How do i keep nitrates under control in my tank (180g)

Plants and bigger water changes. Pothos with roots in the water works great. I have Amazon swords, green tiger lotus, onion plant an anubias in my mostly sa tank.

2 50% water changes a week and a good gravel vac will fix it.

Wouldn't expect any media to cut down the nitrate count, water changes and plants are the way to go. Pothos is super cheap and does a hell of a job cutting down nitrates.

Jayfish7 said:

Would 2 50% wc a week be a lot??

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Hell no! I do 3 60% water changes a week, but I have a oscar/pleco tank lol

Just add prime before adding new water.

If your fish raise Nitrate levels from 0 to 30 ppm every week.....you do a 30% water change..,you've reduced the nitrate concentration by a little less than a third--from 30 ppm down to 20 ppm. So the second week, you start at 20 and rise to 50 ppm. Your WC gets it down to 34 ppm. End of week 3, you're at 64 ppm and you lower it to 40. And on and on. Nitrates keep climbing every week. You need to do bigger water changes. I do fin level water change every week, sometimes twice a week. But I've got fish that aren't bothered by that--Vieja, JD, Clown Loaches.


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Plants do consume nitrate, but for overall fish well being, water changes are best. There are more elements besides nitrate in the water column that should be removed. I do twice weekly large changes, regardless of parameters. Nothing but benefit for the fish.

Wizzah said:

2 50% water changes a week and a good gravel vac will fix it.

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This is what I do......and the more often you clean the filters, the better. All that trapped gunk adds up to increase in nitrate