Water evaps from the tank? Something I never really looked into...but when the water in a tank evaps...do the nitrates go up (like salt content in a salt tank) or evap with the water? If they evap with the water and you top off with 0 nitrtate water...it would reduce the nitrates (like a water change)?
Do NITRATES increse or stay the same when...
- Thread starter NOLAGT
- Start date
I asked this a long time ago because I wasn't sure and Pharaoh is correct, they stay.
So you are correct as water evaporates the Nitrate level would rise.
So you are correct as water evaporates the Nitrate level would rise.
salt content doesn't change. Salt creep is not actual salt leaving the water. Thats why top offs are done with freshwater. the white stuff you see left behind is Sodium Chloride, NaCl. So be ontop of those top offs and don't think adding water counts as a water change.
Gotcha so then in theory if your nitrates were already a little high and you let the water evap a lot, or it evaped quickly it could cause more stress to the fish. I asked becasue i have some tanks in a un a/c area and with the temps rising I have a big fan on them and the water evaps at a silly rate. One of the tanks is my festae fry tanks. I will be moving them into a/c soon....
^ yup, the water evaporates leaving behind the nitrates, thus increasing the concentration of nitrates in the water left behind. this is why topping off is not considered a "water change"