Is 0ppm Nitrate bad?

[Rolance]

If i did a very large water change and vacuuming, replaced one of my 3 filters media and squeezed the other 2 filter's media in tank water in a bucket could this all restart the cycle?
My parameters are:
Ammo - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm
pH - 7.5

Its a 55 gallon community tank.

Does 0 Nitrate always mean the cycle has been restarted?

 

[elephantnose]

Your parameters are good. Just keep on checking to make sure no ammonia shows up.
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[BBradbury]

Your Water Chemistry

If i did a very large water change and vacuuming, replaced one of my 3 filters media and squeezed the other 2 filter's media in tank water in a bucket could this all restart the cycle?
My parameters are:
Ammo - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate-0 ppm
pH - 7.5

Its a 55 gallon community tank.

Does 0 Nitrate always mean the cycle has been restarted?

Hello Rol...

I'd question the accuracy of the testing procedures first, then the expiration date of the testing kit. If you have beneficial bacteria doing their job, you'll have dissolved nitrates in the water. Even a very large water change performed regularly will leave some trace of nitrogen in the water.

B

 

[Laser]

Do you have live plants?

 

[Luananeko]

Hello Rol...

I'd question the accuracy of the testing procedures first, then the expiration date of the testing kit. If you have beneficial bacteria doing their job, you'll have dissolved nitrates in the water. Even a very large water change performed regularly will leave some trace of nitrogen in the water.

B

Not necessarily. Live plants and the use of nitrate-absorbing media (such as Purigen, lava rocks, etc) combined with large, regular water changes can eliminate enough nitrates to the point that they are undetectable.

 

[Rolance]

I do use purigen and I just took out my live plants. I need to check the expiration date on my master testing kit and get a new one most likely.

 

[Freakgecko91]

Make sure you are shaking the nitrate bottles as instructed and letting it sit long enough before checking


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[trennamw]

The nitrate test is a bear. Shake shake shake shake shake.

If I change water as often as suggested here (50% weekly), I get a 0 nitrate test reading too. If I do a little less (won't say how much because I'll get blasted as a bad fish momma) they come up to something between 0 and 5. I don't use anything else to remove nitrAte, I do have a small number of plants. My ammo and nitrite are always 0 ... It's when they creep up that you have disturbed the cycle.

Sometimes when my test results make me wonder I change the proportions. For instance, doing the nitrate test with 2.5 ml of water or twice as many drops.

I had LFS check too ... I brought tapwater and some from my tank that hadn't had a pwc in 9 days or a gravel vac for 3 weeks. He checked the tank water, and said "ok you did a good job supplementing the tapwater, now let's look at your dirty water." When I told him that was the dirty water he asked more about my routine and said I have a good thing going.

Not advocating less tank maintenance, my point is every tank has its own ecosystem and it's possible to have one that results in little to no nitrate.

So if your test kit is good, and your plants if you have them are healthy, and the fish are healthy ... No nothing you did should kill your bb colony so it's probably all good.

 

[NewToFish1989]

Not necessarily. Live plants and the use of nitrate-absorbing media (such as Purigen, lava rocks, etc) combined with large, regular water changes can eliminate enough nitrates to the point that they are undetectable.

Disagree on the Purigen, its useless for absorbing Nitrates! I've used it over and over again and does nothing besides make water crystal clear.

 

[Luananeko]

Disagree on the Purigen, its useless for absorbing Nitrates! I've used it over and over again and does nothing besides make water crystal clear.

Your results may differ, but both of my tanks consistently crept up to 15 nitrates each week prior to my 50% water change. Once I added purigen, I'm now consistently reading zero for a month and a half straight. I had my LFS test it as well as checked with two different kits myself just to make sure. I made no other changes to my system or fert/water change schedule up till last week. I'm pleasantly surprised by how well its worked for me, as I was pretty skeptical before.

 

[Caliban07]

Apparently purigen removes organic wastes materials before they can become nitrates. It doesn't directly absorb nitrates. Nothing does.

Prime binds it and lava rock provides anaerobic conditions within the rock Itself that can encourage denitrification. Never used it though so not sure on its efficiency. Never used purigen either. Just plants and water changes. The only time I developed 0ppm nitrates was when I was doing 50% water changes twice a week in a large under stocked tank. It's not a bad thing but if you have live plants I would like to see some nitrates.

 

[Luananeko]

I've experimented with lava rock (liked the look of it and was a good foraging ground and place for moss to grow for a shrimp colony section of my sump), and it works to a certain extent. I had a 10g tank with a decent amount of lava rock and it lowered a 56g system from 20 nitrates a week to about 10 nitrates a week. Not too shabby for something I wanted for other purposes anyways.

 

[Caliban07]

I've experimented with lava rock (liked the look of it and was a good foraging ground and place for moss to grow for a shrimp colony section of my sump), and it works to a certain extent. I had a 10g tank with a decent amount of lava rock and it lowered a 56g system from 20 nitrates a week to about 10 nitrates a week. Not too shabby for something I wanted for other purposes anyways.

Makes me wonder why it isn't used in nitrate filter experiments. These people trying to make perfect anaerobic conditions using a low flow filter with specific materials inside. Lava rock sounds like a good choice.

 

[BBradbury]

Water Chemistry

Hello again Ro...

If your plants are relatively healthy, there will be a trace of this form of nitrogen in the water. I keep well planted 55 G tanks and change large amounts of tank water frequently, but never vacuum the bottom. The organic plant and animal material that collects there dissolves and feeds the plants. The bulk of the nutrients not used are removed through large, regular water changes. The water change maintains stable water conditions for the fish and plants. Just by the decaying of the plants and feeding the fish on a routine basis, there will be some level of nitrates in the water.

I gave up water testing some time ago. I figured if I changed so much water and changed it so often, there was no way toxins would build up to a level that would bother my fish. Consider large, weekly water changes and don't worry about a particular water chemistry.

B

 

[ArtistGardener]

I do water changes only every 10-14 days on my heavily planted 55. My nitrates never get over 5 and usually read 0 (and I know my test kit works fine because the goldfish tank tests 20 ppm within a week of water changes). Just watch the fish and keep up with your water changes like bbradbury said. I often swish/squeeze the filter media from both Aquaclears in that tank at the same time without any problems. As long as you used tank water, they should be fine.

 

[lossam8199]

0ppm nitrate is biologically impossible. you have tested it wrong


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[ArtistGardener]

Anything under 5 is so difficult to discern on the test kit that I consider it 0. Like I said, my test is fine. I have had my platy fry tank get up to 30-40 in a few days, goldfish tank always test about 20 each week before water changes. My two heavily planted tanks (corydoras 20 gallon, 55 community) never get over 5 and usually show no discernible change. Depending on the bioload, filtration, and plants (this is the big difference, both is numbers and types of plants), it is possible to have almost no nitrates. I do water changes every 10 days or so of anywhere from 20-40% (rarely 50%) anyway to reset levels due to liquid plant supplements.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

0ppm nitrate is biologically impossible. you have tested it wrong


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Assuming no live plants, yes. Otherwise I have to whole heartedly disagree. Aquaponics systems are very easy to get 0 nitrates and have yellowing plants due to nitrogen deficiency...
That said, it's much more difficult to achieve this in the aquarium without heavy planting or running a filter with a plant growing in the flowing water, a nitrate reactor, etc

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[ArtistGardener]

Exactly. I have trouble keeping my nitrates up to a level recommended (and have given up that cause) in my planted tanks.