Nitrate Solutions. There are various devices and procedures that can lower nitrates in an aquarium. Nitrate-adsorbing filter media and anaerobic denitrifying biofilters will remove dissolved nitrate, but they will do nothing to eliminate the cause of the problem. The simplest solution is a water change. When you remove a volume of water fromFiltration, bacteria, flow, rock, sand, and Clean-Up-Crew, all play a part. If your aquarium is just packed with fish then this is most likely the cause of your high nitrate issue. Remove some fish and see if you can swap some fish for store credit at your local fish store. 6. Add a Clean-Up-Crew. The concentration of ammonia in water is important in determining its toxicity to fish. A concentration of 0.05 mg/L (0.05 ppm) of ammonia can stress and damage fish gills, and eventually, 2.0 mg/L (2.0 ppm) leads them to die. Ammonia levels should be kept at 0 ppm, which is neither harmful nor stressful to the fish.
Heavy metals, chlorine, and chloramine can be problematic, but they can be neutralized by water conditioners. Most of the available water conditioners contain a slime agent to maintain the slime coat of the fish. This is crucial when your fishes are stressed. Each time you change water in the aquarium, you stress the fish, so the slime agent