High Nitrate even with plants

Joined
Sep 29, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Country
United Kingdom
This year was a hot one and my plants in the pond did well but nitrate levels were still pretty high. I have 3 canister filters one gravity two aeration pumps and a UV on 24 hrs 7 days a week but due to fish inheritance the pond is heavily stocked. Nitite NO2- is barely detectable ,pH is fine, carbonate hardness OK , TDS suggests plenty of mineral buffering from rocks , I have lots of biological media in the filters and the pump aerates OK. The fish eat /disturb any small plants so and I have Calla Lili, Marsh Marigold, Iris and rushes. Any ideas of any other plants to try (can't try water lilies water moving too much for them) ?
Thanks
Cliff
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2015
Messages
1,415
Reaction score
759
Location
Hershey, PA
Showcase(s):
2
Hardiness Zone
6A
Country
United States
yeah pond surface area plus depth, bog surface area if any, number of fish and their sizes approximately, the nitrates/nitrites/ammonia numbers from your tests.

Finally, do you water change? If so what is the nitrates/ammonia level in the incoming water.
 

peter hillman

Let me think for minute....
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
1,260
Reaction score
1,398
Location
Reno N.V.
Hardiness Zone
3-5
Country
United States
"fish inheritance". You gotta learn to say no! Strange fish sometimes can cause serious problems.
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
1,305
Reaction score
806
Location
carolinas
Hardiness Zone
8a
Your nitrate levels probably match quite precisely with the fish food that has been piling in, less what little the plants were able to abstract.

Water hyacinth gobbles it up 4x more than other plants
 
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Messages
343
Reaction score
159
Location
South carolina
Hardiness Zone
8a
Country
United States
Nitrate is really not a problem for koi. According to dr st earne (sp) fish do fine even up to 600 in studies. If you practice the standard recommendation of a 10% water change a week, you should have no problem. The only hassle is when the value gets high enough that you get foam around waterfalls and aerators but that is also due to DOCs, so the 10% change solves that too.
 

ZEROPILOT

Faster than you are.
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
461
Reaction score
364
Location
Sunrise Florida
Hardiness Zone
10a-10b
Country
United States
Nitrate is really not a problem for koi. According to dr st earne (sp) fish do fine even up to 600 in studies. If you practice the standard recommendation of a 10% water change a week, you should have no problem. The only hassle is when the value gets high enough that you get foam around waterfalls and aerators but that is also due to DOCs, so the 10% change solves that too.
Is this true?
Great.
My Nitrate is hovering around 30 ppm. The pond is just two weeks old and was speed cycled with Fritzyme.
Zero nitrite. PH is 8.1 and zero or trace of ammonia <.25
1,400 gallons and ten 4-5" fishes.
 

Meyer Jordan

Tadpole
Joined
Oct 10, 2014
Messages
7,177
Reaction score
5,674
Location
Pensacola, Florida
Hardiness Zone
9a
Country
United States
Is this true?
Great.
My Nitrate is hovering around 30 ppm. The pond is just two weeks old and was speed cycled with Fritzyme.
Zero nitrite. PH is 8.1 and zero or trace of ammonia <.25
1,400 gallons and ten 4-5" fishes.

Koi and Goldfish can tolerate quite high Nitrate levels. Higher than any pond is likely to have. As to the health of the entire pond 80 ppm seems to be the accepted cut-off before other issues develop.
Once the algae growth kicks in and the aquatic plantings establish this 30 ppm level will drop. Most ponds have a Nitrate level range of 5 - 10 ppm.
 

ZEROPILOT

Faster than you are.
Joined
Aug 3, 2017
Messages
461
Reaction score
364
Location
Sunrise Florida
Hardiness Zone
10a-10b
Country
United States
Koi and Goldfish can tolerate quite high Nitrate levels. Higher than any pond is likely to have. As to the health of the entire pond 80 ppm seems to be the accepted cut-off before other issues develop.
Once the algae growth kicks in and the aquatic plantings establish this 30 ppm level will drop. Most ponds have a Nitrate level range of 5 - 10 ppm.
Thanks
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Koi died - high phosphate 11
High pH 2
Algaecide and super high Nitrates 18
PH crashed and high nitrate 28
High Nitrates after re-potting lilies 21
High Nitrate 25
High ammonia nitrate & phosphate 10
High Nitrates HELP! 3

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
30,781
Messages
508,561
Members
13,042
Latest member
lucaryan

Latest Threads

Top