Do regular maintenance on your filter media. If not maintained, filter media may contribute to elevated nitrate levels in your tank.
Keeping Nitrate Levels Down
- Thread starter tonymofo
- Start date
Well first of all, I'm not sure what would produce additional nitrates in your filter media. I always though your filter turned ammonia into nitrites then into nitrates. But maybe I'll learn something here.
Second, what are you calling high nitrates? over 20ppm, over 40ppm, over 60ppm?
I assume your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero.
Second, what are you calling high nitrates? over 20ppm, over 40ppm, over 60ppm?
I assume your ammonia and nitrite levels are zero.
I'm using an API nitrate test kit. basicly I get a 80ppm everytime I test that tank. My other two tanks come out find and I do W/C on them every week.Could it be the sand. I stir it up before W/c to let any trap gases out. The clown loaches and catfish keep the sand clean their is barely any waste laying around.
I know that there are nitrate absorbing resins you can get and add to your filtration system. I've never used them but it might work to get them down to a better level.
how often and how much water do you change in your 100gallon? If your tap water is a zero(prob 5ppm) and ya did a 75% W/C that will drop your nitrates down to around 20ppm. Then ya need to monitor daily and when it hits 40ppm do a 50% change to get back to 20ppm. once you get the rate of how quickly your nitrates rise, you can tailor your W/Cs and even work on getting the levels down to 10ppm.
Okay if I use a 75 gallon tank as a sump tank and dedicated 1/3 of the tank to plants do you think it would be effective in controlling some of the nitrate???
