my mind!!!  Today I did lose it...we had an elderly sheltie come for grooming.  He was one solid matt, and probably had close to a thousand fleas.  It took me THREE hours to comb out his matts before we could bathe him.
The owner starts blaming the dog when he picked him up... telling me how stupid he is to lie out in the driveway and get fleas.  I was tired, and that put me over the edge.  I informed him that I could easily have called the ASPCA when the dog came in and they would certainly have taken the dog, and on and on and that the only blame lies with him, and more!
Sadly, these are people who claim to "rescue" these dogs and cats, then keep them in completely substandard conditions, rarely get them groomed (one in particular is a maltese who gets his hair cut ONCE a year!!!)  and then tell everyone who will listen about their rescue deeds and how wonderful they are to spend all this money keeping these poor, homeless dogs and cats.  
Those that can, do.  Those that can't, please shut up!  (Ok, I feel better, I am done now!)


Remain calm, take a deep breath, grab a glass of wine and go watch your fish. We don't need to read about you on the news. Smile

Steve
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Post by Shell Thu Jul 24, 2014 6:39 pm

Sbenson11 wrote:
nyleveiam wrote:Dave, even worse...what were the original ammonia amounts to ultimately convert to those high nitrates???
Good thing Shell came to the rescue!!!!!

About rescue... I have to be careful since the older I get, the less control I have over giving the offenders a piece of my mind!!!  Today I did lose it...we had an elderly sheltie come for grooming.  He was one solid matt, and probably had close to a thousand fleas.  It took me THREE hours to comb out his matts before we could bathe him.
The owner starts blaming the dog when he picked him up... telling me how stupid he is to lie out in the driveway and get fleas.  I was tired, and that put me over the edge.  I informed him that I could easily have called the ASPCA when the dog came in and they would certainly have taken the dog, and on and on and that the only blame lies with him, and more!
Sadly, these are people who claim to "rescue" these dogs and cats, then keep them in completely substandard conditions, rarely get them groomed (one in particular is a maltese who gets his hair cut ONCE a year!!!)  and then tell everyone who will listen about their rescue deeds and how wonderful they are to spend all this money keeping these poor, homeless dogs and cats.  
Those that can, do.  Those that can't, please shut up!  (Ok, I feel better, I am done now!)


Remain calm, take a deep breath, grab a glass of wine and go watch your fish. We don't need to read about you on the news. Smile

Steve

Tee hee! Yep - wine tends to calm me down or at least distract me!

Nyleveiam, you sound a lot like me...able to keep your cool and be nonjudgemental  most times...but only to a point! I honestly can be very easy going and understanding with people, however, I sometimes reach the point where my nerves boil and....I "speak"....I.e. I lose it a little!!  Twisted Evil

But...it is all because I care and have a big heart for life, whether it be humans, fish, dogs, cats, hamsters....if it 'poops', I am an advocate!  Wink 
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Post by Starfish Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:03 pm

Shell wrote:
Tee hee! Yep - wine tends to calm me down or at least distract me!

Nyleveiam, you sound a lot like me...able to keep your cool and be nonjudgemental  most times...but only to a point! I honestly can be very easy going and understanding with people, however, I sometimes reach the point where my nerves boil and....I "speak"....I.e. I lose it a little!!  Twisted Evil

But...it is all because I care and have a big heart for life, whether it be humans, fish, dogs, cats, hamsters....if it 'poops', I am an advocate!  Wink 

Hey Shell, you'd be a great advocate for our guinea pig. All he knows how to do is poop!! And he gets an A++ if graded for quantity! lol!
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