my tank is a 125gal and only housing 1 6" jardini and feed it only once a day with 1 frozen shrimp or 2 shrimp depending the size of the shrimp. my nitrate always climbs up to 40ppm in a week after a 50% water change. I got 2 110aquaclear and 1 fx6. any ways to lower the nitrate or slow the climbs of nitrate? I got 1 plant in the tank.
what ways of lowering nitrate
- Thread starter Richard203
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Hello; A couple of things come to mind. First, is the fish a messy eater? by that does the shrimp get swallowed quickly or is it chewed a bit with lots of small fragments getting loose in the water?
Second, is the test kit accurate? A way to check is to test some distilled water.
If the nitrates are truly at 40ppm within a week then maybe a 50% WC twice a week.
Second, is the test kit accurate? A way to check is to test some distilled water.
If the nitrates are truly at 40ppm within a week then maybe a 50% WC twice a week.
I don't know the exact weight of your fish, nor the exact weight of the shrimp. So it's a guess all the way around.
But, if it's 2 shrimp from the 40 per pound size, then you're feeding around 8 grams per day net dry weight of 84% protein. The fish probably weighs between 30 and 60 grams, so it's getting 13-27% of it's net body weight in food per day. That might be a little too high at it's size. (That's comparable to the 20% rate people suggest for tilapia fry and fingerlings grown commercially for sale.)
https://lakewaytilapia.com/Tilapia-Fingerlings.php
http://pdacrsp.oregonstate.edu/pubs/technical/13techhtml/2.c.2/2.c.2.html
The nitrate (for my guess in the shrimp) works out to 7 ppm per day, which makes some sense given your readings.
Options are:
1) reduce amount of food
2) get a lower protein food
3) do more water changes
4) do larger water changes
Plants of course will work to some extent, but these are 4 things you can do today.
But, if it's 2 shrimp from the 40 per pound size, then you're feeding around 8 grams per day net dry weight of 84% protein. The fish probably weighs between 30 and 60 grams, so it's getting 13-27% of it's net body weight in food per day. That might be a little too high at it's size. (That's comparable to the 20% rate people suggest for tilapia fry and fingerlings grown commercially for sale.)
https://lakewaytilapia.com/Tilapia-Fingerlings.php
http://pdacrsp.oregonstate.edu/pubs/technical/13techhtml/2.c.2/2.c.2.html
The nitrate (for my guess in the shrimp) works out to 7 ppm per day, which makes some sense given your readings.
Options are:
1) reduce amount of food
2) get a lower protein food
3) do more water changes
4) do larger water changes
Plants of course will work to some extent, but these are 4 things you can do today.
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Try nitrate loving plants "limnophila sessiflora" will double in size each week and is easy to look after as it eats nitrates as nutrients, it also tolerates low light and co2 levels. Also you can try adding a stabilizer after a water change to keep things smooth
Hello; With 0 ppm nitrate at the tap and not a messy eater, then the fish must be the bio load. Drstrangelove nailed the immediate things to do. You might consider a couple of fasting days each week as a way to reduce the amount of food.
isn't a 6" jardini is just a junvile and need to feed it once a day? and the shrimp is just like a shot cup size.
Hello; I get what you are saying in that the lone fish is not huge and is in a decent sized tank. However you are posting nitrate at 40ppm each week so something is causing this build up.
A shot glass of shrimp sounds like a lot each day to me. My guess is this is the source of the nitrate build up. Fish are cold blooded and do not need a volume of food like we do. Not saying you do not understand, but perhaps the single most common mistake made is overfeeding. Took me years to figure this out on my own.
If you do not want to cut down on the amount of food then larger volume and more frequent WC seem to be the best course.
Good luck
k, how long do u think I should wait to feed my fish? 2 days? or longer im just got into monster fish so I don't know how much do they eat and I don't want to strave it