Nitrate Problem

[janekingdon]

How do I lower the nitrate in both my tanks (started January) when my tap water tests at 50?. I have used Nitrate Minus as instructed but there is no improvment. My fish seem happy and I have masses of stongly growing plants. My ammonia and nitrite levels are almost zero.

 

[andywg]

nitrate of 50 isn't really a rpoblem unless you have hyper sensitive fish. If there are no rays in there then I would not worry overly.

If you desperately want to lower nitrates use RO water.

 

[@ombomb]

I'd worry more about the fact that you Ammonia and Nitrite levels are ALMOST at 0. If a tank is cycled you really shouldn't be seeing ANY.

Live plants would help lower the nitrates if you get the conditions right (lighting etc).

 

[dazcoops]

hi,

you will have strong healthy plants if your nitrate is 50. maybe your over feeding? that might be why you still get reading of ammonia and nitrite, how long has the tank been running? ro water is the way to go as andy said as it is, or should be nitrate free.

 

[helsekia]

is this a daft question?what is ro water?go I probably sound stupid now

 

[Bubble eye]

No you dont sound stupid i havent heard of it and this is the beginner section everybody starts somewhere

 

[andywg]

Reverse Osmosis. It is a system that takes pretty much all the impurities out of the water.

 

[BigIan]

and how do theese systems work??

 

[andywg]

They work by passing the water from the tap through a nubmer of different membranes (4 or 5 on the better systems) which then trap the imperfections through one way or another.

They tend to create a lot of waste, often genereating 3 gallons of waste per gallon of good water. This is fine if you can store the waste water for human use (washing and such like) but if you are on a meeter they can rack up costs.

They are commonly used in marine water as it gives the aquarist total control over the nutirents and minerals in the water (your water company can add all sorts of nastiness at a moment's (or less) notice).

HTH

Andy

 

[janekingdon]

Thankyou for the suggestions and information about high nitrate.

Are there any "Which" type of comparisons of aquarium tanks? I want to get a 36inch or so in the next month and dont know what should be a priority- filter size? lighting?

 

[andywg]

It all depends on what you want. And on the size you want. you know you want 36" long, but what about depth and height? some will only be 36x12x12, whereas I saw a lovely 36x24x24 the other day. The different tanks would need a whole different outlook on filtration.

Aslo, what do you want? If you want a planted then you will need appropriate lights and a fairly minimal amount of disturbance on the filter outlet. If you want to stock with more fish, you will need a more effective filter and greater surface agitation.