Nitrate level and importance.

**ronald_t80** · 17th Jun 2015, 18:01

Hi all......just bought the API master test kit and done the water parameters test.
can any experts tell me isit ok with this reading?

pH 6
Ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrates 0ppm

From what I read....theres 2 views on nitrate level. Some said 0ppm is good cos means the plants absorbing it all.
some said it's not good as 0ppm will promote algae growth, should be around 2ppm.

So now which is which??....kinda confused now.

**milk_vanilla** · 17th Jun 2015, 18:54

Things that promote algae is when the plants are starving and dying, not the nitrate. So don't really worry too much about the level

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**Urban Aquaria** · 17th Jun 2015, 19:13

If you are growing plants and aquascaping, then its better to maintain abit of nitrate... around 10-20ppm is a suitable level, its mainly so that the plants don't end up with nutrient deficiency and start experiencing stunted growth.

Having a nitrate reading of zero just means you probably need to dose abit more macro fertilizers, or perhaps feed the fishes abit more to generate the nutrients that the plants need to consume and grow.

On the otherhand, if you are maintaining a tank focusing just on fishes or shrimps (the plants are just to soak up excess nutrients), then zero nitrates is a good sign your plants are doing their work well. In such cases, its not necessary to increase the nitrate levels, just regularly remove the excess plant growth as a form of nutrient export.

**ronald_t80** · 17th Jun 2015, 19:16

Wow....that's what i need to know. Thanks UA!
So in other to raise the nitrate level to 10-20ppm......means i need to feed the fishes maybe twice a day and also add some liquid fert like Seachem Nitrogen?

Originally Posted by Urban Aquaria

If you are growing plants and aquascaping, then its better to maintain abit of nitrate... around 10-20ppm is a suitable level, its mainly so that the plants don't end up with nutrient deficiency and start experiencing stunted growth.

Having a nitrate reading of zero just means you probably need to dose abit more macro fertilizers, or perhaps feed the fishes abit more to generate the nutrients that the plants need to consume and grow.

On the otherhand, if you are maintaining a tank focusing just on fishes or shrimps (the plants are just to soak up excess nutrients), then zero nitrates is a good sign your plants are doing their work well. In such cases, its not necessary to increase the nitrate levels, just regularly remove the excess plant growth as a form of nutrient export.

**Urban Aquaria** · 17th Jun 2015, 19:32

Originally Posted by ronald_t80

Wow....that's what i need to know. Thanks UA!
So in other to raise the nitrate level to 10-20ppm......means i need to feed the fishes maybe twice a day and also add some liquid fert like Seachem Nitrogen?

You can try feeding abit more or dosing fertilizers, both can work. Just have to experiment and observe the effects.

Dosing fertilizers is perhaps more "accurate" in terms of supplementing the plant nutrient requirements though, as they add specific known nutrients into the water column, easier to control and test... compared to fish waste which comprise of unknown levels of nutrients, since it also depends on what kind of food the fishes eat (thats more random and requires more trial and error).

**tetrakid** · 18th Jun 2015, 10:23

Fish keeping is all about trial and error and observation, especially when it is impossible to 'standardize' due to the fact that each hobbyist's tank environ is different from any other.

For this reason, a solution which works for one may not work for another.

**Dscheng** · 18th Jun 2015, 12:14

Hmm my mature tank 2FT suddenly become cloudy, even after weekly water changes. Tested all the water parameters, all seem to be fine. But my nitrates is 20ppm before WC. After WC, nitrates drop to 10ppm. Wondering if it is over live stock issue causes. *sigh, i miss my crystal clear water !

**hann** · 18th Jun 2015, 12:47

Originally Posted by Dscheng

Hmm my mature tank 2FT suddenly become cloudy, even after weekly water changes. Tested all the water parameters, all seem to be fine. But my nitrates is 20ppm before WC. After WC, nitrates drop to 10ppm. Wondering if it is over live stock issue causes. *sigh, i miss my crystal clear water !

Did you change a big portion of water or wash the media? Looks like Beneficial bacteria is affected during the water change.

**Urban Aquaria** · 18th Jun 2015, 15:45

Originally Posted by Dscheng

Hmm my mature tank 2FT suddenly become cloudy, even after weekly water changes. Tested all the water parameters, all seem to be fine. But my nitrates is 20ppm before WC. After WC, nitrates drop to 10ppm. Wondering if it is over live stock issue causes. *sigh, i miss my crystal clear water !

Sounds like a bacterial bloom, maybe check if anything happened to die and decompose in the tank unnoticed or if the newly changed water somehow contain different parameters which affected the beneficial bacteria (and cause them to bloom in response).

Anyways, if its a bacterial bloom then it should clear up once the cycle stabilize again or the "food" source is consumed/converted.

**Dscheng** · 18th Jun 2015, 22:52

Ya i think you are right. Recently, there is a few tetra and running nose dead and i let the the shrimp finish it. Maybe that causes bacteria bloom. Today seem like clear up a bit, but still a bit cloudy.
(View in 1080p)

**Urban Aquaria** · 18th Jun 2015, 23:25

Yeah, if its a few fishes dead (thats similar to extra food/rotting material sitting in the tank) and combined with the existing bio-load, it could increase the rate of ammonia production and create a temporary bacterial bloom.