No signs of nitrates. Should I still do water changes?

Hello all.

I have a 10-gallon tank with live plants and quite some livestock as well: about a dozen endlers, maybe 10 adult cherry shrimps, maybe 20 more baby shrimps and a dozen baby ramhorn snails. My last water change was two weeks ago, and I've been testing the water, and there's no sign of ammonia, nitrites or nitrates at all in the water (I mean, zero!). There's also no algae, so I'm wondering now if I should even mess with it and do a water change. The water is very clear, especially considering I only have a small sponge filter on it (the large one on the right here).

What do y'all think? Should I still do a water change? When should I? After so many sad speedbumps when I started the hobby about a year ago, I'm concerned this is too good to be true. It's been hard to get here today

I would love some advice.

Thank you.

Yes. Continue regular, partial water changes. Around 50% weekly is best imo.
The fish will need new water added and old removed to maintain good health. “Aged” has no special qualities.

Yes, do regular (once weekly) water changes, changing 50% or more. Provided the parameters--these are the GH, pH and temperature--are the same between tap water and tank water you cannot do harm by changing water. The more the better as far as fish health, and plants too.

There are important reasons for changing water, and except in an emergency, the ammonia and nitrite should remain zero and nitrates as low as you can keep them. Zero nitrate is understandable, that is one benefit of plants. Not that they use nitrate, but they grab ammonia/ammonium faster than the nitrifying bacteria, and plants do not cause nitrite or nitrate when they use the ammonia/ammonium.

My article on this forum should explain the rationale behind water changes.

Yes. Water changes do more than remove nitrates. They also replenish trace minerals.

DITTO. Although nitrate levels are one means of measuring pollution, there are other potential contaminates invisible to a nitrate test. Nature constantly freshens fresh water with rain and snow melt. In the confined aquarium, the hobbyist makes the rain to replace old water with fresh. So although 50% weekly may be overkill, in an ideal environment, fresh water would replace old water daily. We could debate the volme and frequency of partial water changes, but staying on top of routine partial water changes just makes good sense.

Always

The tank in my signature never shows any nitrate. I still change 75% of the water every week.

I'm learning every day! Thank you, everyone. I guess I know what I'm going to be doing this weekend

How would you like to swim in your own pee and poop. A weekly water change of about 50% is highly recommended.

Hello. Feed just a little every day or two and change half the water twice a week. This more aggressive water change routine will guarantee a stable water chemistry. You'll have no water quality problems.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

Did you give your Nitrates bottle a really good shaking? I think it's bottle 2 that is a pain to mix and if it's not done right it will read 0

I agree with what everyone has said. However, I'd like to add that zero nitrate is something to celebrate, as it usually means you're doing it right.

Plants need nitrogen N. Their preferred way to get this is via Ammonium (NH4). So, as Byron noted, they will use most of the ammonia created in a tank, but there will still be some bacteria who also use Ammonia (NH3). And, as Byron noted, only the bacteria will do the ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate. (Most of the ammonia in water is in the form of ammonium.)

Now you have a well planted tank, and my bet is there is not as much ammonia as they want. Your bacteria are making a bit of nitrate (NO3). So, any nitrate in the tank is being used by the plants. They do not use it as efficiently as they use ammonia. But most plants will take the N from nitrate if they must. Plus, we can not add ammonia to a tank with fish. Ferts for the planted tank will use other means to get N to the plants. Urea is one of the most common ways. For example, SeaChem Nitrogen lists two ingredients: potassium nitrate, urea. (no ammonia/ammonium).

Do you add any fertilizers for your plants? If not you may need to start. As the plants grow the amount of nutrients they need increases. One of the reasons for doing 50% weekly changes on a well planted tank is it will remove the things nothing really needs and any things there are more of than can be used. WCs will replenish some of what is needed but which has been used up. If your plants need more things than comes in with your water or which is created by the fish and other natural biological processes, you will need to add these things.

A 50% water change basically resets things. However, you may find you don't need to add a comprehensive general plant fert but just the trace elements. Your plants "tell" you what they need by how they grow and how they look. Generally, when using the lower light easy care plants, a minimal amount of a general fert once a week is usually sufficient. But if a tank is heavily stocked, then a supplement without Nitrogen or Phosphate is usually the better option. The fish will provide the N and P of the NPK macro nutrient group and the supplement will contain the K.

CaptainBarnicles said:

Did you give your Nitrates bottle a really good shaking? I think it's bottle 2 that is a pain to mix and if it's not done right it will read 0

Click to expand...

I'm thinking of buying one of those paint mixers they have in the hardware store for my bottle 2.

I had a 10-gallon tank a few years ago (only with red cherries) and I did 20-25 % water changes every two weeks. The frequency and the percentage depend on your stocking density.

Even in the aquaculture industry, in several production systems, there're also partial water changes.




The water changes also remove excess detritus.