Plants And Nitrates. How Many?

[NewToFish1989]

Having 10 to 20ppm of nitrates in my tap water, my tank usually stays around 40ppm Nitrate and planning on adding plants to try and lower it as I can do 50% water changes as many times I want, still will be around 40 as its down to my tap water.

Which are the best plants to soak up the excess Nitrates and how many would you recommend I pack into my 160 litre tank? Tired of dealing with it and tired of the algae battle as well and do worry for my fish's health

 

[philipraposo198]

Fill the surface with floaters (duckweed, frogbit, water lettuce) and get some fast growers. Water sprite is a great one. Get some pennywort and some.Asian ambulia. Crypts too is a good option.

Fully planted is the way to go.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Mebbid]

If you have low light which most people do if they haven't outfitted their tank for plants then about your best bet would be duckweed.

The low light water column feeders such as anubias, java fern, java moss, and bolbitis are all very slow growers so consume a tiny amount of nitrate and plants such as Crypts are root feeders so they won't really impact your nitrates at all. I honestly doubt you will see much difference unless you upgrade your lighting and add some fertilizers.

 

[anteatergoanna]

Mebbid, u say upgrade lighting, isn't the T5 enough for plants, or is that considered "low lighting", if so, what would you suggest?


Sent from anteatergoanna's burrow

 

[BBradbury]

Nitrates

Having 10 to 20ppm of nitrates in my tap water, my tank usually stays around 40ppm Nitrate and planning on adding plants to try and lower it as I can do 50% water changes as many times I want, still will be around 40 as its down to my tap water.

Which are the best plants to soak up the excess Nitrates and how many would you recommend I pack into my 160 litre tank? Tired of dealing with it and tired of the algae battle as well and do worry for my fish's health

Hello New...

I use Hornwort and Common water weed (Anacharis) in my tanks. Any floating plant will take in nitrates through the leaves. I change out a lot of water every week in my tanks, so I don't worry about the water chemistry. The fish and plants generally take care of themselves. Anacharis will help with the algae. I read some time ago that it gives off a mild chemical that slows the growth of most kinds of algae. It must work, I have little visible algae in my tanks, but I do thin the floaters every couple of weeks.

B

 

[Fishfanboy]

You could use hornwort

 

[Mebbid]

Mebbid, u say upgrade lighting, isn't the T5 enough for plants, or is that considered "low lighting", if so, what would you suggest?


Sent from anteatergoanna's burrow

It's possible, what light fixture do you have and what bulbs do you use?