nitrAte question

[vromanowski]

So my first planted tank has been running 5 days now, and I'm wondering, if plants need nitrates, are partial water changes still necessary?

also, i bought a liquid fertilizer (aqueon aquarium plant food - macro & micro nutrients) and I was wondering if this is all I need to dose. I also put root tabs in the substrate.

 

[mfdrookie516]

yes, you still need to do water changes to replace the minerals in the water that become depleted... as for ferts, it really depends on how your plants are doing. low light, low tech, probably not needed... high light, co2, may or may not be enough, really depends on your setup and how the plants are doing

 

[BigJim]

In theory, if you have enough plants, you don't need to do PWCs for nitrate reasons. You do still need to do PWCs to remove other things that build up and add things that deplete that you don't test for.