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Exposure to Nitrate Increases Susceptibility to Hypoxia in ...The University of Chicago Press: Journalshttps://www.journals.uchicago.edu › doi
To me, much like the info in the study above, any nitrate level higher than 3ppm, is considered polluted.
To me, much like the info in the study above, any nitrate level higher than 3ppm, is considered polluted.
I feel it’d be very very hard to keep levels below 3ppm
Here is an average nitrate test of my tank.
And below, is are some average nitrate tests, of the some rivers where I collect cichlids.
Decades ago the aquarium hobby bought into nitrate research the aquaculture industry did, trying to find out what was the least expensive way to seasonally get fillets to market. They found that at elevated nitrates of 20 ppm would be tolerated well enough to not effect the look of fillets.
When I was a chemist at a water facility on Lake Michigan, and daily tested the raw water, I noticed nitrates were seldom even as high as 1 ppm.
And now testing the waters where I collect in Panama, has led me to believe we as aquarists, fed that elevated nitrate "safe" BS theory have been mislead.
I have also tested waters with similar nitrate reading in the Cenotes of Mexico, unpolluted rivers in Costa Rica, and the Magdalena system in Colombia .
Left, Eden Cenote in Mexico, right part of the Rio Magdalena system in Colombia.
It just takes a few more water changes than are commonly prescribed to meet a pristine water goal.
And below, is are some average nitrate tests, of the some rivers where I collect cichlids.
Decades ago the aquarium hobby bought into nitrate research the aquaculture industry did, trying to find out what was the least expensive way to seasonally get fillets to market. They found that at elevated nitrates of 20 ppm would be tolerated well enough to not effect the look of fillets.
When I was a chemist at a water facility on Lake Michigan, and daily tested the raw water, I noticed nitrates were seldom even as high as 1 ppm.
And now testing the waters where I collect in Panama, has led me to believe we as aquarists, fed that elevated nitrate "safe" BS theory have been mislead.
I have also tested waters with similar nitrate reading in the Cenotes of Mexico, unpolluted rivers in Costa Rica, and the Magdalena system in Colombia .
Left, Eden Cenote in Mexico, right part of the Rio Magdalena system in Colombia.
It just takes a few more water changes than are commonly prescribed to meet a pristine water goal.
As aquarists we try to mimic their environment as much as possible. Do most keep their nitrates below 3 ppm? By the end of the week my nitrates are 10 ppm. That means throughout the week they are less than that. In theory I’d have to change my water about every 2-3 days to keep them under 3ppm. Do most aquarists do it that often? Obviously there’s other options to reduce them which for me isn’t much of an option.
Absolutely not with the exception of people with dense planted aquariums with light stock.
That's the problem, we as aquarists have been bamboozled into a very lax system, allowing nitrates an almost free rein.
And the fact in waiting for nitrate to cycle a tank, we ignore that nitrates are a chronic disease producing toxin.
For me, performing "small" every other day water changes and using a heavily planted sump keep nitrates minimal as they are produced by a not so over stocked, bio load.
You and millions of others my friend.
Mother nature has set an extremely high bar regarding acceptable nitrate levels. In fact she has been a complete b***h and she's set it at a totally ridiculous 0ppm........in her realm!!
But for us mere hobbyists who run tiny closed loop systems, we don't stand a cat in hells chance of maintaining a level of constant 0ppm nitrate levels, not with our stocking levels, and not without working our damn butts off, or installing fancy systems and gadgets. You're constantly fighting it.
So, what do we do to help alleviate the guilt of having positive nitrate readings in our tanks? For one we look at recommendations for "acceptable" nitrate levels from people who "are in the know". After all, many of us can't be arsed putting in the work to keep nitrates at 0ppm, so we'll go with the next best thing.
One example I'll give is from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, or API, the test kit manufacturing guys. They should know a thing or two, right!!
They say, as all you guys with an API test kit booklet will know, that, "a nitrate level of 40ppm (mg/L) or less is recommended for freshwater aquariums".
Fantastic, absolutely brilliant. API, you've saved millions of hobbyists a shed load of time and effort in supplying us with this critical information, a true get out of jail free card!
In fact some online sources go higher than 40ppm, a lot higher. I mean this just gets better and better, right?
A small minority of hobbyists take this information as true gold and run very high levels of nitrate, and maybe even with favourable results, I mean people do claim to do such things.
But I'd hope that the vast majority of hobbyists do realise that in fact high levels of nitrate are not particularly good, and more to the point, "other" toxins associated with them too. It's not a nice "soup" for our fish to live in.
So, this is what I do. I'd struggle to have constant 0ppm in my heavily stocked 360, but I also don't particularly agree with the API claim of 40ppm. So I have a water change schedule in place which ensures my nitrate tests are always around the light orange on the test card, typically 5-10ppm.
I've never really strayed from this, and it's a method which has worked for me. I have a lot of long lived healthy fish, and I'm happy with that.
If you can't get your nitrate below 3ppm, hell, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over that. I think we all need to realise that 0ppm is unrealistic for most of us, yet at the same time acknowledge that "soup" isn't particularly nice for fish to live in either.
I appreciate your input as I agree 100% with your way of thinking. If I can keep it below 10 ppm by the end of the week when it’s time to change the water I feel I am doing the best I can and I’ll make sure to continue to keep it below 10 ppm.
