Best Method of reducing nitrates, without affecting minerals and other nutrients.

[Flyer99]

Hello, I have been struggling with high nitrates ever since I first started fish keeping, and its caused me to maintain weekly water changes for 30-50%. I am now not able to continue doing weekly water changes as I leave the house for long periods due to new changes.

I therefore decided to check why I have high nitrates, and I did some tests of my water at source and it turns out its 30ppm nitrates out of the tap (I checked my water company as well and their quality control statement says 28.2ppm, so not too far off). My tank nitrates at the end of the week are a steady 40-45ppm, whenever I do water changes Im only bringing them back down by 10ppm, which isn't efficient. My question is this, which of these products do you think is the best to reduce moderate/high nitrates to a level around 10-20ppm in the long term, without taking away all the other minerals such as calcium. My research leads me to believe these products will only affect nitrates, and require certain flow rates, but not 100% convinced.

Products Ive been looking at (I will only use one)

Seachem De-Nitrate Filter media
Seachem Purigen Filter media
Countryside Aquatics C3 Crystal Clear Nitrate Remover Resin Filter
FishLogic Nitrate Removal Filter.

MY TANKS
Tank 1 Parameters: 100 litres
Seachem Tidal 35 (500 litres an hour)
Heavily Planted including 2 fast growing plants
Nerite snails
Corydora
Some pothos cuttings

Tank 2 Parameters: 140 litres
Rena Filstar XP3 (1200 litres an hour)
Heavily Planted including 3 fast growing plants
Amano Shrimp
Community fish
Multiple pothos cuttings

I live in an area of very hard water.
Even just a review of your experience using the above products will help.

Thank you very much!

p.s picture of nitrates of tap water included.

 

[Colin_T]

You can get rid of nitrates by putting tap water into a large plastic container, aquarium or pond, and growing floating plants on the water. Leave the plants until the nitrate is 0ppm, then dechlorinate the water and use it to do water changes on the tanks.

 

[Sgooosh]

i used duckweed, or any other floater
grows fast and soaks up nutrients

 

[Byron]

One of our members @AbbeysDad has this problem (high nitrate in the source water) and has an article on his blog as to how he solved it.

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i used duckweed, or any other floater
grows fast and soaks up nutrients

This works with nitrates occurring within the aquarium. But when they are in the source water itself, aquarium (aquatic) plants won't help because they do not take up nitrates. Terrestrial plants that can have their roots in the tank water can help because terrestrial plants take up nitrate via their roots as their source of nitrogen. Aquatic plants are different; the vast majority take up ammonia/ammonium (which helps by limiting nitrite which in turn limits nitrate) as their source of nitrogen.

 

[AbbeysDad]

In addition to the article Byron suggested above, check out https://mjvaquatics.com/lowering-aquarium-nitrates/
Also, I highly recommend API Nitra-Zorb sold in pouches to use in a filter - rechargeable many times in ordinary salt water.

 

[Arthur11]

Depend on the size of the tank you are treating. If you have a large tank, like 50-gallons and up, and you have a rather large filter system, you can use filter media. If you have a bioreactor, you can also use resin pellets. It is suitable for high-ammonia setups.
On the other hand, if you have a small tank, like 15 to 20-gallons, you can use water conditioners. These are products that contain natural enzymes that break down harmful chemicals in the water.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

You can get rid of nitrates by putting tap water into a large plastic container, aquarium or pond, and growing floating plants on the water. Leave the plants until the nitrate is 0ppm, then dechlorinate the water and use it to do water changes on the tanks.

Having wallowed in 1960s nostalgia recently, this advice reminds me that sometimes, just sometimes, the Old Ways still have some validity.

 

[NannaLou]

Emergent plants also remove nitrates, I’ve got a peace lily and a philodendron (related to Pathos) in my tank.

 

[Byron]

Be very careful here, some of these plants are poisonous. Pothos plants for example; though rarely fatal to humans, the plant can cause irritation and vomiting if ingested due to the fact that it contains calcium oxalates. Even the sap from the plant may cause highly sensitive people to break out in a rash. It is considered toxic to cats, dogs, and children. Placing the roots of these terrestrial plants in the tank water will remove nitrates (terrestrial plants, unlike aquatic, use nitrate as their primary source of nitrogen) but if the roots should break, or be bitten by fish, releasing this toxic sap might be fatal to the fish.

 

[NannaLou]

Be very careful here, some of these plants are poisonous. Pothos plants for example; though rarely fatal to humans, the plant can cause irritation and vomiting if ingested due to the fact that it contains calcium oxalates. Even the sap from the plant may cause highly sensitive people to break out in a rash. It is considered toxic to cats, dogs, and children. Placing the roots of these terrestrial plants in the tank water will remove nitrates (terrestrial plants, unlike aquatic, use nitrate as their primary source of nitrogen) but if the roots should break, or be bitten by fish, releasing this toxic sap might be fatal to the fish.

@Byron thank you for that information. I knew it was dangerous to cats/dogs but totally unaware that it might be dangerous to fish as it is widely mentioned as being suitable for growing as a emergent plant in aquariums.

I’m looking to have Endler‘s in the tank, as they likely to eat the roots..? I know some fish are known to be very destructive with plants…

 

[Byron]

@Byron thank you for that information. I knew it was dangerous to cats/dogs but totally unaware that it might be dangerous to fish as it is widely mentioned as being suitable for growing as a emergent plant in aquariums.

I’m looking to have Endler‘s in the tank, as they likely to eat the roots..? I know some fish are known to be very destructive with plants…

I suspect Endlers would nibble anything they come across in the hopes it might be food. I would not risk it.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I too have found that keeping the filter media cleanish can lower nitrates in the tank (though not in the source water). I have thought about adding some water hyacinth to my tank if the nitrates ever get high again.

 

[Flyer99]

Hi all, sorry for the late reply, been busy. Since posting this thread I have gone and done some more research and have decided to go with the C3 resin (i think its the equivalent of the API Nitra-Zorb).

I placed it in my canister filter, on top of the biohome filter media. I then recorded the nitrates since introducing it. Before the addition as mentioned my nitrates where 40ppm, after 6 hours they dropped to 20-25ppm, and after 26 hours they are around 10-15ppm. I am really happy with that as I actually don't want them to drop to 0 as my tank is planted. I will see how long it lasts until the nitrates come back up.

Interesting article Byron, I have read it and it made me think about perhaps putting the pouch into another filter and filtering the water before its in the tank, as when I go to do a water change in a few weeks I will just be putting 30ppm nitrates back in, so might think about that if my current method doesn't work. The C3 resin is rechargeable as well, so will see how this works for a few weeks and keep a record of nitrates frequently.

About the plants, I actually had tried water lettuce but it didn't help, and I've tried pothos but didn't work either. I keep the pothos though as I don't mind, but very interesting to know its sap is toxic to fish! Will be careful about that.

Thank you all

 

[Byron]

I placed it in my canister filter, on top of the biohome filter media. I then recorded the nitrates since introducing it. Before the addition as mentioned my nitrates where 40ppm, after 6 hours they dropped to 20-25ppm, and after 26 hours they are around 10-15ppm. I am really happy with that as I actually don't want them to drop to 0 as my tank is planted.

The aquatic plants in the aquarium do not need nor use nitrates, unless you are running a high-tech method tank with intense light and CO2 and daily nutrient dosing. Aquatic plants use ammonia/ammonium, and there is more than enough of this to serve the nitrogen needs of the plants. Nitrates at zero or as close as you can get are better for fish, so aim for the lowest nitrate level.

 

[Flyer99]

The aquatic plants in the aquarium do not need nor use nitrates, unless you are running a high-tech method tank with intense light and CO2 and daily nutrient dosing. Aquatic plants use ammonia/ammonium, and there is more than enough of this to serve the nitrogen needs of the plants. Nitrates at zero or as close as you can get are better for fish, so aim for the lowest nitrate level.

Ah thank you, it was a low tech tank, but about 4 months ago I decided to include more plants and upgraded to a high tech tank, so its running on Tri-Spec 2 lights, and co2 injection. I provide root tabs, and some liquid fertiliser (Seachem Iron, Potassium and Phosphorus). But mostly just root tabs, and since my water is hard no minerals are added.