Full Version: Nitrates?
What are they and is 40ppm bad? My ammo and nitrites are 0. Tank has been up for 6 mos or so. Thanks!
Hi Sushie.
Nitrates are the last in the cycle and are usually removed by water changes. They are also removed by plants which feed on them to grow.
If I were you, I'd adjust your water changes to be a little more frequent. 40 Nitrates are borderline and try to keep them around 20. Since you are at 6 months this is testing your routine for a little more fine tuning. Start with a larger water change, maybe 25 percent, wait a day, do another then measure. Keep track to make sure you don't get Ammonia and Nitrites which would pop-up if you killed too many bio-bugs which eat them.
How much percent of water changes and how frequent do you do them? Maybe 5 percent more or every 3 days instead of 4 for example.
Make sense?
Nitrates are the last in the cycle and are usually removed by water changes. They are also removed by plants which feed on them to grow.
If I were you, I'd adjust your water changes to be a little more frequent. 40 Nitrates are borderline and try to keep them around 20. Since you are at 6 months this is testing your routine for a little more fine tuning. Start with a larger water change, maybe 25 percent, wait a day, do another then measure. Keep track to make sure you don't get Ammonia and Nitrites which would pop-up if you killed too many bio-bugs which eat them.
How much percent of water changes and how frequent do you do them? Maybe 5 percent more or every 3 days instead of 4 for example.
Make sense?
I do water changes of about 1/3 every week to week and a half. I will just bump it up a little more often. I just put the fish that had been in the tank into the outdoor pond and bought all new fish for the tank. I have had a whole host of problems (ich, then ulcer, fungus on fin and body, and now a little left over fin rot!) so I was wondering if this was just new fish or a water problem. Thanks again,
Nitrates are the bane of most fish-keepers' existences. As the last stage in the cycle, they can only be removed with water changes. Although, live plants are also good, as they can "eat" some of them, I guess. This is predicated on your fish not eating all the plants, so... *shrug*
The lower the better, but it's likely to take time. I have to check my readings this week as a matter of fact. I am hoping I can bring them down, but sometimes, it seems impossible. You might want to check your tap water -- if it has a certain level of nitrates already in it, I'm not sure you can reduce them below that. Other people on the board would know more about that than me.
The other thing, of course, is that nitrates can worsen swim bladder problems -- so if you have vulnerable fish, that's one of the reasons you want to monitor your nitrates. I'm thinking of setting up a little book by the tank with that info, also, so I will hopefully remember to check the water params. more often.
Hope some of this helped...
Mav
The lower the better, but it's likely to take time. I have to check my readings this week as a matter of fact. I am hoping I can bring them down, but sometimes, it seems impossible. You might want to check your tap water -- if it has a certain level of nitrates already in it, I'm not sure you can reduce them below that. Other people on the board would know more about that than me.
The other thing, of course, is that nitrates can worsen swim bladder problems -- so if you have vulnerable fish, that's one of the reasons you want to monitor your nitrates. I'm thinking of setting up a little book by the tank with that info, also, so I will hopefully remember to check the water params. more often.
Hope some of this helped...
Mav
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