JennaNiccole
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2017
- Messages
- 12
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!
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!