# help - pond has high nitrate levels!



## avons82 (Mar 23, 2010)

Hi,

My pond (175gal) with 5 gold fish established 4 weeks ago has high levels of nitrate when I did a liquid water test kit at the weekend.

I did a 25% water change on Sunday but the levels havent improved.

Whats the best way to reduce this?

Thanks, 

Amey :lol:


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2010)

The first thing to check is whether or not you have a faulty test kit, a good indication of high nutrient levels is algae growth, especially if you have a low plant biomass (that is, a low number of plants). Cutting back on the food for a while would be a good idea, and in any case, there will be plenty of natural food on offer at this time of year. 

Have you tested the water used to fill the pond and for the water changes? If that's loaded with nitrate, then water changes will be pointless as you are effectively pumping more nitrate into the pond.

If everything above is irrelevant, then the nitrate can only be due to natural causes. Since the pond is quite new, high nutrient levels are simply something that you'll have to deal with until everything settles down and matures.


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