How to reduce nitrate?

[Caliban07]

Seems a shame to remove all that nitrate and deprive your water lettuce of a valuable macro nutrient.

I dose 40ppm a week and my Amano shrimp has just released another batch of eggs.

Have you seen any issues directly related to these nitrate levels?


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[ColemAnthony1]

My fish seem okay other than they're a little sluggish, and the water lettuce doesn't seem to be keeping the nitrates at bay by any means. I just don't like the fact that my water quality is poor and I want to fix it. I may just have to buy a R/O system. They really work at reducing nitrates? I just want to be 100% confident before making a $200+ investment. I just tested the water again and my pH is up to 8.0 and my nitrate level has gone up a little bit to 40ppm or maybe even a tad higher, so that Kordon Amquel Plus didn't seem to do anything but raise my pH. I don't want to make another useless purchase.


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[rlederer]

R/O will take out nitrates and most everything else. It's worth the investment, no doubt. Can't use it straight, however, at least not all the time. But you can dilute it with tap water or other water or use Replenish. I've used an R/O for four years and wouldn't do without it. A lot cheaper than other methods in the long run.

 

[Kwakatoo]

Seems a shame to remove all that nitrate and deprive your water lettuce of a valuable macro nutrient.

I dose 40ppm a week and my Amano shrimp has just released another batch of eggs.

Have you seen any issues directly related to these nitrate levels?

That's interesting , I would also be worried with 40ppm. But you may have a point as when the "real trouble" started for me was around 80ppm.. So the question is still "how do you keep it at bay?" Have water changes already been suggested? Sorry, still drinking my morning coffee.. Lol

Oh yes I see. Better keep reading the responses this is interesting

 

[ColemAnthony1]

R/O will take out nitrates and most everything else. It's worth the investment, no doubt. Can't use it straight, however, at least not all the time. But you can dilute it with tap water or other water or use Replenish. I've used an R/O for four years and wouldn't do without it. A lot cheaper than other methods in the long run.

What do you mean by "can't use it strait"? I have no idea how this R/O system works. Could you explain it for me? Sorry about all the questions...


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[Caliban07]

My fish seem okay other than they're a little sluggish, and the water lettuce doesn't seem to be keeping the nitrates at bay by any means. I just don't like the fact that my water quality is poor and I want to fix it. I may just have to buy a R/O system. They really work at reducing nitrates? I just want to be 100% confident before making a $200+ investment. I just tested the water again and my pH is up to 8.0 and my nitrate level has gone up a little bit to 40ppm or maybe even a tad higher, so that Kordon Amquel Plus didn't seem to do anything but raise my pH. I don't want to make another useless purchase.


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Hi Coleman. Your fish don't care about ph or 40ppm nitrate. They are sluggish for other reasons. The only reason I would invest in an RO system is if I had very hard water or high TDS and I wanted to lower it to breed soft water fish etc. Please have a think about this RO system before you spend all this money on it. What is the general health of your fish other than appearing sluggish?

PS your nitrate test kit is pretty poor at reading nitrate accurately.


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[Caliban07]

That's interesting , I would also be worried with 40ppm. But you may have a point as when the "real trouble" started for me was around 80ppm.. So the question is still "how do you keep it at bay?" Have water changes already been suggested? Sorry, still drinking my morning coffee.. Lol

Oh yes I see. Better keep reading the responses this is interesting

Hi kwakatoo

Can I ask why you would be worried? What made you think this way?

I don't worry about keeping it at bay or testing for nitrate. I dose it regularly sometimes I dose more than 40ppm a week and I do a 50% water change every week. Nitrate has fairly low toxicity levels and the main toxic action of nitrate is that it converts oxygen carrying cells in to forms that are incapable of carrying oxygen and so that would result in fish gasping at the surface, much like co2 poisoning or ammonia poisoning. Ive never observed that directly from nitrate poisoning. More likely from those mentioned above.

If you are not dosing nitrate then it should be used as a marker for organic pollution. It is the 'smoking gun' of a more serious detoxification process. Tanks should be kept clean and as a result you lower the nitrate levels anyway.

In a planted system. Denying the plants of the second most important nutrient of which totals nearly 4% of plant dry weight is just asking for trouble. Keeping nitrate above limiting levels (which will vary from tank to tank) and lower than toxic levels which I believe are much higher than 40 or even 80ppm will only make plants grow better. Healthy plants provide oxygen rich water which enables filter bacteria to function and continue to carry out harmful nitrogen detoxification such as ammonia and nitrite. It help plants pump oxygen in to the substrate via their roots which keeps substrate bacteria happy and prevents the substrate from becoming anaerobic and will increase the overall health and longevity of your livestock via good oxygen levels provided by plants.

I know if I measure my nitrate levels now the vial would be dark red. I'll do it if you like and post a picture, but I'll post a video of my fish, shrimp and plants too. I trust my eyeballs much more than a hobby grade test kit ?


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[Chest Rockwell]

I run staight tap in my tanks and my fish are nice and healthy. my test are between 20-40ppm on nitrates with no live plants. Well for my setup i do have a homemade algae scrubber in my sump. Thats if you had a sump

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Don't worry about it. Nitrates are not nearly as toxic as some believe them to be. Unless you're trying to keep sensitive fish just keep changing water and the fish will be fine. I change about once a month, feed 3 timesish a week and my nitrates are around 60

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[ColemAnthony1]

Thank y'all for your comments. I will just keep doing what I've been doing all along. My fish have been perfectly fine, so I guess I just over reacted lol....


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[enrgizerbunny]

What do you mean by "can't use it strait"? I have no idea how this R/O system works. Could you explain it for me? Sorry about all the questions...


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R/O means reverse osmosis. This is how nearly all bottled water is filtered from municipal water supplies (aquafina, dasani, nestle) and then specific minerals are added back for "taste" and it prevents the water from leeching the cheap plastic bottle.

RO systems work by forcing water through membranes that will only allow water molecules to pass through, leaving impurities behind. This leaves the water devoid of nearly all minerals and buffers. Without these buffers, the pH in your tank will become unstable.This is why you must add some form of buffer or mineral if you are using water from an RO system. 99% of fish are happy with your tap water though.

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[TMaier]

I use R/O, but only because the tap water in California is pretty nasty at the moment. You could just about chew it and it comes in lovely colors like grey, brown and yellow. The TDS meter was over 600ppm at one point and who knows what it's got in it. I add Seachem Equalibrium to it which adds back all the good minerals I know the tank needs.

Maybe when this drought is over I can go back to tap.


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[amature]

hi all i also have the high nitrate i dont use tap water i buy ro water and i put aquador in it . i do water changes up to 30% once a week and clean the filters but it is not sorting it out so if anyone has any ideas i would love to here it
thanks in advance

 

[amature]

just testing if my messages are getting in

 

[enrgizerbunny]

hi all i also have the high nitrate i dont use tap water i buy ro water and i put aquador in it . i do water changes up to 30% once a week and clean the filters but it is not sorting it out so if anyone has any ideas i would love to here it
thanks in advance

What size tank do you have and what is your stock?

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