Good morning, I am trying to learn of a natural way to sustain low levels of nitrate. My test kit is testing over 40 ppi nitrate How bad is this to fish I have heard different opinions on that. Any advice is appreciated!
How to lower nitate levels in a ten gallon aquarium (I need help)
- Thread starter Finthusiast
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If naturally then have to make it a planted tank. As the plants grow it’ll use the up the nitrate once cycled. Deep soil bed for anaerobic bacteria (pros and cons).
Ok thanks for the quick response, I guess I need a lot more plants lol. Are there certain types of plants that will do a better job at cleaning up the nitrates?
Plants that grow quickly. Like amazon swords, ferns, sagitaria, valisneria, wisteria etc.
I got one in mind called indian fern any experience with this? Like what it needs and should I be adding any kind of plant food just in general for all plants?
I see that is also called water sprite, yes definitely. As a rule of thumb; the quicker it grows the more nitrate it eats. You should use aquarium specific fertilizer like seachem Flourish. What is your stocking/feeding/water change looking like?
The other quick and most efficient way is by doing lots of large water changes, as long as your tap water is low in nitrate.
The MCL for nitrate in any public water supply in the U.S. is 10 ppm, so unless you are on a private well in an agricultural area, your tap water shouldn't be any higher than 10.
And as you figured out, to do any significant reduction of nitrate with plants, you will need your plant to fish ratio, to be about 10 Xs weight in plants to 1 X weight of fish.
And having terrestrial plants like Pothos with roots dangling in the tank, using the nitrate as food really helps.
The tank above is about 24" tall, and part of the filtration, is a planted sump which contains papyrus (below).
The MCL for nitrate in any public water supply in the U.S. is 10 ppm, so unless you are on a private well in an agricultural area, your tap water shouldn't be any higher than 10.
And as you figured out, to do any significant reduction of nitrate with plants, you will need your plant to fish ratio, to be about 10 Xs weight in plants to 1 X weight of fish.
And having terrestrial plants like Pothos with roots dangling in the tank, using the nitrate as food really helps.
The tank above is about 24" tall, and part of the filtration, is a planted sump which contains papyrus (below).
What are the nitrate levels of your tap water?
40ppm isnt too urgent, do you know how much it increases per week? Water changes are your best bet, of course assuming 0ppm NO3 from tap.