High Nitrate Levels

[GerardK]

On testing the water quality all the readings are ok except for the nitrate levels which are on the high side will this come down naturally without taking any drastic action

 

[GoldLenny]

How high are they? Nitrates are the end product of the nitrogen cycle (ammonia>nitrite>nitrate) and you should be doing frequent 25% PWC's to keep them at a low enough level. You should also be checking your pH, KH and GH since they will usually go down as part of the natural processes of the tanks ecology. Here is a long article all about Nitrates that I have on my blog.
http/goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/02/nitr...-thanks-to.html

 

[Marshall..]

As plants love nitrate you could heavily plant your aquarium to help reduce the nitrate.Water changes are the best thing for diluting nitrate however,providing the water going in is not high in nitrates obviously.

 

[rdd1952]

Ammonia and nitrite should both be 0. Anything else indicates a problem or an uncycled tank. As mentioned, nitrate is the end result of the nitrifying process. Anything under 80-100 ppm is safe although you really need to try to keep them under 20 ppm via water changes just to prevent algae issues.

 

[Underwurlde]

There's a link between nitrate levels & algae???

 

[Jcartwright]

Anything under 80-100 ppm is safe although you really need to try to keep them under 20 ppm via water changes just to prevent algae issues.

My Nitrares are at a steady 10-15ppm. I have nothing to worry about, then?

 

[rdd1952]

Yes. Plants feed off nitrate and algae is a plant so the higher the nitrate levels, the more food there is for algae. That's why overfeeding causes algae. The excess food is broken down into ammonia which eventually becomes nitrate and algae food.

And 10-15 ppm is fine. A lot people have more than that (up to 40 ppm) in their tap water.

 

[Underwurlde]

But plants also need these nitrates, no?

 

[rdd1952]

Yes, plants need nitrate but they will out compete the algae for it. So if you have live plants, a higher level of nitrates isn't nearly as likely to cause algae as with fake plants. Fake plants and high nitrates are almost a guarantee of algae. Some people with very heavily planted tanks actually have to add nitrate to the tank as the fish don't produce enough waste to produce enough nitrate.

 

[Underwurlde]

Sorry, I get where you're coming from now!

I didn't just want to jump in and disagree with your statement about Nitrate & algae...

 

[andywg]

It should be noted that nitrates are not the most desired form of nitrogen in plants. They prefer to take up ammonia. Hence if you plant your tank heavily and well enough you can have a fish tank that never cycles as all the ammonia is used up by the plants.

One can do the same with a remote algae filter (known as a turf scrubber) as well.

Also, a high nitrate level does not have to equal algae. If you have dim lighting then you will not get algae. I have tanks which regularly hit 80ppm nitrates (I think, I don't trust my test kits as far as I can spit them) and no algae as I have almost no light on them due to a lack of plants.

 

[GoldLenny]

That's correct. Plants and algae (single celled plants) need three things to thrive. Light, CO2 and nutrients. Nitrates is just one of the potential nutrients. If one had nitrates and little light or CO2, plants and algae would have a very hard time growing. Most people light thier tanks even if not planted and many people do not keep up with keeping the filters and gravel properly cleaned and maintained. Decaying detritus puts out CO2 and provides nutrients for plants/algae... combined with the lights and voila!... Algae! If they did proper maintenance on their tanks to remove more of the decaying detritus in the gravel and filters, they would not have as much nutrients and CO2 and therefore a much lower chance of algae.... even in non-planted tanks.

 

[corey01]

so basically what your saying is that if your tank is very well planted..then ammonia and nitrate will be used up by plants so even if your tank wont cycle you can depend on a very well planted tank? sorry little confused here lol

 

[Underwurlde]

correct