best plants to get rid of nitrates?

[basketballqt]

I've been having a problem with my nitrates being completly off the chart they are so high! I posted a thread a while back about this and someone told me that the only way to really get rid of them was water changes and that plants consumed them...

Well the nitrate problem is so bad that I am changing about 50% of the water every 5 days and my readings are still off the chart. It is a pretty planted tank.. I can't exactly remember all the plants, but i know there is a LOT of java moss, and also some hornwort.. I also have bit duckweed floating on the top.

Am i doing something wrong? Also could this be because there is too much oxygen in the water? I know that sounds silly but I do have a large bubble wand.. plus the filter aggitates the water. It's a 20 gallon tank and all it has is 8 adult guppies, some babies, and 2 bandit corys with a filter rated for a 30 gallon tank! There are also a ton of RCS that keep breeding and there are babies everywhere!

Also here are my other readings:
ammo: 0 ppm
nitrites: 0 ppm
ph: 7.6
NITRATES: > 160 PPM!!!!

any help will be greatly appreciated​

 

[rich311k]

Have you tested your tap water? There is no way that nitrate reading is right other wise. Fast growing stems like your hornwort chew through nitrates.

 

[basketballqt]

oh yeah i forgot to mention the most important part.. my boyfriend is coming home for leave from a deployment soon and i will be away from the apartment for two weeks so i need something that is going to make my water okay for that long without a water change....

 

[mfdrookie516]

Test the nitrates of distilled water. I think you're getting a false reading. There's just no logical way I can imagine that your tank would have nitrates that high.

 

[basketballqt]

Have you tested your tap water? There is no way that nitrate reading is right other wise. Fast growing stems like your hornwort chew through nitrates.

that's the weird part... my java moss grows like crazy but I haven't noticed my hornwort growing at all since I've had it... and I've had it for about 2 1/2 months now. tap water tests at 0 for everything.

 

[siva]

Are you by any chance using one nitrate test kit and the card from a different kit?

 

[roydooms]

Are you using API nitrate test kit? If yes, did you shake the nitrate bottle #2 for at least 30 seconds before adding it? And did you shake it for a minute after adding 10 drops of bottle #2 and let it stand for 5 minutes before checking the color?

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I've been having a problem with my nitrates being completly off the chart they are so high! I posted a thread a while back about this and someone told me that the only way to really get rid of them was water changes and that plants consumed them...

Well the nitrate problem is so bad that I am changing about 50% of the water every 5 days and my readings are still off the chart. It is a pretty planted tank.. I can't exactly remember all the plants, but i know there is a LOT of java moss, and also some hornwort.. I also have bit duckweed floating on the top.

Am i doing something wrong? Also could this be because there is too much oxygen in the water? I know that sounds silly but I do have a large bubble wand.. plus the filter aggitates the water. It's a 20 gallon tank and all it has is 8 adult guppies, some babies, and 2 bandit corys with a filter rated for a 30 gallon tank! There are also a ton of RCS that keep breeding and there are babies everywhere!

Also here are my other readings:
ammo: 0 ppm
nitrites: 0 ppm
ph: 7.6
NITRATES: > 160 PPM!!!!

any help will be greatly appreciated​

Just to be certain, I'd suggest reviewing the no3 testing steps in the test kit instructions. IMO/E Anacharis is the best sponge for no3 I've found to date.

 

[basketballqt]

Are you by any chance using one nitrate test kit and the card from a different kit?

I'm using my API master kit... and it's the card that comes with it and not the one for another kit.. although that does sound like something I would do...

Are you using API nitrate test kit? If yes, did you shake the nitrate bottle #2 for at least 30 seconds before adding it? And did you shake it for a minute after adding 10 drops of bottle #2 and let it stand for 5 minutes before checking the color?

yeah I am! I did it exactly as the bottle read... add drops from bottle 1, mix in, shake bottle 2 for 30 seconds, add drops, shake for 1 minute!

Just to be certain, I'd suggest reviewing the no3 testing steps in the test kit instructions. IMO/E Anacharis is the best sponge for no3 I've found to date.

I reviewed them and im doing it right... Thanks for the plant suggestion! I'll look that up and possibly add one to the aquarium!

 

[jetajockey]

nitrate soaker uppers: anacharis/water sprite/duckweed/hornwort

I agree with the above posts that you need to find out why you have such extreme levels of nitrates.

 

[Hubert90]

If u have no alternative and want a quick fix. U can always buy filter media that absorbs nitrate! They work,

 

[basketballqt]

If u have no alternative and want a quick fix. U can always buy filter media that absorbs nitrate! They work,

Thanks! I'm actually trying to figure out something that will make the water withstand a 2 week period without a water change tho... so idk would that work for getting rid of them, but then make them come back pretty much right away?

 

[basketballqt]

After doing a 50 % PWC yesterday, I decided to test for nitrates and everything else again... This is what I got:

Then i decided to check my tap water again just to make sure something hadn't changed and the level was still 0.. It is in fact still 0:

After that I decided to check the levels in my 10 gallon which is overstocked. I bought an aquarium off of craigslist which had a ton of fish with it and I don't really want them all that much, but since I dont know where to get rid of them this is their home... their nitrate readings were also off the chart, but ammo and nitrite was 0... this tank is also completly covered in duckweed and hornwort and has huge java moss balls in it. I just can't figure out where all these nitrates are coming from and its making me insane! lol

 

[jetajockey]

that's a huge amount of nitrates. I know you may have went over this but there's a list of what could be causing it.

Fertilizers- root tabs, liquid ferts, dry ferts, using any?

Feeding- How much do you feed?

Dead animal- Possibility of a dead fish in there somewhere?

Tap water- Obviously already tested that one so this is ruled out.

Heavy bioload- A large stock of fish in a small tank can send the nitrates skyward also. It just means that the stock are producing waste (ammonia) in huge numbers, so water changes should be higher % and more frequent to remedy this.

I'm sure a lot of this you've covered but I'm just putting the general list out there.

What I would do at this point: Big water changes to get your nitrates down below 20. Once you achieve that, test the water daily to see what the nitrates sit at. Once it hits 40, water change in a % that takes it below 20 again.