NitrAtes at 0

[chrism]

wow! never thought i'd have this problem... my nitrates are too low! I'm starting to get BGA on some of my plant leaves, i've read this can be caused from low nitrates & lack of water movement? the water current is medium i'd say and havent got a easy way to increase that. My nitrates are 0 or very close to it.

I was going to buy seachem nitrogen but can't find it online, then i wondered if it would be possible to use water from one of my other tanks to raise the nitrate? Is this a safe way? And would it help get rid of the BGA?

Thanks in advance!

 

[7Enigma]

If you use the same water as your source and dose similar chemicals, then yes. You need to make sure the hardness (KH and GH) are similar, and that its the same temp. pH should also be close (but not as important if its due to CO2 injection).

What I'd recommend instead is to find/purchase some potassium nitrate (KNO3). This can be bought from some plant places as stump remover, or by online purchase at www.gregwatson.com . I purchased several chemicals from Greg and am very pleased with the results.

Potassium is a macronutrient that is normally a limiting reagent in a planted tank, so this way you will be increasing the nitrAtes (that the plants need), while also increasing the potassium (that the plants also need).

In the short term (while finding a longterm source of nitrogen such as Flourish N or KNO3), I'd increase the feedings in the tank (I assume you have fish?), or if your not at your max stock level, add more fish. I have a 20 gallon tank fully stocked with a 65w CF bulb and rarely have to add a nitrogen source to the tank (it helps that my tap water has ~5ppm nitrAte in it). Increased feedings will simulate more fish in the tank since they will create more waste.

*Please note I did NOT say more food at one time! This would just cause problems as you might have uneaten food that will make a mess of the tank bottom, as well as possibly creating fat fat fish. So if you normally feed once a day, instead feed once in the morning and once at night. Personally I feed my fish 3 times per day (once in the morning, once when I get home from work, and once before I go to sleep). This maintains a more consistent metabolism for the fish which should help them burn more calories (and thus stay healthier) than a single overeating binge once a day.

*Everything above is my opinion and should be taken as so.

HTH,

justin

 

[Purrbox]

Seachem's fertilizers are the Flourish line and usually listed online under Flourish rather than Seachem. DrsFosterSmith, ThatPetPlace, and BigAls all carry it. Heck, even GregWatson carries it. If you've got a larger tank you would be better off going with the dry ferts from GregWatson over Flourish.

 

[malkore]

Also, keep in mind that you want 10-15ppm of nitrate...if your other tank only has 10ppm, you'll have to replace all the water in the current tank to get to ideal levels.

personally I would go with gregwatson.com and get potassium nitrate...kill two macros with one fert. (isn't that how the saying goes?)

 

[nitrous]

if you are using the ap test kit for nitrates make sure you are doing the test exactly to the directions or it will come out every time for 0 like it did for me but if thats not the case just start dosing and see how it works.

 

[7Enigma]

Funny, I've been battling an unknown fert deficiency, or more accurately several deficiencies. After getting the dry ferts from Greg Watson, I took care of the potassium deficiency (with KSO4), and my severe iron deficiency (with CSM+B), but I'm still seeing some problems in the tank. The leaves will turn brownish, some go slightly red, some brown spots or holes in leaves, rippling of edges. My tank water has a GH around 9-10 and my phosphate is around 2ppm, so I was perplexed with why my tank wasn't doing so hot.

Every time I do the AP test I follow it exactly as it says and normally get results between 10 and 20ppm but havn't tested in a week or two. Today I did the test again and was right at about 10ppm. I hear these AP tests are quite inaccurate on the low end. So I dosed 1/4 teaspoon of KNO3 which will increase the nitrAte level in the tank by about 11ppm. This should get me up closer to 20ppm and hopefully my problems will go away.

Had I not read this thread I probably would have not looked into the nitrAte problem further. Here's hoping you don't run into problems with that low nitrAte level.

justin

 

[chrism]

Hi,

Well thanks alot for all your help guys! ah yea i hadn't thought that far ahead malkore! I'd say i am pretty much stocked to the limit! At the moment the inmates are:

8 x Angels 1" ~ 2" in length
8 x Cardinals
3 x Bolivian Rams
2 x Golden Rams
2 x BN Plecos

Hoping to add some hatchets once i've reduced the angels down (paired off)

So i think i'm going to go with KNO3, thanks for all the web site links, but im in the UK. Seachem products seem to be a little hard to find online over here & in my local stores.

So here's a question, i can get KNO3 for about £9 for 500g (spent 2 mins having a quick look on the net) from a chemical manufacturer is there anything i need to be aware of? I guess once i've got it, i just boil up some water add a measured amount of KNO3 and then take a nitrate reading if its what i want , allow to cool and add to my tank?

obviously i need to bring up the levels slowly and will do so over a course of a few weeks...

 

[7Enigma]

So here's a question, i can get KNO3 for about £9 for 500g (spent 2 mins having a quick look on the net) from a chemical manufacturer is there anything i need to be aware of? I guess once i've got it, i just boil up some water add a measured amount of KNO3 and then take a nitrate reading if its what i want , allow to cool and add to my tank?

obviously i need to bring up the levels slowly and will do so over a course of a few weeks...

While that's more expensive than what you should pay, you will probably be getter higher quality materials. That 500g will last you a LONG time so it would be money well spent.

As for how to add it, personally I just use dry measurements into a cup or so of tank water and add slowly to the tank (over the course of maybe 10minutes or so). In my 20gallon 1/4teaspoon (not sure how many ml this is in UK) will raise my nitrAte by 11ppm. If you have almost 0ppm you could safely add 1/4 teaspoon all at once and the fish will not be stressed (just don't dump it all on top of them!). I'd waid another day or 2 and add another 1/4 teaspoon to put you around 15-20ppm nitrAte which is an acceptable limit without any harm to the fish.

I don't think there is any need to boil it as KNO3 dissolves readily in water (unlike some of the other dry chemicals which tend to be much more difficult), and there is no way with the AP kit for you to accurately tell the difference between 40 and 80ppm (at least I can't). And you'll be making up a very concentrated batch if you use just a small cup like I do, so that it will be off the chart regardless (that 1/4 teaspoon in my 1 cup is probably several hundred ppm if not in the low thousands).

A benchtop scale is the most accurate way to weigh out dry chemicals but most of us don't have access to one, and frankly while the measuring spoons have a good amount of inaccuracy, as long as you always choose the height of the spoonful (I always choose a flat level since its easiest), your variability should be pretty consistent.

Now something like CSM+B which is a very concentrated trace mix would be near impossible to accurately dose dry and that is why we make up a stock solution and then dose from that. I suppose you could do the same with the KNO3, but I don't think its needed.

HTH,

justin

 

[chrism]

ah right ok im with you, well thanks for all your help everyone. Everyone's been great!

 

[Purrbox]

If you check out Rex Grigg's site, he's got a few links posted for sources of dry ferts. Might want to check them out to see if they are any less expensive than the site you already found.

 

[malkore]

Not sure how much Rex knows about UK sites. Basically just look for greenhouse grade ferts. They'll be pure enough for our needs, and as long as its still KNO3, K2SO4, then its the same stuff.

keep in mind that gregwatson isn't trying to make a lot of money, just be an outlet to hobbyists, so his prices aren't exactly retail...more like wholesale.

 

[7Enigma]

That link was hilarious, but completely true! I love that last line....

Yeah I forgot to mention that when dosing dry the amount of substrate in your tank decreases the actual amount of water in there. So for my 20gallon tank I probably only have about 17gallons of water so that 11ppm is really more like 13ppm. Still not a big difference but for things like KH adjustment might be more important.

 

[chrism]

haha yea, rex has a way with words this has been most helpful, i'll let you know how my tank gets on!