General Care Discussion :: Water Testing Results...Help!!

[lets-talk-turtles]

I have 2 turtles, each about 1.5 inches in length. They are in a 55 gallon tank with a turtle topper, so the aquarium is full of water. When I test the water, the nitrates and nitrites are very high. I have treated the water with pH balancer, after this the nitrates go down, then come back up within a couple of days. The nitrites don't seem to be affected. We have tried doing 50% water changes. My filter circulates 355 gph. Please let me know your thoughts. I want our turts to be ok.

[robind]

How long has your tank been running for? What kind of water change schedule do you have? Is there a lot of algae growing in the tank?

[BullDog]

The only way to lower nitrates is partial water changes. I'm working on this myself right now. I've done two 50% water changes (in a 90 gallon tank) in the last week, and the nitrates are still on the high side. How frequently have you been doing water changes?

My only other thought is to do a "control" test to see if the test kit is working properly. Test some tap water, and the nitrate/nitrite levels should be 0.

[lets-talk-turtles]

I just moved them from a 20 gallon into the 55 gallon 3 weeks ago. We have done 3 50% water changes. There is just a slight film of algae growing on the bottom of the tank. I will do the control test at home tonight. I hadn't thought of that!

[robind]

I'd say at this point it's not abnormal for you to have high nitrates/nitrites. Give it a few more weeks. Maybe consider adding some plants, or more bio media to your filter. And even though it's counter intuitive, I'd also recommend slowing down the water changes a little. Replacing that much water with tap water in one go is hard on your bio filter, and may be contributing to the high nitrates/nitrites.

[lets-talk-turtles]

Is it harmful to the turtles for the nitrates/nitrites to be that high? Also, how long should I let it go? I just don't want them to get hurt.

[BullDog]

Short term RES can survive high nitrates, but long term it can lead to health issues. I'm not sure how long it takes for "short term" to cross the line to "long term" though.

[theartbook35]

The only way to lower nitrates is partial water changes. I'm working on this myself right now. I've done two 50% water changes (in a 90 gallon tank) in the last week, and the nitrates are still on the high side. How frequently have you been doing water changes?

My only other thought is to do a "control" test to see if the test kit is working properly. Test some tap water, and the nitrate/nitrite levels should be 0.

Zero is a good thing, right?

[BullDog]

Yes, 0 nitrate is a good thing. But it's hard to get 0 unless you just did a water change