Why are my nitrates so low?

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DeirdreHoyle

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
517
Location
Portland, OR
Hi All,
I have a 25 gallon community tank and I just tested my water and my nitrates are at 0. From what I've read, having no nitrates is not normal. Is it possible to have too low of nitrates? I am posting this in the planted tank forum because all of my plants are currently struggling and I'm wondering if that has something to do with my low nitrate levels. My water parameters/stock are below.

Water:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 7.6
Temp: Between 75-79
I do weekly 30-40% water changes

Plants:
1 water wisteria (leaves are turning dark brown)
2 Red amazon swords (leaves turning yellow and brown)
After my weekly water change I add flourish, flourish potassium, flourish iron, sometimes flourish excel, and prime.

Stock:
5 Neons
6 Harlequin Rasboras
1 Clown Pleco
2 Kuhli Loaches

Any help is appreciated!
 
I believe the wisteria is consuming the nitrates. From the list of ferts you provided, I do not think any provide nitrogen/nitrate (I could be wrong).
The nitrates in my planted tank stay around 10-20 ppm (weekly WC ~30%). I had to omit dosing the nitrate bottle because they were getting too high. Using dry ferts PPS-Pro method.
 
Does seachem comprehensive contain nitrate? It might be worth looking into.

In a normal fully cycled tank you would expect to see nitrates. Unless as Fresh said the plants are consuming them faster than they are being produced.

Maybe you dont need to be doing a 50% weekly change. Might be ok doing just 30%

Also seachem excel needs to be dosed daily if possible. Its a liquid carbon and plants will use the carbon for growth. Liquid carbons are broken down by light and will become ineffective after something like 12hours. This is why its a daily dose
 
What are you testing your water with?

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Water wisteria is a pretty heavy root feeder. None of your plants are really going to absorb nitrate through the water column so I would look at the technique of performing the nitrate test. You need to follow the directions on the kit to the letter including timed shaking to get proper results. Otherwise it generally counts it at 0ppm
 
Water wisteria is a pretty heavy root feeder. None of your plants are really going to absorb nitrate through the water column so I would look at the technique of performing the nitrate test. You need to follow the directions on the kit to the letter including timed shaking to get proper results. Otherwise it generally counts it at 0ppm


+1 good point
 
Ok, thanks for all the replies. I use API test tubes (not strips) for all my water testing. I know the nitrate test is a bit more complicated than the others as far as shaking the tubes so I'll do it again today and make sure I'm following directions. I will also start adding Excel every day.

Should I look for a fertilizer with nitrates in it?
 
Ok, thanks for all the replies. I use API test tubes (not strips) for all my water testing. I know the nitrate test is a bit more complicated than the others as far as shaking the tubes so I'll do it again today and make sure I'm following directions. I will also start adding Excel every day.

Should I look for a fertilizer with nitrates in it?


If it turns out that your test results are accurate and you do have 0 nitrates then yes you will need to dose nitrate. Seachem does a liquid nitrate similar to your iron and potassium
 
Yes sorry i wasnt sure. I use dry ferts now so had forgotten all about the seachem range.

They do however do a liquid nitrate

Oh yeah I would eventually like to switch to dry ferts. I will look for a liquid nitrate.

Could low nitrates mean my tank doesn't have enough bb?
 
Oh yeah I would eventually like to switch to dry ferts. I will look for a liquid nitrate.

Could low nitrates mean my tank doesn't have enough bb?


No not at all. If your not getting any ammonia or nitrite show up in tests then your bb colony is sufficient and doing its job. One of the plants you mentioned is fast growing and really takes in a lot of nitrates. Its not a bad thing that your not showing nitrates. Just means you need to help your plants out a bit by providing more
 
You can use the seachem liquid nitrogen for nitrates.

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Yea use liquid nitrogen in your tank if you want to turn it into a block of ice ?lol


That was cold.
I'll see myself out.

I used API Leafzone + Seachem Flourish Comprehensive as a macro-micro combination and I thought it worked well. However, with dry ferts you get to fine tune things to your tanks specific needs.
 
Ok so I tested nitrates again and they are still at 0. I did some research and there actually is a Flourish Nitrogen that can help increase nitrates...soo I'm gonna look for it at the lfs tomorrow.
 
Ok so I tested nitrates again and they are still at 0. I did some research and there actually is a Flourish Nitrogen that can help increase nitrates...soo I'm gonna look for it at the lfs tomorrow.

That's what I'm saying haha, I have a bottle I don't use cause my fish poop so much:)

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I've stopped gravel vaccing just so my nitrates can stay around 10ppm. Works a treat.
 
I've stopped gravel vaccing just so my nitrates can stay around 10ppm. Works a treat.

That is a great idea....I always vacuum my gravel a ton!

Just bought Flourish Nitrogen and from reading the back of the bottle it sounds like exactly what I need. Hopefully my plants can be saved, they're in pretty bad shape right now :/
 
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