Nitrate Level Solutions?

[JennaNiccole]

Hello!

I've been frustrated that the NO3 won't go down in my recently cycled tanks, until today I finally thought to test my tap water and found out the nitrate levels straight out of my tap are almost 10ppm, according to my API liquid test kit. (Still not sure why the 29 gallon consistently has NO3 levels of closer to 20ppm after a week of 50% daily water changes, maybe the ADA aqua soil is to blame? I feel like it's getting lower, but apparently it can never get below 10 with my tap water.)

Anyway, I'm hoping to get the nitrates down a little in the tank since 10ppm seems high to start with, since I won't have much room at all for nitrates to rise once I've got fish releasing ammonia in there. I'm planning to keep a betta in my 5, which should be fine since most bettas are so adaptable (though of course I still want the nitrates as low as possible for him!) but I want apistos, pencilfish, and CPDs in the 29 and I know the apistos and CPDs can be very sensitive to water quality.

What's the cheapest, most reasonable option for lowering the nitrates in my tank? I can't buy water at a LFS, and I definitely don't have the money for a RO system currently, though I'd like one eventually. I've read there are certain filter medias and denitrifying biofilters that might work, but I have no experience with these and don't really know what to look for.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks so much!

 

[Bert2oo1]

Hello!



I've been frustrated that the NO3 won't go down in my recently cycled tanks, until today I finally thought to test my tap water and found out the nitrate levels straight out of my tap are almost 10ppm, according to my API liquid test kit. (Still not sure why the 29 gallon consistently has NO3 levels of closer to 20ppm after a week of 50% daily water changes, maybe the ADA aqua soil is to blame? I feel like it's getting lower, but apparently it can never get below 10 with my tap water.)



Anyway, I'm hoping to get the nitrates down a little in the tank since 10ppm seems high to start with, since I won't have much room at all for nitrates to rise once I've got fish releasing ammonia in there. I'm planning to keep a betta in my 5, which should be fine since most bettas are so adaptable (though of course I still want the nitrates as low as possible for him!) but I want apistos, pencilfish, and CPDs in the 29 and I know the apistos and CPDs can be very sensitive to water quality.



What's the cheapest, most reasonable option for lowering the nitrates in my tank? I can't buy water at a LFS, and I definitely don't have the money for a RO system currently, though I'd like one eventually. I've read there are certain filter medias and denitrifying biofilters that might work, but I have no experience with these and don't really know what to look for.



Any advice would be appreciated!



Thanks so much!

Throw some low light plants in there to chew it up. If your tap is 10ppm it means you can dose less nitrogen to the system. See it as a added bonus! Mosses are a good addition to soak up nitrates. Also some floaters maybe? Duckweed or frogbit? Both of these will help eat away at the nitrate.

If your get seperate doses for everything kh2po4
K2so4
Trace
Iron (if needed)

Then you don't have to dose nitrogen depending on your plant uptake.

Do you have any plants currently?
Are you dosing ferts?
As long as nitrates stay below 40 before a water change then you don't need to worry about it

 

[BBradbury]

Jen...

The simplest way is large, frequent water changes. Change most of the tank water every few days to maintain a steady water chemistry. A level, consistent chemistry is the most important. Nitrate is the end of the nitrogen cycle, so the level you have is acceptable for most of the aquarium fish you get at the pet store.

Add some floating plants like Hornwort or Water sprite. These kinds of plants take nitrogen in through the leaves and will help steady the water chemistry between water changes.

B

 

[JennaNiccole]

Throw some low light plants in there to chew it up. If your tap is 10ppm it means you can dose less nitrogen to the system. See it as a added bonus! Mosses are a good addition to soak up nitrates. Also some floaters maybe? Duckweed or frogbit? Both of these will help eat away at the nitrate.

If your get seperate doses for everything kh2po4
K2so4
Trace
Iron (if needed)

Then you don't have to dose nitrogen depending on your plant uptake.

Do you have any plants currently?
Are you dosing ferts?
As long as nitrates stay below 40 before a water change then you don't need to worry about it

Oh wow, I forgot about plants!! I do have plants, they're relatively heavily planted tanks. I dosed with Seachem Flourish when I first set up the tank since I was a bit worried about some of the plants, but i haven't dosed with that since. I do dose with Excel, but I don't think that has Nitrates. Maybe I just need to let the water sit a bit longer between changes and see what the plants uptake, and not do any more Flourish doses?

Is below 40 still okay for the apistogrammas? I've read they're one of the most sensitive freshwater fish to nitrates, so that's what I'm mostly worried about. I'm also not adding them first so I can see where I end up after adding more plants, letting the plants I have grow, etc. but I don't want to buy a nice $50 pair and then lose them to water quality.

Thanks so much for your reply!!

 

[Autumnsky]

Welcome to API Fishcare: NITRA-ZORB®

What kind of filter are you using? If it is a HOB filter, try and see if an additional filter pad will slide in back of the first one, even if you have to slit the side and remove a side of plastic frame inside of it (not all have those frames but if it does, it is harder to fit the pad in). Most will allow for an additional one to fit in. More room for BB.

 

[JennaNiccole]

Welcome to API Fishcare: NITRA-ZORB®

What kind of filter are you using? If it is a HOB filter, try and see if an additional filter pad will slide in back of the first one, even if you have to slit the side and remove a side of plastic frame inside of it (not all have those frames but if it does, it is harder to fit the pad in). Most will allow for an additional one to fit in. More room for BB.

Both my tanks have HOBs, the 5 has a tetra whisper and the 29 has an aqua clear. My whisper currently has some fluval biomax and a little sponge that came with the filter. The aquaclear has the material that came with it minus the activated carbon, which I think is more fluval biomax and a fluval sponge. What kind of filter pad would you recommend adding? They both have a bit of extra room since I haven't added the activated carbon that came with each filter, so I'm sure I could squeeze something in.

 

[Autumnsky]

With those you could use Matrix
Seachem - Prime.

Alternately less BB colony space but just a couple chunks of bulk filter pad. Usually found in a roll in a bag at the big box lfs. If you rather not store such a size package, just get a quality soft filter pad and cut to fit your space.

The ceramic rings which you can buy (or the ones wich come with the AC like pellets, I feel do not have enough BB space. I am getting more Matrix this next week as my choice for additional filtration, more tiny spaces for BB colony to grow, in my canister and AC & Fluval hob filters.

 

[BBradbury]

Jen...

As long as your goal isn't to keep and breed rare species of fish, you can easily maintain a healthy tank by just setting up and following a sound water change routine. There's no reason to use chemicals or filtered water. This can create water chemistry problems and this is deadly to fish. Just treat the tank water with the standard additive, like Seachem's "Safe" that removes chlorine and chloramine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

Here's a suggestion that may help. Avoid small tanks, they're hard to keep clean enough for the fish. If you must keep something smaller than 20 gallons, then remove and replace at least half the water every 3 to 4 days. More often is always better.

If you simply remove and replace a lot of tank water and do it often. You'll have less to remember to do and your fish and plants can take care of themselves.

B