My Nitrate is High in my Aquarium, How to Bring it Down.

I got this question from a viewer who asked .  "I just set up a new tank and my nitrates are high in my aquarium how do I bring it down?"  Well this can be a easy fix, but first we should understand what nitrates come from.  Nitrates can come from any number of things.

• Uneaten Food
• Too many fish in a tank
• A new tank in the end of the cycling process.
• Not enough water changes
• Not a big enough tank.

Plus...

But the nice thing about medium levels of nitrates in a aquarium is that they won't usually kill your fish, it usually just stresses them out and can cause disease.  So it's something that can be taken care of, but not right that second if you can't.  While trying to lower you nitrates you should do daily test on the water with a aquarium water test kit like I have to the right.  If you click the picture you can purchase it or read more reviews on it.

I love this aquarium water quality test kit it makes checking water quality easier that going to a store and usually listening to someone not knowing what they are talking about..

How to reduce Nitrates in your Aquarium Water.

• Do a 50% water change to help reduce the concentration of nitrates in the water.  This is a good way to reduce it so beneficial bacteria can break down whats left faster.
• Reduce feedings to once a day, your fish may look hungry all the time but you don't need to feed them all the time.  Feeding them a little pinch is easier that overfeeding and having to dig the food out.
• Try to reduce the number of fish in the tank, if you can't part with any do weekly water changes of 50%  this will reduce fish waste making a larger population easier to accommodate
• If your tank is cycling then if their is a spike in nitrates then your are nearing the end of the cycling process which is a good thing.  Still do water changes to help reduce the stress of your fish.  
• I don't usually recommend chemicals but if you would like to read more about lowering nitrates with
Nitrate reducing chemicals 

Chemicals work great but are a quick fix and even if you use chemicals to reduce nitrates you want to do a water change before you use them, so that the chemical doesn't need to work harder than is needed and can be more efficient.