Nitrate removal

[Dargath78]

What does everyone use to keep their nitrates low? Water changes? Anyone use anything like DSB or one of those nitrate removal systems? I use water changes, just wanted to hear about alternatives.

 

[repair]

What does everyone use to keep their nitrates low? Water changes? Anyone use anything like DSB or one of those nitrate removal systems? I use water changes, just wanted to hear about alternatives.

I saw an add one time for a nitrate removal system but decided to keep doing the water changes for the minerals.

has anyone used one?

 

[Nate_N_Nicole]

Water changes, and a nitrate sponge will help a little... I think that a diotome filter might work but they are kind of a pain in the butt...

I dont think i spelled that right... (Diotome)

 

[id10t]

Water changes and/or plants. Anything else is just adding *more* chemicals to your tank, and changing the form of the nitrate into something else.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

water changes and more water changes....

 

[oscar1]

water changes is the only answer water changes

 

[beblondie]

1.Regular water changes
2.clean the filters regularly
3.Reduce the amount of food given to only what gets eaten quickly
4.Add fast growing live plants to the tank
5.Clean the tank thourghly including substrate (vacuum regularly)

 

[guppy]

With a couple of adjustments I like beblondie's answer. The adjustments are minor quibbles. They are that when using plants to remove nitrogen products and lessen the ammount of nitrates formed the old growth should be regularly trimmed and removed from the tank because as it dies it releases breakdown products back into the water. The other one is that if you use an under gravel filter as part or all of your filtration system you should only vacuum the surface of the substrate and if you do deep clean your gravel you should only do a small portion at a time.