Bio/Mech Filtration Questions

[Pharaoh]

Ok, I double checked and here's the skinny. Ammonia converts to Nitrites, Nitrites convert to Nitrates, Nitrates are removed by WCs. Using plants to reduce the amount of Nitrates might help, but I would say that water changes are a must. Whether you use a Wet/Dry, canister filter, or Hang on back, you will always have nitrate build up. Theoretically, you could have a planted tank that utilizes all of the Nitrates, but WCs would still be necessary in order to eliminate the infamous "old tank sydrome".

To answer your question. Nitrate levels will depend on the amount of water changes that you perform. People with wet/dry systems will still do the necessary water changes in order to keep the nitrates down. The only other option is to install a drip system/water changer.

 

[Steve_Henderson]

Great, that takes care of it. Thanks!

 

[Bderick67]

I had a question about this. First, I think you did mix them up (according to my mom that's a pro at this ha), the nitrites are eliminated by water changes or by plants in the tank(again, according to her). But anyway, my question: I planned on making a large wet/dry filter or two to filter my tanks. My only concern that's arisen from mentioning it to my mom is the nitrites. I'm assuming that the w/d filter converts the nitrates to nitrites, and like said above, only plants or water changes remove them from the tank. So, people with w/d set ups; have you ever had any problems with high nitrite levels in your tank? Can you just counter this by having a planted tank? Or maybe include some plants somewhere in the sump to help minimize the nitrites?

Mom's a pro? at what, cause you've got the nitrite and nitrate mixed. Nitrate is the end result and is most effectively controlled with w/c. You can have a planted tank that eliminates nitrates but as previously stated W/Cs are still needed.