nitrate help

[cichness]

i have probably a nitrate problem in my tanks. i get algea growing fast in them, my fish all seem to do fine, but sometimes in my 90 gal i see them "pant" once or twice. i will admit to slight over feeding but i do weekly w/c and gravel vac every other week, is there another way to take care of too much nitrates?

i see sometimes that people put plants in their wet/dry sumps, is that what they are for? to take care of nitrates?

 

[Bderick67]

Do you actually test for nitrates? If they are too high then increase the volume or frequency of the water changes.

Plants can help but probably not enough to notice a difference.

 

[cchhcc]

Plants in no way can compete with water changes (at least in typical plant setup).

Just a question...... How are you sure it's nitrates? Panting often is the result of ammonia or nitrites. Nitrates would lead to lethargic behavior and would be unlikely with weekly WCs (unless you're not changing very much or really, really overfeeding).

 

[cichness]

no i didnt test for them, but i figured since the algea was growing so fast that would be it. i do weekly water changed in the smaller tanks of about 25% and the bigger ones at 15%

 

[wow_it_esploded]

I would suggest 75% water changes weekly depending on how the tanks are stocked and gravel vacuuming every time you do a water change. Cutting back feeding to the minimal amount will surely help too...

As for algae growth, leave the lights off for a couple of days-a week or so and just leave the room light on when you are watching the fish. Easy peasy and no chemicals are needed.

Cheers

 

[cichness]

75% a week! i think thats a tad excessive!!!

i could gravel vac every week, would it harm the BB? my 90 doesnt have anything but a mag 350 on it, so there not much but the gravel for BB to grow on unfortunatly. im building wet/drys right now for my tanks, but its slow

 

[Bud8Fan]

You have to get a test kit to find your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels to find out exactly what you need to be doing.

 

[zennzzo]

I agree, got to have hard facts, to do any good...

 

[duanes]

Nitrate is not the only thing that promotes algal growth. Phosphate can also be the culprit. Some prepared food contain it, and if you are overfeeding this may be the cause, or some water providers add it as a way to prevent lead from leaching out of pipes. You could call your water company to find out.
And I agree wholeheartedly with the others, you should actually do tests to know for sure.
I use plants in my sumps, but still I do 2 -3 water changes of about 20% per week, there is no substitute for frequent water changing. They remove nitrate, phosphate and a host of other things your fish don't need.

 

[cichness]

then i guess i need to find an easier way to do water changes, cuz this bucket method is getting old, i hate cleaning up the mess lol. i probably would have been doing more if i had a better way. tryed the python method, but the faucets in my bathroom dont have anything for it to hook up to.... so i have to use a syphon hose and a bucket, and pry i dont get water in my mouth, which i very frequently do....