Nitrate Levels

[CichlidFan]

Question: How to BEST control nitrate levels?

CF

PS current Nitrate test 80 ppm .....last water change 25% on Monday. New filter media. No excess food seen in tank, minimal amount of fish waste in tank.

Bio Load = 40 fish in a 210 gallon tank.

Filtration: Wet Dry, FX5, Emperor 400 and Oddessy 350 PH...

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Nitrate Levels

Test your tap water, sometimes there is ni present there.

Would this be you tropheus tank? They produce a lot of waste! It wouldn't hurt to add a bit more filtration to the tank but that's besides the point.

The only way to remove nitrates which is the end product of your nitrogen cycle is through manual extraction......water changes. 25% is not enough to bring it down IMO but then again what are your nitrates before and after water changes?

On my tanks which have similar bio-loads if not more....my tank is smaller but with about the same load......I do minimum of 40-50% and sometimes twice a week. Also make sure you clean you bio media occassionally....especially the bio-balls(this is where having multiple filters come in handy) cause they will in time trap waste.

Another thing is your substrate/decorations, if the substrate is not turned frequently they will trap waste as well....cichlids move a lot of substrate which also buries waste and coarse substrate like crushed coral and gravel have that problem hence the whole python gravle avac tube. Decorations in the tank will build up waste in crevices and underneath them.

You could go as far as a denitrate do ma jiggy but those are expensive and not as efficient as water changes.....plus they don't replinish nutrients/minerals found in fresh new water.

All in all......test tap water....test before a water change.....test after one(some conditioners will cause faulty readings...prime/amquel/etc) and then adjust your percentage accordingly.

I have been able to keep my nitrates between 10-40ppms....10ppm after a water change, about 20ppms if I do twice weekly and up to 40ppms if I get lazy and do only once a week.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Nitrate Levels

Forgot to add....with multiple small water changes you get less and less "old" water taken out each time cause you end up removing some of the new with the old.....though its less fluctuation with things you don't want fluctuating.....that is if the parameters of the two is that different.

[CichlidFan]

Re: Nitrate Levels

Tested the tap water, it shows minimal nitrate amounts, maybe 2.5 ppm....color is mostly light yellow

So overall, up the water change to 40% is what you would do first then right?  Along with changing the bio balls and turning substrate.

I recently purchased two 2217's, I'm going to put one on this weekend.


CF

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Nitrate Levels

I would up the percentage and see what that does.....when you turn the substrate I like to hold the end of the python(without gravel tube for sand) with my thumb while turning the substrate with my fingers.

The bio-balls just need cleaning and no need to replace them. Make sure you have bio-media elsewheres to handle the load or only clean partial of the balls.

With the 2217s I would throw them both on there!

[Delock]

Re: Nitrate Levels

buy a carbon bottle

[CichlidFan]

Re: Nitrate Levels

Please elaborate on "carbon bottle"

CF

[Delock]

Re: Nitrate Levels

http://www.purewatertreatment.com/ProductPages/products/Products-pt2000.htm

[CichlidFan]

Re: Nitrate Levels

I'm wondering if I still would have fallen in love with troph's had I known I would end up spending a second car payment on them each month...???

CF

[fishlady]

Re: Nitrate Levels

that's somewhat drastic to buy a system like that don't you think?....i would stick with the water changes instead.....
do you have that in your house delock?

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Nitrate Levels

Delock has a huge carbon bottle! I want to get one as well....trying to get mike to part with the one he has....also though about doing RO/DI and adding back the trace elements as well as buffering it.

All fish require a bit of money....just some you can get away with more but that's doesn't mean they wouldn't do better with it.

[fishlady]

Re: Nitrate Levels

i love my fishies very very much......i just don't know if i would invest in that much money for a system of that magnitude......if i can remedy it without it...or ....i could win the lotto....

[Delock]

Re: Nitrate Levels

You can get the bottle for less then a hundred dollars...

What I posted was for example only

[mrairportjunke]

Re: Nitrate Levels

weere u gettin one for less than a hundred bucks?

[Delock]

Re: Nitrate Levels

There is a water filter company off 290