Nitrate Reductor Question

[Mike fail]

once a week.

 

[johnptc]

i would add carbon to remove doc's and watch the fish......

if the nitrates stay very low 10-20 ppm i would change 20% every other week..........after a few months if the fish look great you may reduce it further........

 

[johnptc]

Even those who have 24/7 H2o systems still do water weekly changes

what does this mean ??






.

 

[ILLdose13]

what does this mean ??






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I was wondering too what it means!

 

[ILLdose13]

I try to do at least 3 per week of @ 20% each on each bank of tanks, even though my nitrates test between 2-4 ppm.
Nitrates are just the tip of the iceburg in the chemical soup our fish live in. DOCs, hormone production, amino acids, to name just a few of the metabolic processes going on. If water changes were just for nitrates, life would be a lot easier.

Will plants absorb these chemicals?

I bought a nitrate reductor because I hate cleaning my tank twice a week and I can only feed my piranhas once or twice a week because my nitrates sky rocket! Cleaning the tank once or twice a month would be great for me.

 

[ILLdose13]

i would add carbon to remove doc's and watch the fish......

if the nitrates stay very low 10-20 ppm i would change 20% every other week..........after a few months if the fish look great you may reduce it further........

this seems like a good idea

 

[frasertheking]

Will plants absorb these chemicals?

I bought a nitrate reductor because I hate cleaning my tank twice a week and I can only feed my piranhas once or twice a week because my nitrates sky rocket! Cleaning the tank once or twice a month would be great for me.

you would need a hell of a lot of plants to reduce nitrates quickly. a 24h drip system might be a better idea.

 

[ILLdose13]

you would need a hell of a lot of plants to reduce nitrates quickly. a 24h drip system might be a better idea.

i'm already getting a denitrator that removes nitrates.

wut i mean is will plants remove chemicals like DOCs, hormones, amino acids, etc?

i know that i need a lot of plants if i want them to remove nitrates, but will plants absorb the other chemicals faster than it absorb nitrates?

 

[gomezladdams]

IMO a nitrate reductor is a bad idea.
Nitrates are just one of the pollutants in your tank and its the one that you can buy a test kit for.Remove the nitrates and now you have no way to judge water quality.
Waterchanging is part of fishkeeping.
Companies that try to sell you products that claim to reduce the need to give the fish clean water=snake oil salesmen

 

[Jfitz]

i do weekly water changes, it seems to do a good job getting rid of the nitrites/ nitrates