Can't get nitrates below 5 ppm

[slippery slimecoat]

Thank you. This supports the point I was trying to make in the first place. Too many people are misunderstanding the role of nitrate testing in large aquariums. It's something we use to gauge the degradation of water quality, but it's not the nitrate that makes the water "bad" it's the other things we cant easily test...conductivity, trace elements, dissolved organics and such. With large fish the nitrates are rising faster than these things are degrading.

I tend to subscribe to this way of thinking as well. I have 20 ppm nitrates from my tap. I was chasing my tail attempting to keep them below 40 ppm in my tank. But for several years, I have not seen any side affects from the "higher" nitrates. I've finally quit worrying about the nitrates and just do my large weekly water changes.

 

[Rocksor]

I tend to subscribe to this way of thinking as well. I have 20 ppm nitrates from my tap. I was chasing my tail attempting to keep them below 40 ppm in my tank. But for several years, I have not seen any side affects from the "higher" nitrates. I've finally quit worrying about the nitrates and just do my large weekly water changes.

Why are you having trouble keeping nitrates below 40ppm? I have 5ppm nitrates coming from tap and have no issue keeping it below 20ppm.

 

[troublesum]

LOL you will never get down to zero i have a 125 gallon, 10in Midas, 2 FX6 and i do 4WC of 50% a week and my nitrates hover around 5 PPM your doing fine at 5 as youve read many ppl here who have kept monster and monster tanks dont get 5 PPM dont beat your self up

 

[troublesum]

LOL you will never get down to zero i have a 125 gallon, 10in Midas, 2 FX6 and i do 4WC of 50% a week and my nitrates hover around 5 PPM your doing fine at 5 as youve read many ppl here who have kept monster and monster tanks dont get 5 PPM dont beat your self up

 

[slippery slimecoat]

Why are you having trouble keeping nitrates below 40ppm? I have 5ppm nitrates coming from tap and have no issue keeping it below 20ppm.

Can only assume it is a difference in stocking levels, water change amounts, or feeding. My tank is well stocked, but not crazy imo. I don't overfeed. And I do 60-75% water changes weekly.

 

[jaws7777]

If you had said something like x species normally lives in conditions that are 40ppm in the wild and therefore my tank at 40 is no big deal I buy that.

Watch the vid. Guy mentions the effects the rainy season has on water quality.

Makes sense. Dry season some bodies of water turn into smaller pools. Less water + more fish = crappy water.

 

[jaws7777]

R Raim Man like others have mentioned your doing fine but if you really wanna get over that 5ppm hump throw a few bags of seschem purigen in those filters.

 

[duanes]

My goal is always between 2-5ppm nitrate in my tanks, and every other day 30-40% water changes kept me in that area.
But in order to actually see the difference between 2 and 5, I had to use a spectrometer that cost more than my truck, it was part of the equipment at the water quality lab where I worked. The difference would be considered "noise" in most colorimetric tests.
That said, adding a planted overhead sump, with a plant volume and weight more than the fish, seemed to actually make a slight difference in color on the spectrometer..

 

[Raim Man]

@ jaws777 I have one bag of purigen in on of my AC 110. I try to stay away from those types of absorbers. But its worth a try if I'm striving for 0 nitrates. However I will be keeping up with my current routine. I'm not going to drive myself nuts when I see how some people struggle to get down to this level. I put the work in and know I'm doing my best and I'm ok with that. But thank you for the advice.

 

[jaws7777]

@ jaws777 I have one bag of purigen in on of my AC 110. I try to stay away from those types of absorbers. But its worth a try if I'm striving for 0 nitrates. However I will be keeping up with my current routine. I'm not going to drive myself nuts when I see how some people struggle to get down to this level. I put the work in and know I'm doing my best and I'm ok with that. But thank you for the advice.

No problem man. I felt the same way a few months ago. I like tinkering with different projects so I dabbled in nitrate reduction and learned allot. Algae scrubbers are feasible (not really for big messy monsters) but patience and lots of trial and error are needed, purigen reactors are just ok and also possible, denitrate filters are like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow lol I was able to get a couple of weeks of greatly reduced nitrates but that's about it. Plants are just ok. In the end I found purigen (allot more than what seachem recommend) placed in a filter ant a high gph to be the most effective/reliable but even that really is a pain in the ass... Recharging is the issue.

Your good bro. I would kill for 5ppm