Nitrate fluctuation.

[Canoeist]

I was reading back in the stingray forums and saw a post where someone was doing a 30 percent water change every week without testing parameters. The fish were showing signs of stress and all responses recommended increasing the water changes.

Through monitoring my own nitrate levels it seems that the tank generates 2ppm/day feeding 10 massivore delite pellets twice daily, every day.

I put pen to paper and roughed out how nitrate levels would steadily increase until leveling off based on a 30 percent change every 5 days.

I chose these amounts because it is the routine I use, with the exception of doing a double wc whenever I notice nitrate present.

 

[duanes]

Nitrate does "not" just come from feeding fish.
Nitrate is produced from all manner of metabolism, the bacteria in filters create nitrate by converting ammonia and nitrite, this is why I consider the cleaning of gunk from filters as a very important.
The frequent removal of organic material and sludge, trapped in filters, is still the water column of a closed system, soa needed part of regular maintenance. That is why to me, a filter allowed to run a month or more without cleaning, is a nitrate factory.
Any plant matter decaying or other organic compounds left to sit on the substrate (unless there are copious amounts of living plants to use these by-products), are producers of nitrate.

 

[RD.]

It all boils down to bio-load, including water change amounts and frequencies, as well as filter media cleaning.

2 adult Oscars in a 150 gallon, is a world apart from 2 adult guppies.

I also utilize sludge reducing bacteria to assist in my maintenance program, which allows me additional time between filter media cleaning.

 

[esoxlucius]

We know that nitrate steadily rises in a closed loop aquarium environment. We also know that water changes dilute it. And depending on what level of nitrate each hobbyist finds acceptable determines the % of water they change out each week. Is it just an observation you are making, there dosen't seem to be a question there?

 

[Canoeist]

Just an observation and an attempt to quantify the production of nitrate vs water changes.

 

[epond83]

I would recommend Excel next time you start geeking out like this again.
Also I've seen calculators others have made in Excel to figure out where your tank will level out based on a few inputs.

 

[dr exum]

It all boils down to bio-load, including water change amounts and frequencies, as well as filter media cleaning.

2 adult Oscars in a 150 gallon, is a world apart from 2 adult guppies.

I also utilize sludge reducing bacteria to assist in my maintenance program, which allows me additional time between filter media cleaning.

What is this sludge reducing bacteria you speak of ?

thanks!

 

[RD.]

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[RD.]

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[lp85253]

Nitrate does "not" just come from feeding fish.
Nitrate is produced from all manner of metabolism, the bacteria in filters create nitrate by converting ammonia and nitrite, this is why I consider the cleaning of gunk from filters as a very important.
The frequent removal of organic material and sludge, trapped in filters, is still the water column of a closed system, soa needed part of regular maintenance. That is why to me, a filter allowed to run a month or more without cleaning, is a nitrate factory.
Any plant matter decaying or other organic compounds left to sit on the substrate (unless there are copious amounts of living plants to use these by-products), are producers of nitrate.

a filter is a "nitrate factory " regardless of cleaning them out or not.. that's what a filter does .. produce nitrates , thus they are by definition factories.. of course i know that you know this.. now getting to the solution of lowering nitrates.. there are several ways to lower nitrates and decrease detritus.. i do 2 large water changes per week (up to 50%).. this can be tricky , but in my opinion is safer than screwing around with cleaning off filter media (especially in hob's).. gravel vacs are of course helpful , but not needed if (as much) if you don't use lot's of gravel and do large frequent water changes .. the trick with large water changes is ph stability.. a tank that hasn't been getting big water changes might have a lower ph than a tank that gets frequent changes , especially in hard water cities.. then there is the "ro" water issue ... that's another issue to some...