The Silent Killer - Nitrates in Your Fish Tank | What to Do About Them! 

Here is more information about water parameters. Definitely worth a look if you are trying to learn all you can about the subject! What exactly is the nitrogen cycle? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dFpN4wXgmfI.html What is Water Hardness? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xRYdtvakfv0.html How Does pH Impact Fish Health? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-d9N-JliqsJg.html How to Lower Ammonia: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5l-POiCc0dI.html How to Lower Nitrites: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3t8yq-ydOaE.html What Does Water Quality Really Mean? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-TkPwQGG1LMQ.html

Wow, that's the best analogy I've heard on this. (about the smoke)

Always need to hear/see this. Although I’m entirely aware of the cycle, I still need to be reminded. We get lazy sometimes once things are breathing on their own and smoothly. Guilty as charged slacking on testing.

Something few hobbyist ever talk about or, as you suggested, pay much attention to. Thanks for bringing it to light.

Thank you for breaking it down in a way I can better understand. Love all my fish and want the best for them 🐠

Love coming to your video's when I have a question... always feel better educated after listening to them. Thanks for all the time you put in to make these... they are vital to many of us out here so thanks!!

Fantastic way of explaining this issue, relating it to smoke in a room. I'm going to remember that for my explanations. Thanks again buddy, live your content

I am new to the hobby. I really appreciate the way you explain things. Thank you!

A super analogy to a smoke filled room. Excellent video. Extremely helpful. Thank you from the U.K.

You explain it so well and my tank is just how you say it should be. Smiling love these vids good work man.

You guys really have one of the best Aquarium channels. Informative, professional, and concise. Well done.

Simple.Basic and True for the most part. The key to success is in the water/about the water and what you put into the water.

Tank you! Explained clearly and great advice.

Thank you so much for these videos! I'm a newbie and have had success in my two tanks thanks to these videos! So much to learn!

Love how knowledgeable your videos are!! You’ve helped me a lot get a better handle, and understanding on my fish keeping experience!!:) Thank you

From not clued up to well clued up especially after seeing your vid on the nitrogen cycle you explained it very well even a I understood it and that is saying something,so I would like to thank you for that .Now there is another genius who knows all about the nitrogen cycle.....looking forward to your next vid....please keep them coming....good luck

This was such a good reminder for me today. In my Goldfish/ Denison barb (Roseline Shark) tank I have a great filtration system with beautiful crystal clear water, large Amazon Swords, Pathos plants hanging on the back. Then I noticed the fish weren't quite themselves. The Goldfish just weren't quite as obnoxious as normal and so I did a water test. Almost O Ammonia and O Nitrite, and I was thinking whats to worry about until I saw the Nitrate (KO3) was at 80. Then I realized I skipped the weekly water change I normally do on Tuesdays and this is Sunday or five days beyond what I normally do. So today the get an extra large change...My Bad!

Finally a video explanation I fully understand, ive been trying to fishless cycle for over a month and not really know what I was doing, superbly explained, brilliant ...Thank you !!

Thank you for that awesome information. I wasn't aware that plants help to keep those parameters under control. Very detailed information and it helped me very much. Thank you for taking the time to post that.

Your water quality parameters videos are super helpful and very well explained, I feel a lot more confident when it comes to taking the correct action to keep my fish healthy and happy- so thank you!

Thank you! I appreciate all the info you shared.

Exactly information i was looking for and easily understood , Thanks

That's was a fantastically clear explanation of the issue. Thanks so much!

Thank you. After rescuing a neglected guppy a couple of weeks ago & rushing around trying to set up his tank, your videos have been invaluable & the guppy (so cute) is looking better than ever. 😊

The 5ml fill line on the first shot was too impressive....

Thanks for this video someone finally explained nitrates in a way that I understood it!

Great Explanation. I dig the water chemistry. When you know it, your tank is healthy all the time

Everyone who keeps fish should watch this video.....best analogy and walk through I've ever heard. Hey man not all hero's wear capes, keep up the good work. 👏

Your videos are really helping me understand the more confusing aspects of keeping healthy aquariums + fish. Thank you!

Best explanations about nitrate and whole cycle on RU-vid... big big thanks. You are the real master ...☺

Great info, and always love anchoring nitrate management

Excellent job of explaining the science of the effect of nitrates in the aquarium! Thank you!

Even though this is an older vdeo, I wanted to thank you for all your help with my aquariums. I have had at least one aquarium for 25 years. Always had higher nitrates. Now? No! Thanks to your help and also Cory, Aquarium Co op. You are both great and i appreciate your time and the efforts you make to help others. I have gobs of plants in my aquarium for the past 8 months and i can't believe how it's nixed the nitrate problem. I have a 29 gallon with 17 small fish and several snails. It's been 10 days since my last water change and my nitrates are registering 0 ppm (API test). Thank you so much! I'm going to get a ten gallon tomorrow to start a Nano tank! YAY.. Big bunches of thanks again.

great video. you nailed it with you N03 primer!

Hi friends @ Primetime aquatics I’ve been getting back into the hobby within the past year with all this extra Covid time on my hands & have found your RU-vid very helpful & knowledgeable in being successful in the hobby. I recently set up a planted 125 gallon tank & have a few 29s set up as quarantine tanks to introduce new fish & treat them for ich with salt & temperature treatment. The 125 has been set up for @ 6 months now & is well cycled. I performed routine weekly water tests for the 1st few months which have been perfect so I switched to checking the water 1x/mo @ the 4th mo. & went another 2 months til I checked it thinking all was going well since my fish have been acting fine & I have 2 sets of Electric Blue Acaras that spawn regularly in the tank. I could not believe what I found. Nitrate levels through the roof 160ppm or better? I checked the water twice to ensure proper testing. Checked the 29s & 2 other planted tanks that I have. All the planted tanks read extremely high 160ppm?! So I did some RU-vid research. I checked my tap water which was fine 0ppm. Then I got to thinking @ what I’ve been doing to my planted tanks & I’ve been adding fertilizer from Aquarium Co-op the iron supplement & All-in 1 supplement. So I did a little test to see what I would find. Filled up 2 API test Tubes w tap water & added 1 drop of iron fertilizer in a tube. Conclusion 5ppm Nitrates. I added 1 drop of the All-in-1 in the other test tube. Resulted in 160ppm Nitrates. I’ve been adding the proper recommended amount of fertilizer to the tanks 1 pump/10 Gal for the past couple of months. I perform 25-40% weekly water changes then add the fertilizer into the water for the plants. What have I done?!? Looking @ the label it lists Nitrates as an ingredient but I thought they would be low amounts since the label also says fish tested & safe. Well now I’ll be doing water changes w/o adding the fertilizer & hopefully I don’t shock my fish when they have Nitrate withdrawals. I’ll have to do some more testing/research & see how much fertilizer I can add w/o spiking my Nitrate levels. Nitrates @ 5-10ppm I can live with if I have to to keep the plants happy but 160ppm defeats the whole purpose of having live plants in the 1st place. Another thought some iron additives make your water hard-very hard. I just wanted to share this information since I didn’t see anyone mention this Nitrate killer on the RU-vid. Hope it saves someone some headaches. Thx for sharing your knowledge & passion for the hobby. Ryan

Thanks Jason....very informative.

Great video. I also would like to add that sometimes with the right media and amount of media you can obtain a full cycle which is also the removal of nitrates from your aquarium but water changes are the easiest way and foolproof

Thank you for another informative excellent video!

Great tips and solutions thx

A very nice video and well done explanaitions to a difficult Term in aquaristic ...thx for the time you spent in and to this video

Really helpful thankyou! ❤

Thanks for all of your videos. So helpful!

Hello! Thank you for this wonderful video and sharing your knowledge!!!

thanks , finally someone that explains this without all the theatre and b.s .like in your local fish shop . they only want to sell you something.

Nice informative video. Thanks for putting it together and sharing it with the RU-vid community. Cheers

Thanks Mate, you explained it very plain for me to understand how to look after my Fish. Now I know for sure that I have done my job looking after them the right way. Used to worry if the Nitrate lever was showing 20 and changed to much Water. Thanks again.

Awesome video. Loved the comparison to smokers in a room. You made everything so easy to understand 😊👍🏻

I recently entered the fish keeping realm with my first betta and things were going great with my water until my amateur self added a brand new sponge filter to the tank. I got a nitrite spike! Your videos really make this easier for me to understand!

Yeah, I did find it useful, thanks very much

Excellent info thanks 😊👍

Thanks great video

Thanks for your videos. I've gone down rabbit holes with some other you tubers. I'm coming back full circle.

Great vid. I'm new to this, so thank you for your information.

Great video..I've got a rather odd 50 gal aquarium w over 30 random fish..majority came from my job that were very ill/dying, and surrenders etc..trust I know its overcrowded AND it almost always tests high for nitrates no matter how much I clean..BUT... most of my fish were horribly ill when i got them (huge lesion down to the spine on a brilliant rasbora and a rosy whitefin whose tail was gone past the scales were a few examples) that healed beyond better and are doing fantastic as are the other 30 or so and I'm so so thankful for that, for them and giving them another chance and a better life.

Great informative video! Thank you so much!

Great video, a lot of good information! 👍🏾

Such good information and explanation. Immediately subscribed.

Exelent explanation!! Thank You!

Huge change, but huge relief honestly. I look forward to your changes.

Basic but good to know for sure I am on the right track, Thanks many times for a restful sleep.

thank u! very good info!

Thank you! 💙

perfectly explained, great videos.....

Very clear info thanks for sharing.

Good Job, very informative.

very helpful, thank you bro

Another great video, Cheers!

Very knowledgeable! Like it!

Great video!!!!

Great video 👍

I have watched sOoOOOo many videos from all over RU-vid on how to take care of an aquarium and fish and I ended up having the biggest aquarium style crush on Jason =D

Great vid man.

Thank you👍😊

All this time I thought the goal was to have 0 nitrate reading which has been almost impossible for me. I am above 40 ppm in both tanks and now confident I have the right scheduled water changes. I love this guy!

Filters are nitrate factories - that is their purpose. But if you clean your prefilter every few days before waste starts to break down, it will slow down the accumuation of nitrates. Your 'training' videos are very informative and spot on. Nice work. As others have said, where were you when I was getting into this hobby?!

Thank you.

great explanation! thanks

very informative , thank you

i needed this video. i hear so much that Nitrates should be at 0 but ive been getting 10-20 and i get 5 straight out the tap. looking forward to adding fish this weekend since my cycle is over.

Very helpful video! I discovered that even with regular water changes in my betta fry tank there was some fin curling going on. I did some research and read that nitrites can couse it it, or hard water etc so I tested the water and in the end it came out that the nitrates are high. No fish died ever, or got ill but their fins were developing odd shape as they reached a size of a 3 cm. This probably started to be a problem when I changed their food. They would grow rapidly from it and look healthy but.. I possibly ruined their finnage because I didnt know Ive had this problem in the tank. I am going to do water changes every day from now on (I did it every other day) and add some fast growing live plants. Hope it will help. Thank you again for these useful informations!

Hi found this really helpful thank you very much 🐠🐟

Nice informative video. Got plants, I do a 1/3 water change weekly and algae is not a problem.

Wow my best healthy cichlid tank that made my fish color up and made them really healthy nitrate is at 10. My wife just tested the water right now and it’s at that level!

Some great tips :)

Youre an absolute genius thank you so much man

Great video 👍 as always

Thank you

Wow! Really great comprehensive explanation:) After reading the api test solution bottle warnings, I learned to: • Wear gloves. Nitrate test bottle#2 is particularly dangerous to use without them. • Fill the tubes using a pipette & test away from the tank preventing any residue from contacting the aquarium water. • Have a test site with a cleanable or disposable surface. Tubes eventually leak. I do not think api does enough to promote safety in this way but their tests are precise and we all use them often. Thanks again for the great info. Really enjoy your channel! 👍😃👍

Great explanation! 👍

Nice explanation, thank you sir!

Sometimes the tiniest bit of info is the very best thing ever. You said to check the true color of the test water, you hold it up to your aquarium. Using the aquarium lighting. Wow ! Not sure how to do it, I was holding it up against a white painted wall. When testing PH, I always showed a dark blue. Indicating 8+ or higher. Thinking it was too high, I was always trying to lower it. Tested using your method, against the aquarium glass, and it is at 7. Right where it should be. Same with nitrates. On the white wall, I show dark red, 40 or higher. Trouble. But against the glass, the true reading is 20. In the safe zone. I went from panic to "yes", all my work, all the videos I watched are paying off. This little bit of info was such a great help. Thank you !

Excellent information 👍🏼

Learning thanks to you!

I did find it very useful.

I have nitrates in my tap water. I believe it tested around 40 ppm. Ill check again, when I test the aquarium but another video mentions how your water changes may not be the success you wish for. I always thought we couldn't use distilled, so maybe spring water? I'll keep after it. TY for this information. I have a whole lotta plants and some beautiful Java moss I threaded to a piece of manzanita! I am so happy with all these fish channels.

Great video

Excellent topic! New sub!

Thxs man

Great video! I personally think the API test kit reads high. I compare it to a tetra strip test kit and the API always reads higher. Strip reads in the safe range. My tap water does have around 10 ppm. My 125g African cichlid tank always reads over 40 but under 80. I run 2 FX6 filters stuffed with biohome ultimate and sponges. 50% per week water change. I have 19 young cichlids and 8 - dwarf synodontis which should be fine for a 125g tank. I don’t think I’m over feeding them they gobble it up so not much waste. My fish are healthy and are coloring up nicely as they grow. I don’t trust that API kits reading correctly. However I would feel much better if it read 10-20 ppm!

Thank you so much! Even though I am no novice when it comes to healthy water parameters, I still learned a great deal from this video. Nice to see one on just nitrates. I have heard of nitrate filters...do these work at all?