Nitrate Curiosity question...

[HopefulHobbiest]

i've been wondering this for the last few weeks so now i've decided to ask.

is it possible to completely zero out your nitrates if you have enough plants?

for example let use the 40G Breeder i'm piecing together...

i'm really only gonna have 4 GBR in it but it's going to be almost completely planted with the excpetion of a few open areas.

so in a setup of only 4 fish in a heavily planted tank is it even possible for your plants to suck all the nitrates out of the water??

i can't see 4 fish that normally won't get any bigger than 3 inches creating a massive amount of ammonia which through the process becomes nitrate.

hope this makes sense lol

 

[bud29]

Yes, it is possible for plants to suck all the nitrates out of the water. However, if you have high nitrates in your tap and an overstocked tank, it may not happen. It also has to do with the growth speed of the plants. Plants that grow faster take up more nitrates, slower growers take up smaller amounts of nitrates.

Also, if you do reach 0 nitrates, in a planted tank it is generally not a good idea to keep the nitrates there, because the plants may then suffer from nitrate deficiency.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

thats true, i also though about that too... i wouldn't want to "Starve" my plants.

i may have to figure out some type of nitrate replacement for the plants in the GBR tank or maybe over feed slightly so there's some nitrates in the tank.

not sure what i'm gonna do yet. got some time to plan before i get to work on this.

 

[bud29]

well, how many nitrates are in your tap water? A simple water change could add some more nitrates to your tank. Also, if there are hardly any nitrates in your tap water, I believe there are nitrate-adding plant fertilizers you can purchase.

 

[BBradbury]

Nitrate Question

Hello Hope...

Nitrates are at the "tail end" of the nitrogen cycle, so at low levels, they won't hurt your fish. There are no microscopic bugs that use nitrate, so the only way to remove them is to change out the tank water.

That said, if you had a minimal fish load and removed and replaced a lot of tank water often, then you could have very low nitrates or possibly a "0" nitrate reading.

Not sure why you'd go to that much effort to remove a form of nitrogen that's essentially harmless at low levels.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

 

[bud29]

the only way to remove them is to change out the tank water.

although live plants do remove nitrates, not?

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

My tap has 0 nitrates to begin with... and this was mkre a curiosity question. I do know that low level nitrates have almost no affect on fish but like I said I was just curious lol

 

[jetajockey]

You can dose nitrogen if needed. I would try to maintain a low level just so the plants don't bottom out.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Very true... im glad I got some insight into this... so ultimately its not good to strive for zero nitrates lol

 

[Wy Renegade]

Hello Hope...

Nitrates are at the "tail end" of the nitrogen cycle, so at low levels, they won't hurt your fish. There are no microscopic bugs that use nitrate, so the only way to remove them is to change out the tank water.

That said, if you had a minimal fish load and removed and replaced a lot of tank water often, then you could have very low nitrates or possibly a "0" nitrate reading.

Not sure why you'd go to that much effort to remove a form of nitrogen that's essentially harmless at low levels.

Just a couple of thoughts.

B

Just a point of clarification, both microscopic algae and anaerobic bacteria, both of which will use nitrates available in the water, are found in freshwater. Anaerobic bacteria the consume nitrate converting it into nitrogen gas are present in both fresh and saltwater systems if an anaerobic area occurs in the aquarium. Freshwater algae take up nitrates to convert them to amino acids and build proteins just as plants do.

thats true, i also though about that too... i wouldn't want to "Starve" my plants.

i may have to figure out some type of nitrate replacement for the plants in the GBR tank or maybe over feed slightly so there's some nitrates in the tank.

not sure what i'm gonna do yet. got some time to plan before i get to work on this.

Generally speaking when a aquarium has reached 0 nitrates, it is an indication that all nitrate being produced in the system is being consumed, not that you actually have zero nitrates. Since, as BB already pointed out, nitrates are the tail end of the nitrogen cycle, it is impossible to truly have zero nitrates in any aquarium. Generally speaking, existing plants would not starve or die out, but new growth could be inhibited.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

Very valid points... and i wouldn't want to inhibit new plant growth otherwise whats the point of a planted tank lol