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Nitrate levels...

jaylach said:
I'm not really sure as to what you are trying to tell me. I know the nitrogen cycle and realize that nitrates are the end result. My ammonia and nitrates are zero or close enough to not matter. With my tank being planted I want to see some nitrates. With what I have I consider 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 10 or less on nitrates just about as perfect as you can get with a heavily planted tank. Is there something I'm missing??
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All I was saying really is I wouldn't even worry if they were at 20ppm, API instructions state just to keep them below 40ppm in a freshwater tank, the trouble with the API kit is Nitrate is very difficult to read, see my picture beelow, ive just completed this test after a 30% water change, my tap water after treatment is 0.25ppm NO3, is my test result 5, 10 or 20ppm.

Also, according to the API website instructions, no where in there does it state you need to shake bottle one nor the test tube after youve added bottle 1 for 2 mins, im sure if this was the case they would of revised the instructions.

API® | FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT

The API FRESHWATER MASTER TEST KIT measures the 4 most important levels in freshwater aquariums quickly and accurately, including pH, high range pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
apifishcare.com apifishcare.com
 

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Hold the tube over the test card so that you see it against a white background, in good daylight. Allow the colour strips to overlap the water in the tube, that way you can more easily see which one matches up.
I believe that what happens to reagent 2 is that it precipitates out, which is why you have to shake it to re-dissolve it. A good tip is to rap the bottle on a hard surface to really loosen up and hard deposits that might have formed at the bottom. If you don't shake enough I think the likely result is a lower or even a zero value rather than a higher reading.
 
Ignore what API say about nitrate being OK up to 40 ppm, that's now out of date information. We now know nitrate should be 20 ppm or less, with lower being better.


Aquatic plants don't take up nitrate from preference, they take up ammonia made by the fish and they do it faster than the bacteria can eat it, so in a well planted tank there's no ammonia for the bacteria to turn into nitrite and on to nitrate. Plants turn ammonia into protein.
When tap water has high nitrate (UK max in drinking water is 50 ppm, in the US is ~45 ppm) it does make things a bit trickier keeping tank levels below 20 ppm as aquatic plants only turn to nitrate when there's no ammonia. That's why you'll see some tanks with terrestrial plants growing out of a fish tank, their roots are in the water taking up nitrate.
 
GaryE said:
I think it may be time to suggest some dance music playlists for all the test kit shakers out there.
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I totally agree! Shaking those things are HORRIBLE! 😂
I wish there were easier ways to do it.

Maybe just play Taylor Swift's "Shake it off" on repeat! 🤣🤣
Nah I couldn't make it through that nvm...
 
Goose3080 said:
Nitrates are not part of the cycle process, they are the waste product right at the end of the cycle, there is no bacteria to convert them into anything else, the only way to get rid of them is to do water changes or get some live nitrate eating plants, 10ppm on nitrates (NO3) is perfectly fine though, you fish can handle upto 40ppm, mine constantly hover around 10-20ppm, ive just added some more live plants into my tank, got to give them a little time to start working, but hopefully they'll get it down a bit.
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Technically incorrect as nitrates are almost the last part of the nitrogen cycle where the last part would be anaerobic bacteria that convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. In SW tanks, this is done by anaerobic bacteria inside live rock. HOWEVER, it is very difficult to get/culture anaerobic bacteria in the highly oxygenated freshwater aquarium. Many have tried, and some report success, with some bio-medias and/or deep sand. I personally spent a very long time trying to develop anaerobic bacteria with bio-medias, anoxic biocenosis clarification baskets, and deep sand. In the end I'm convinced that fast growing plants, modest feeding, and routine partial water changes are the very best measures. (Beware of snake oil/magic elixir bio-media claims of lower nitrates!)
Pls. See Filtration and Water Quality for a deep dive into the nitrogen cycle.
jaylach said:
I'm not really sure as to what you are trying to tell me. I know the nitrogen cycle and realize that nitrates are the end result. My ammonia and nitrates are zero or close enough to not matter. With my tank being planted I want to see some nitrates. With what I have I consider 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 10 or less on nitrates just about as perfect as you can get with a heavily planted tank. Is there something I'm missing??
Click to expand...
As mentioned, plants much prefer ammonia as their nitrogen source because it requires a fair bit of plant energy to process nitrates...and when ammonia is used by plants, it's not converted into nitrites, then nitrates, by beneficial bacteria. But this is primarily done by fast growing plants - often stem or floating plants. Aquariums with slow growing plants won't see much ammonia adsorption. :)
 
AbbeysDad said:
Technically incorrect as nitrates are almost the last part of the nitrogen cycle where the last part would be anaerobic bacteria that convert nitrates into nitrogen gas. In SW tanks, this is done by anaerobic bacteria inside live rock. HOWEVER, it is very difficult to get/culture anaerobic bacteria in the highly oxygenated freshwater aquarium. Many have tried, and some report success, with some bio-medias and/or deep sand. I personally spent a very long time trying to develop anaerobic bacteria with bio-medias, anoxic biocenosis clarification baskets, and deep sand. In the end I'm convinced that fast growing plants, modest feeding, and routine partial water changes are the very best measures. (Beware of snake oil/magic elixir bio-media claims of lower nitrates!)
Pls. See Filtration and Water Quality for a deep dive into the nitrogen cycle.

As mentioned, plants much prefer ammonia as their nitrogen source because it requires a fair bit of plant energy to process nitrates...and when ammonia is used by plants, it's not converted into nitrites, then nitrates, by beneficial bacteria. But this is primarily done by fast growing plants - often stem or floating plants. Aquariums with slow growing plants won't see much ammonia adsorption. :)
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Yesterday I picked up some water wisteria, I was so impressed with it I went back and picked up some other plants, got rid of most of the fake plants out of the tank, they didnt have much to choose from, so I chose based on my tank, not sure what they are but the 2 at the front he tells me wont grow any bigger, thats fine by me otherwise they wouldnt be at the front, as I was picking, he was telling me......thats an aquatic plant, thats a non aquatic plant that will only live for about 2 weeks underwater, I got so involved with who in their right mind would want a non aquatic plant that I forgot to ask what the ones were called that I chose.

 
so folks with chloramine water purification should not do giant water changes? I have had chloramine purified water since 1984, when I lost all my fish due to the city changing the water and me using a chlorine remover that didn't break chloramine lock.

50% water changes seemed like a lot to me, although I have been doing them, I don't do them weekly. More like every couple weeks. and yes my normal nitrate level is a little higher than recommended. (I still have Dry-Tab nitrate test, which is great but no longer made, 5 left...) I read somewhere on here that pothos will use a lot of nitrates so I have pothos ivy roots in my 29, which tends to have higher nitrates for some reason. (like 20 ppm)
 
@Goose3080 Dracenas are often sold as aquatic plants when they really belong in a plant pot.

I have a few websites for you but I'll post them in your Issues with NO2 and NO3 thread.
 
I’ve been having a similar nitrate/nitrite problem in my tank. Testing the water before putting it in the tank and it’s all good. It was so high last week that I changed all the water but very quickly it was up again and now even after a 50% water change the levels are still horrible and at the level that my kit says is too high. What are my options now? Can it be the gravel that’s causing the nitrate problem as that’s the thing I haven’t changed?
 
Hammerpgh said:
I’ve been having a similar nitrate/nitrite problem in my tank. Testing the water before putting it in the tank and it’s all good. It was so high last week that I changed all the water but very quickly it was up again and now even after a 50% water change the levels are still horrible and at the level that my kit says is too high. What are my options now? Can it be the gravel that’s causing the nitrate problem as that’s the thing I haven’t changed?
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Nitrate that occurs solely within the aquarium (i.e., none in the source water) is usually due to a high organic level. Ammonia is changed into nitrite then nitrate by the nitrifiers. Keeping the substrate clean, the filter spotless, not over-feeding, not over-stocking all help. And live plants especially fast growers will use more of the ammonia with the benefit of not resulting in nitrite then nitrate.

I have never come across nitrate somehow occurring from other sources. Other members may have more on this.
 
When you say keeping the filter spotless do you mean I should completely clean it removing anything that has built up on it. I did give it a clean Saturday when I did a 50% water change but the filter instructions said to just rinse the filter pads in the old tank water so as not to lose all the beneficial bacteria.
 
Hammerpgh said:
When you say keeping the filter spotless do you mean I should completely clean it removing anything that has built up on it. I did give it a clean Saturday when I did a 50% water change but the filter instructions said to just rinse the filter pads in the old tank water so as not to lose all the beneficial bacteria.
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Rinse the media at every water change. This removes the brown organic matter. Not only does this allow the water to freely run through the media like it is supposed to, but removing the organic buildup will help to reduce nitrates.

You can rinse media under the tap in warm (but not hot) water. Studies have proven that this will not kill the bacteria. I've done this for over 30 years. However, if you feel better rinsing it in a bucket of old tank water, fine. I find it easier under the tap.

Bacteria are sticky and attach themselves to surfaces and they will not come off with rinsing unless the water is very hot; lukewarm is fine.
 
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