Do Nitrates Have To Be Over 10ppm?

[danski]

well im still battling algae and wondering if i up the nitrates past 10ppm will it help the plants or will algae use what the plants dont and keep growing..i dont know if i should just tear down and start all over with new plants or try to help the plants...seems like nothings working..i upped the co2..im thinking about not adding anything and see if the plants will keep growing since they are still growing and pearling but algae keeps going...thanks
p.s anyone know a plant store with a great starter or algae buster set-up?
the last order i placed for a 30gal tank but didnt have nearly enough plants and i had to order more.i think most beginner plant packages come with only fast growers or with some anubias but i need quite a few to cover 50% of my eco-complete substrate..thanks dan

 

[leafs]

I believe most people with planted tanks try to maintain a nitrate level between 10 - 20 ppm. When I started out my nitrates would be close to 0, so I've been adding potassium nitrate to maintain a level of around 10 - 20ppm and now my algae seems to be less. If you have too much nitrate, then you could have algae issues also.

 

[Jen]

20ppm seems to be the magic number for me. If I let it drop down much past 15 I get much more algae growth.

 

[danski]

okay thanks everyone..i just checked nitrates and it was between 5-10ppm so i added about 5more ppm...so it should be close to 15ppm now so i will see how things go..something must be okay because im not kiddin my red lotus grew a leaf up about 3-4 inches overnight..i think those things are mighty fast growers..really though i checked the tank when i got home and there was this stem all the way to the top that wasnt there last night..when i opened the lid i could see the leaf at the surface breaking thru...hmmmm..if only everything grew as fast as my lotus and algae..