Advertisements
Aquatic Avenue Banner Tropica Shop Banner Fishy Business Banner
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 37

Thread: Nitrates in a planted tank

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore

    Nitrates in a planted tank

    Advertisements
    Fresh n Marine aQuarium Banner

    Advertise here

    Advertise here
    In my planted tank (the one in this post), my nitrate levels are above 40 ppm. Last night it was up to about 60 ppm.

    Bioload: 6 x Pearl Gouramis, 6 x Cories, 1 x Oto, Approximately 20 Yamatos. The water volume is approximately 45 gallons. I don't think I overfeed.

    What's causing the high nitrate levels?
    Is because the bacteria in my filter are too efficient or what?
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Jurong West
    Posts
    196
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    too infrequent water changes? or what kind of fertilisers are you dosing your tank? maybe they contain the nitrates.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    Nope. i also dun think you overload. Nitrate dun come from no where. consider the few possibilities.
    1) Over dose fertilizer
    2) Substrate leeching nutrients (disturb?).
    3) Faulty test kits (reference with water).

    I wouldn't worry about it, unless it is constantly this high. If your tank healthy, it will drop very fast.
    Change water if it bugs you.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    These values are after water change and have been at the levels for quite a while. I do regular 25 to 30% water change every 2 weeks.

    The plants are healthy, but the algae problem seems to getting worse.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    so none of the factors I pointed out is contributing to your nitrates? Please go check your test kit.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
    Posts
    8,958
    Feedback Score
    1 (100%)
    Images
    104
    Country
    Singapore
    Actually, I've kinda suspected my substrate fert for a while... not sure how to verify that accept to take the plunge and uproot the whole tank and replace it. With a one month old son in my hands, that is not an option right now. Anybody got ideas with respect to testing this theory?

    I've not checked the test kit (JBL) but have used it with another tank (unplanted tanganyikan cichlid tank) which registers undetectable levels of nitrates.

    The liquid fertilizer has no ingredients printed on it... maybe I'll dilute some and use the test kit on it.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    2,436
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    i think you're knee jerking too much
    40~60 isn't that high
    jacian had 80 regularly in his discus tank

    but like CK says, change water if it bugs you
    personally i know it's time to change the water when i have enough patience to sit there for 10 min waiting for the test to complete

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Posts
    163
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    hahahaaaa

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Bishan
    Posts
    946
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    Don't worry about high nitrate, vinz. My nitrate is even higher >80 ppm. My guess is that the filter's bacteria is quite efficient in converting both food and fish waste. So to reduce the NO3 level, I normally use the lazy method: use floating plants. In my case, duckweed.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    WKS,

    which also means that your bioload is sooooo high that the ammonium from whatever you dump in does not get taken up by the plants fast enough and the nitrifying bacteria have a chance to use it and convert it to nitrate. Ammonium at alkaline pH (i.e. when you turn off your CO2) will be majority ammonia, which is toxic (to plants and fish). Algae galore!
    Duck weed is a double edged sword. while it sucks up nutrients in the water column, it blocks the light. The plants in the shade will not do well, and will not recover from the algae. 80ppm of nitrate is not good if it all came from fish load. Since nitrate is only one of the things that we test in the aquarium, can you imagine all the other things that we dun test to build up in your tank even if you change 20-30% everyweek?

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Bishan
    Posts
    946
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    Well CK, my plants and fish are still doing well, in fact they grow taller and fatter respectively. As for duckweed blocking the light, the plants which I have are mainly low light ones. My problem is the java ferns, vals and crypts are growing very well under shade that I have to prune them sooner than I expect.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    67
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    hi there, mario here, new member.
    well would like to know what is ther right level of nitrate in a plant tank?
    how the test kit work?

    thank

    buzz off ... from mario

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    ----------------
    On 2/24/2002 1:29:07 AM
    Well CK, my plants and fish are still doing well, in fact they grow taller and fatter respectively. As for duckweed blocking the light, the plants which I have are mainly low light ones. My problem is the java ferns, vals and crypts are growing very well under shade that I have to prune them sooner than I expect.
    ----------------
    Good for you. If you found the "balance" and there are no major algae problems, I suppose no one can say that maintaining this high levels of nitrate is no good? But this level of nitrate may not work under different tank conditions.
    Mario,
    there is no "right" level of nitrate... what is recommended is <40ppm and it should drop pretty fast after dosing. but this depends on the types of plants and the setup that you have.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    2,436
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    in general, the lower the nitrate the better, but getting zero nitrates means your plants are lacking in nitrogen
    and as for high nitrates, 80 isn't considered very high yet
    i wouldn't worry about it unless your fish are visibly listless or getting infections of all sorts

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    ----------------
    On 2/24/2002 2:10:45 PM
    in general, the lower the nitrate the better, but getting zero nitrates means your plants are lacking in nitrogen
    and as for high nitrates, 80 isn't considered very high yet
    i wouldn't worry about it unless your fish are visibly listless or getting infections of all sorts
    ----------------
    Not entirely true. If your tank zero in nitrate doesn't mean your plants zero in nitrogen. the water column is not the only place for plants to grab nitrate from. You can have zero nitrate but plants not nitrogen deficient. izn't that why we put fertilizer tabs at the roots? fertilizing the water column is NOT the only way to feed plants. You will not know if your plants are really nitrogen straved unless you do a tissue analysis. but generally, plants show signs of it when they are nitrogen starved.
    80ppm is not high? should wait till fish get stunned growth, algae bloom to consider it as high? fish will probably never experience this amount of nitrate in nature (unless they live in the sewers).
    While I sometimes dose high amounts of nitrate, it should drop to zero within a peroid of time and will stay constant at the initial dosing concentration. Again, this is subjective to the tank conditions that you have... but I definitely do not advise to maintain a constant nitrate concentration of 80ppm generally, or start pouring KNO3 into tanks once the water have zero nitrate. Neither nescessary or encouraged.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    2,436
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    hmm, i amend that to "the water column is lacking in nitrogen"
    din think of that

    how can you say high or not high? have we done any studies of nitrates on fish physiology?
    until then, we can only give anecdotal measures of nitrate levels being high or not
    fact is, ppl have fish thriving and even breeding in water with 80ppm nitrates
    this is what i base my comment on

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    WHO state drinking water NO3 values at 50ppm. While it is true that nitrate is relatively low in toxicity compared to ammonium and nitrite, it is not necessary to maintain (note: not dose) this level of nitrate, especially in a planted tank. What I can say is that, if this level of nitrate works for your tanks and your fish are thriving/breeding, good for you. But it is not a concentration I would advise everyone to maintain at.
    Again, I would like to re-emphasize that nitrate is only one of the parameters that we can measure conveniently using test-kits. imagine the all the other parameters that we can't measure and the effects of those in your tanks. Which is why we change water (and again, this is controversial)...

    p.s. I thought we were talking about planted tanks?

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    2,436
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    we are, aren't we?

    you bring up a very interesting point
    amano DOES measure some parameters that aren't commonly quoted in the aquarium hobby
    one i can think of is COD, chemical oxygen demand

    and i'm oso a proponent of frequent water changes, yes

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Posts
    1,219
    Feedback Score
    0
    Images
    107
    Country
    Singapore
    Really? So what does COD tells you about the aquarium? Does Amano do BOD as well?
    Interesting that you mention that you advocate water changes but maintain high nitrate and add salt to planted tanks. What other "non-standard" things to you do?

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    2,436
    Feedback Score
    0
    Country
    Singapore
    ----------------
    On 2/24/2002 9:11:51 PM

    Really? So what does COD tells you about the aquarium? Does Amano do BOD as well?
    Interesting that you mention that you advocate water changes but maintain high nitrate and add salt to planted tanks. What other "non-standard" things to you do?
    ----------------
    1. my tanks don't have high nitrates
    what i'm saying is 80 isn't high enough to make one lose sleep
    if you can find one single statement by me advocating adding nitrates, please tell me so i can delete it

    2. i add salt to fight ich and chilodonella
    once it's gone i change the water out

    3. COD tells you how much organic waste there is in the water

    what's BOD?

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •