Plant And Nitrate?

[evilchild]

am i right in think that plants will reduce the Nitrate in my tank?

the reason i ask is my tank has gone a bit mad, and almost every thing has shot up, (Nitrate, was through the roof, oxygen was quite low too) have done a big water change, added a real plant and a new air pump. the levels have dropped but still a little high, an other water change in order, i think. is there any thing i can do to stop this happening again?

 

[TribeOfShroom]

Fast growing plants will help with the nitrate levels. Hornwort, frogbit or even common duckweed. But these are not ideal solutions, merely good sponges lol. Keep up with the water changes and test your tap water. Sometimes tap water can have high nitrate levels, if this is the case carry on with water changes, but try and find some other wat of getting rid of those nitrates. I'm sure someone on here knows how to

 

[Spooky76]

If your tap water has high nitrate levels, you could get Ro water, but its not quite that simple.
As said, I would look at your weekly water changes as a way of reducing them, fast growing plants will reduce it but not to very low levels.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

What is the level of the nitrate in the tank? As suggested check the nitrate from the tap as well.

Plants can remove nitrate very effectivly from the water. Floating plants are very good for this (I personally always recommend salvina as it is fast growing and fairly easy to keep). Just make sure you keep them cut back so they dont completely cover the water surface (1/3rd of the surface covered is imo a good amount depending on size of tank).

Plants can completely remove nitrate from the water. While I was cycling my tank with plants in it went from 250ppm nitrate to zero over the course of about 4-5 weeks and has never had any detectable amounts of nitrate since then (apart from the couple of hours after I intentially add it ). Of course some of these was removed by water changes and there where a LOT of plants but still even just a few fast growers can make an impact on nitrate levels.

 

[Spooky76]

Yeh agreed, but the rate your plants grow at depends on other factors as well, likt lighting, substrate, whether fish pick them etc. All I was meaning was putting plants in your tank doesnt always mean they grow well, so dont always use your nitrate.

Personally I would prefer not to rely on my plants keeping my nitrate low, imo water changes are still better.

 

[Ian H]

in answer to your original question, yes live plants will help with keeping nitrate levels down.

I have quite a few plants in my tank and my nitrate reading is 5ppm