Totally agree with all of above.
Worth checking the water that you fill up with, if this is 20ppm out of the tap then you are not going to get below this, nor should it worry you.
Nitrate can climb from 20-100ppm in only 2 weeks with a lot of bio load so it is worth checking what your regime is stable at, I.e. If it remains at 20 then your current regime is fine and will maintain that level. If it grows week on week by 10-20 ppm then something needs to be stepped up as it will only ever spiral.
In my experience the kits go out of accuracy bang on the use by date.
When the nitrate goes above 75ppm the kits are not accurate, they can read 100 which is top of the scale but the tank can be 200.
Feeding and activity has been seen to drop off at higher levels...I.e. Above 200 or more.
Worth checking the water that you fill up with, if this is 20ppm out of the tap then you are not going to get below this, nor should it worry you.
Nitrate can climb from 20-100ppm in only 2 weeks with a lot of bio load so it is worth checking what your regime is stable at, I.e. If it remains at 20 then your current regime is fine and will maintain that level. If it grows week on week by 10-20 ppm then something needs to be stepped up as it will only ever spiral.
In my experience the kits go out of accuracy bang on the use by date.
When the nitrate goes above 75ppm the kits are not accurate, they can read 100 which is top of the scale but the tank can be 200.
Feeding and activity has been seen to drop off at higher levels...I.e. Above 200 or more.
