Driftwood a source of Nitrates?

[Zander_The_RBP]

I really don't think you have an issue at all.

40-60 ppm nitrate is not unusual at all for messy fish like RBP's, especially five 6" ones in a 75g.

even though you don't overfeed, when you do feed, piranhas are very messy. ie they leave lots of bit/scraps of food in the tank that decay and create nitrates.

having said that, you don't need to kill yourself trying to get your nitrates lower.

that level is perfectly fine provided it doesn't climb higher and you are keeping up with your weekly water changes. many of us with monster fish rarely have nitrate levels below 50 mg/L (ppm) even with massive weekly water changes. its impossible unless you are changing your tank water daily which is not needed.

as long as your fish are not showing signs of infections indirectly caused by poor water quality (ie cloudy eye, pop eye, fin rot or fungus) and your nitrites/ammo remain zero, I would just keep up with your regular weekly water change and don't worry about it.

having said all that, if your pleco was eating the wood, it certainly creates a lot of detritus in the tank as he digests. with the driftwood/pleco moved to another tank, your nitrate levels will start to fall over time as this source will be eliminated and your water change schedule will remain the same. so your nitrates should read a little lower in the future.

good luck

your the only person i 100% agree with so far in this thread



put it this way i have 6 (also about 6") RBP's and a common pleco(6-7") in a 150 gallon tank and i have difficulty maintaing nitrates below 40 ppm. I usualy have to do a 75-90% change once a week or a 50-60 % change twice a week to keep my nitrates down.

But do my fish suffer form having nitrates at about 40 ppm absolutely not, nitrates arn't even a real problem until you start getting over 100 ppm.


i suggest you start looking for a new home for atleast 2 preferably 3 of your piranhas. Becuase bioload and water changes aside i wouldn't keep 6 RBP's in anything less than a 125 (preferably 150)

 

[lujor]

what is the corect amout of gravil for 75 gal. tank

The rule of thumb most use is pound gravel per gallon

 

[lujor]

your the only person i 100% agree with so far in this thread



put it this way i have 6 (also about 6") RBP's and a common pleco(6-7") in a 150 gallon tank and i have difficulty maintaing nitrates below 40 ppm. I usualy have to do a 75-90% change once a week or a 50-60 % change twice a week to keep my nitrates down.

But do my fish suffer form having nitrates at about 40 ppm absolutely not, nitrates arn't even a real problem until you start getting over 100 ppm.


i suggest you start looking for a new home for atleast 2 preferably 3 of your piranhas. Becuase bioload and water changes aside i wouldn't keep 6 RBP's in anything less than a 125 (preferably 150)

My LFS gives store credit and will take any or all back at any time. This was arranged before I ever bought any. I do not expect to keep any more than 4 long term, but, as RBPs are prone to killing each other off on occasion, I wanted to get more than I will end up needing. If I started with 3 or 4, and a year later they killed one or two I would have to spend big bucks to get a new one the same size; not to mention the risk of introducing a new adult RBP into an established group.
The nitrate level was not as elevated as it is now until recently. I disagree with your stance on nitrates. I have read that problems can and do start at approximately 50ppm (for extended periods of time). If I can find which book it is in I will post it. Just because a fish does not have obvious signs of distress does not mean it is healthy. Growth rate slows and the risk of disease increases. If nothing else works I will take one or two back to the LFS. These are only 5" so that should not be necessary for quite a while.

 

[aclockworkorange]

If you REALLY want to know if your driftwood is leeching nitrates...

Put it in a bucket of clean dechlor water, take a nitrate reading, wait for a few days, and then take another reading of the water...

You obviously care about your fish... I would try doing a deep gravel vac, and maybe removing some of it... I don't recall if you said how deep the bed is. Don't throw away that expensive eco complete! Haha.
I would also try Purigen, and see if that has any effect. Some have had good luck with it around here for lowering nitrates.

If these don't work or sound unappealing to you, honestly lowering the number of fish will of course lower the amount of bioload and lead to less nitrates, especially IF this is the cause of your high nitrates!

 

[aclockworkorange]

On second thought, another possibility:

The driftwood is rotting and giving off ammonia OR there is food trapped in a crevice of the driftwood that is rotting and giving off ammonia... ammonia gets converted and leads to additional nitrate spike.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I disagree with your stance on nitrates. I have read that problems can and do start at approximately 50ppm (for extended periods of time). If I can find which book it is in I will post it. Just because a fish does not have obvious signs of distress does not mean it is healthy. Growth rate slows and the risk of disease increases.

not all the info you read in books is correct as far as real world applications go.

again, just ask around to MFKer's with big fish and/or messy fish. nitrates around 40-60 ppm do no affect growth rate and most fish thrive easily and will still be very healthy. and still grow fast. hell, I have kept big fish my whole life and I doubt my nitrates have ever been much below 40 in my big fish tanks. thats just they way it is with big and/or messy fish.

now, if you are keeping sensitive species like discus its a whole other story. but then they aren't monster fish

but for fish like hardy piranhas, this level should be perfectly fine provided the aquarist maintains proper water changes and does not over feed.

 

[aclockworkorange]

not all the info you read in books is correct as far as real world applications go.

again, just ask around to MFKer's with big fish and/or messy fish if you do not believe us. nitrates around 40-60 ppm do no affect growth rate and the fish thrive easily and will still be very healthy. and still grow fast. hell, I have kept big fish my whole life and I doubt my nitrates have ever been much below 40 in my big fish tanks. thats just they way it is with big and/or messy fish.

just saying.

keep up with your water changes and your fish will be fine.

best of luck

Just wanted to +1 this, my friend with a big SA cichlid tank cannot keep his nitrates below 40 ppm and his fish are very healthy and breed regularly. This does not mean we cannot strive for the lowest nitrates possible--for example, he is upgrading to a 300 gallon and installing a drip system.
Personally, I am blessed with great tap water and have not overstocked my tank, YET (nitrates never above 5 ppm). It will be overstocked when all fish are full grown, which means sometime before then I will upgrade them.
I would love to see people use some de-nitrate products, especially purigen, and post the results on some of the high nitrate tanks.

 

[Mr Pleco]

Nothing beats regular aquarium maintenance for keeping the nitrate levels manageable....anything under a consistent 40 PPM I would not worry about.
unless your breeding or have a nitrate sensitive species....
　
RBP are carnivores- higher protein fish foods lead to more nitrates…….
.
No nitrates from the tap? that statement is fairly suspect...check your city water report you may be surprised…….

Here is a list of contaiments found in tap water......http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm


　
If your really worried about nitrate management , use R/O water mixed with your tap for water changes...set up a duck weed/floating plant refugium or use the following product after a water change...it works wonders on my discus tanks.

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3975+21331&pcatid=21331

 

[vfc]

I have a large tank with nitrates over 100ppm; even with weekly 60% WCs. Been like that for the past two years. The main cause is that the fish keep growing and reproducing (Yellow Lab population went from 3 to 12+).

I have taken some fish to the lfs, but have become attached to the remaining large ones. I have a very large (28" tall) driftwood in the tank, that is slowly being whittled down by two BN plecos. I removed the DW from my other tanks because they were causing the canister filters to clog up with brown gunk. However, in this tank, the DW is the center piece decoration.

Once the BNs destroy the DW, I'll remove it and then I will know how much of the nitrates came from it.

 

[FSM]

What nitrate test are you using? The API liquid test bottle #2 nitrate test needs to be shook a LOT, then the tube needs to also needs to be shook (shaked? Shakes?).

Shaken

...not stirred