Low nitrates

[Keepers_girl]

I have an established 10gal tank that doesn't have any nitrates anymore....at one point it was a constant 10ppm but today I tested the water and it has 0. Last water change was 10% on Monday. We do them weekly. It's a pretty heavily planted tank. The fish are really healthy and growing very fast. Is this something I should be worried about?

 

[krap101]

either you have plants in there or somethings wrong

 

[QTOFFER]

Plants will soak up and metabolize nitrates, but I'm really not sure if the levels will go down to 0. 10 ppm seems like a more likely reading.

What kind of test kit do you have? Is it possible that you forgot to add a reagent or mix well?

You probably have nothing to worry about, since you do weekly water changes. However, for peace of mind, you may want to bring a water sample to your lfs and have the results confirmed. I guess it's possible for test kits to expire like anything else.

 

[TankGirl]

I have a heavily planted tank with high light and CO2, and my nitrate is consistently zero, or at least unmeasurable with the standard kit. I have to add it to help my plants do well. If all is well with fish and plants, no worries!

 

[Fishboy-from-NY]

how do you add nitrates

 

[TankGirl]

I use greenhouse grade KNO3, potassium nitrate. You have to experiment with the dose but I keep it at 5ppm.

 

[Guest]

You want to keep your Phos to Nitra ratio at 1:10. Generally in a planted tank you want Phos to be .5-1 and Nitra 5-10. Try reading Rex Griggs FAQ here on AA.