bogwood and nitrates

[xander]

I have a bunch of driftwood and a couple pieces of bogwood in a 30 gallon tank. About a week or so after putting in the bogwood my water turned a yellowish tint. I tested my nitrates and found them to be high. I tested using AP brand. I can't find the freshwater chart so I used the SW chart. I did almost a %50 water change and got them down to 10 according to the SW chart. First question is about the chart. I know the difference between the FW and SW charts are off by one mark. I just don't recall which way. So I don't know if my nitrates are at 5 or 20. Another query is if my bogwood is giving off tannins then is it also attributing to nitrate buildup?

 

[TankGirl]

As far as I know the tannins do not add to nitrate in the tank, but I do know that if your nitrates measure 10ppm on the SW chart that would translate to 5ppm on the FW chart, which is not high at all. Most people (depending upon the fish being kept) will keep them below 40ppm. Just to be clear, I am referring to nitrAtes, not nitrItes.

 

[xander]

Good to know. This tank i need to keep below 20. I prefer it at 10 or less. It is housing extra fish than it should until the 125 is ready. This week sometime. I have 1 adult Uaru, 4 juvenile Uaru, a small L001, 4 tiny bristlenose, 9 pristella tetras, and one banjo cat. I am worried about the newly aquired uarus. I understand they need quality water. I have excess filtration on my 30. An emperor 280 and an ECCO 2233. I am sure these can handle the bio load but worry about the nitrates. My ammonia and nitrite reading are nil. I suppose I can just change the water every couple of days. I wouldn't have even checked but I found a dead bristlnose. Was only an inch and a half. I lost another that was in another tank so I thought they may have been weak. I got 12 at once from a guy on aquabid. For some reason I didn't expect them all to live. Thanks for the SW?FW translation.

 

[fish_doc]

It will affect your pH. But overall it should not affect your nitrates that much. One thing to keep in mind is that bogwood like any driftwood is a dead thing and all things will decay causing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates to climb. BUT being wood it decays at such a slow rate that it is not noticeable in most aquariums.

 

[TankGirl]

I think you are doing a fabulous job if you can keep your nitrates at 5. May I assume that this is not a heavily planted tank? I do water changes on most of my tanks, Amazon as well as African, about every 3 days or so, and in your case every other day might be in order with the load you have.

There was a thread recently about the mortality rate among bristlenose and rubberlip plecos, and the other less common suckermouth cats, and I think that sometimes they just die, so I would not be too concerned about your husbandry practices, which seem in order. I think your wood would have to be pretty old and have been in the tank for several years before you would see any impact on the nitrates.

 

[xander]

Thanks for the info I do feel better about the situation. I kinda freaked when I saw the high nitrate considering I just put in 4 semi rare uarus. I actually am hoping that the tannic acid will effect my pH. My tap is from 7.6 to 8.6 pH. I want it closer to 7. I would be happy with 7.5 though. Even though my tap is mechanical softened my KH remains around 12. And no, there is not a lick of vegetation on there. My adult Uaru tears them up in no time. I occasionally buy cheap plants just to feed to him. I had an algea problem before I moved. It was thick and about an inch or two long. When I tried pulling it out it would just spread and attach to everything. My Uaru would even eat that stuff. Not all of it but he would tear a piece off now and then. I think it was that beard algea. Real tough stuff.