Nitrates.............

[ginnie5]

just read that apistos need nitrate free water. I thought witrh a planted tank you needed nitrates? It seems almost a contradiction. Hopefully I will be getting some tomorrow. So do I Need to do a bid water change and get the nitrates down? I just added some last night since they were at zero.

 

[farm41]

We all have some nitrates, just try to minimze it. <10 is going to be great for the fish and plants. 8) Just don't overdo it.

 

[Nermal]

Um.....I'm slightly confused about what you are saying.... The nitrITE and nitrATE thing..... a lot of people confuse.

Here's the process....
ammonia is broken down into nitrites
nitrites are broken down into nitrates
nitrates are relatively beneign (harmless)

Truth be told, most water, even tap water, has nitrates present at some level. Elevated nitrates are not exactly healthy, but are not near as leathal as nitrites.

An aquarium with a well established nitrogen cycle (cycling) won't have ammonia or nitrites present, but may have some nitrates. The nitrates can accumulate in your tank over time. That is why we do water changes, although I know a hobbyist that ran a tank for about two years without a water change and didn't lose fish to disease or poisonings just to prove a point, that a properly cycling tank doesn't have to have water changes. Yes, the tank was visably dirty in the end. Personally, I use my tank "waste" water to water my houseplants. If you think about it, it makes good sense. The elevated nitrates in the water are good for the plants.

Point is , don't worry about the nitrATES in the tank, but watch out for nitrITES. (and watch spellings between them)

Good luck!

 

[farm41]

I believe ginnie is adding some nitrAte for the plants, in a planted tank nitrates have to watched closely, if they get too high many forms of algae can really take off.

I used to have a tiger barb tank, when ever the nitrAtres would get over 40ppm they would start headstanding. All 15 of them would be pointing head down swimming around until I did a water change to bring them down. I have heard some say nitrates are not toxic at any levels. I believe nitrates while not toxic at low levels still have an adverse affect at any level, the affect just gets worse the higher the levels are allowed.

I'm still sticking to my first statement. "<10ppm nitrate"

JMHO
YMMV

 

[Randall]

Nitrates in Aquaria

Matt and I agree on this one. It has long been known that prolonged exposure to higher nitrate levels, although not toxic in the sense that nitrites and ammonia are, are not heathly for one's fish, especially those that are more sensitive to water quality--i.e., many dwarf cichlids.

Excessive nitrate levels are generally known to inhibit growth, compromise immune systems, suppress coloration and appetite and interfere with spawning. There have got to be some hardy fish that are quite nitrite tolerant, but some dwarfs, many of the riverine fish among them, seem to suffer from it.

Thank you.

Randall Kohn