Water Changes & Nitrate?

[maca9]

Hi

I have a 300L tank with 4 x discus, cardinals, loaches and gouramis in.

I know some say don't have gouramis with Discus but mine all live in harmony so either I am lucky OR its not a huge problem. The LFS said it would be fine to have the discus with them and he has been proven correct in my case anyway.

Maybe becasue by the time i added the discus the gouramis were all very comfortable with each other so little fighting betwen them?

Anyway my question is regarding water changes and nirate levels.

Assuming my frequency and volume of water changes is keeping the Nitrate below 20ppm then does that mean its all ok??

Does this also aply to gravel vac needs?

I always do the best gravel vac i can when changing water without turning my tank upside down. i.e uproot the plants etc.

So I guess my overall question is then............

If ammonia, nitrite, =0 and Nitrate <20ppm then does that mean my frequency of water changes and gravel vac "sessions" are ok?



Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Terriann]

Hello,

I am quite new to the hobby so I won't be offended if you completely ignore me. From what I understand as long as nitrites at 0 and ammonia is at 0 then your water is fine. Nitrates in a more established tank seem to linger at around 40 (according to my research that is about right). I have also read on the forum on one of the pages that the Nitrates aren't particularly harmful, its more important that you don't have a sudden drop ir rise in your PH and your nitrites and ammonia are at 0.

Everyone please feel free to correct me, as I said, I am just a newbee.

I used to gravel vac once a week which kept my tank nice and free of waste, but it isn't necessary now, I might do it once a month. I do 20-30% water changes fortnightly and tend to do a water test once a week to make sure, and I have never had any trouble with my fish dying due to water - the problems I have had are from buying fish from other places that are already harbouring disease!

Hope this helps.

Tan

 

[Luketendo]

I heard 10ppm nitrate was better for discus, but i'm no expert.