Nitrate Levels and Water Changes

[Alec]

I'm want to get more on a schedule of doing water Changes. The water change guide by the co op says change 30% @40ppm Nitrates. The test strips say @100ppm to change water. What should I use? This is a planted tank. Working on growing plants to full growth. 

[Kevin F.]

It really depends on your tank. Would be a lot easier to give advice on it will full tank stats (size, fish load,light duration, substrate, water parameters). Saying that there is a huge debate over water change schedules some say once a week some say once a month some say what's a water change. I do a weekly 30% water changes on my planted tank.  It is over stocked and plants are still trying to fill in. My Nitrates never get over 25 ppm.  It is working for me but as the tank changes my water change schedule might have to change with it.

[Scapexghost]

How many nitrates does your tank produce per week?

[Guppysnail]

The coop 40/30% is learning when and how much change to do to keep the water quality good. The test strip 100 change means it’s dangerous to fish change water now. I hope that helps clarify why there seems to be a discrepancy. 

40 is max I feel you should ever go. Others may feel different 

[HH Morant]

My nitrates are often in the 40-80 range. It does not seem  to hurt the fish. It takes very high nitrate levels to be toxic to adult fish. Aquariumscience.org has articles regarding nitrate levels and toxicity. He knows a lot more than I do.

I do water changes every 2 or 3 weeks and I change about two thirds or more of the water. My angels and plecos are always laying eggs, so they must be healthy enough.

[Alec]

On 11/2/2021 at 6:24 PM, Scapexghost said:

How many nitrates does your tank produce per week?

I am not compeltly sure. 

On 11/2/2021 at 6:01 PM, Kevin F. said:

It really depends on your tank. Would be a lot easier to give advice on it will full tank stats (size, fish load,light duration, substrate, water parameters). Saying that there is a huge debate over water change schedules some say once a week some say once a month some say what's a water change. I do a weekly 30% water changes on my planted tank.  It is over stocked and plants are still trying to fill in. My Nitrates never get over 25 ppm.  It is working for me but as the tank changes my water change schedule might have to change with it.

20 gallon

8 neon tetras

2 black neons

2 glo tetras

1 bristnose pleco

Mystery snail

Amano and cherry shrimp

6hrs

Eco complete

Not sure on most recent numbers. Generally ammonia and nitrites are 0. Ph is usually about 7.6. Kh and gh are higher.

[Scapexghost]

On 11/2/2021 at 7:51 PM, Alec said:

I am not compeltly sure. 

For now i would do 25% water changes every other week. If you ever find nitrates climbing above 40 ppm increase the size or frequency of water changes

[Phantom240]

On 11/2/2021 at 8:51 PM, Alec said:

I am not compeltly sure. 

 

Only way to find out is to change the water until you get down to about 20ppm, then monitor daily for a week and boom, there you go. 

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

I think how heavy you fertilize can make a difference as well. With high need plants requiring a lot of ferts you’re going to want to water change more frequently so that nitrates stay in a moderate range not a high range. I’d agree with posts above 40-80 is high, 25 is Goldilocks and 0-5 is low. If you only fertilize plants at water change or a couple times a week then you can go less frequently on water unless you have very heavy stocking. The stock of fish, what they eat, the amount of waste produced also Is in the equation. 

The example @HH Morantgave of a tank with plecos and angels those are fish with a lot of nutritional needs - depending on the pleco that could be heavy on veg or protein and the angels are omnivores although prefer a good amount of protein. If his tank is very heavily planted they may provide the plants most of what they need and can lead to less reliance on liquid ferts maybe even root tabs if you’re not vacuuming up all the mulm and detritus that recharges that eco-complete you have. For some that’s a bridge too far while others like Father Fish and LRB feel that’s the path to a “natural” or sustainable ecosystem. While others advocate for a completely clean substrate free of all detritus. 
In the end have fun and enjoy your tank. 

[Patrick_G]

I’ll admit to not doing many water changes and relying on the plants and a low stocking to keep Nitrate levels in check. The smaller tanks still require more changes than my 75 gallon.  Back in the days before I started planted tanks I tried to do 25-30%  per week no matter what the Nitrate levels were. 

[Phantom240]

 

On 11/2/2021 at 11:02 PM, Patrick_G said:

I’ll admit to not doing many water changes and relying on the plants and a low stocking to keep Nitrate levels in check. The smaller tanks still require more changes than my 75 gallon.  Back in the days before I started planted tanks I tried to do 25-30%  per week no matter what the Nitrate levels were. 

I haven't done a water change since I set up my 55 gallon back in september. Everything seems pretty healthy, and my nitrates stay below 5ppm lol. 

[GameCzar]

I only panic when the nitrates get above 50ppm or so, other than that my changes are usually to keep it tidy. 

[Patrick_G]

On 11/3/2021 at 5:38 AM, Phantom240 said:

 

I haven't done a water change since I set up my 55 gallon back in september. Everything seems pretty healthy, and my nitrates stay below 5ppm lol.

That sounds really low unless you have a very low stocking level. What kind of test are you using? 

[Phantom240]

On 11/3/2021 at 10:15 AM, Patrick_G said:

That sounds really low unless you have a very low stocking level. What kind of test are you using? 

API master test kit and co-op strips. Pretty well stocked, 14 neon tetras, 12 rummynose, 6 emerald Cory cats, 7 kuhli loaches, 6 long fin black skirt tetras, 15ish guppies, some amanos, ramshorn and trumpet snails… but it’s well planted, intense light and co2 injected, so I dose everything but nitrates and the plants eat all the nitrates up immediately.

Edited November 3, 2021 by Phantom240

[Patrick_G]

On 11/3/2021 at 8:35 AM, Phantom240 said:

API master test kit and co-op strips. Pretty well stocked, 14 neon tetras, 12 rummynose, 6 emerald Cory cats, 7 kuhli loaches, 6 long fin black skirt tetras, 15ish guppies, some amanos, ramshorn and trumpet snails… but it’s well planted, intense light and co2 injected, so I dose everything but nitrates and the plants eat all the nitrates up immediately.

That makes sense. At the in person event Cory mentioned (very casually) that a Nitrogen Free Easy Green might be a possibility. I’d definitely buy that one. 

[Phantom240]

On 11/3/2021 at 12:00 PM, Patrick_G said:

That makes sense. At the in person event Cory mentioned (very casually) that a Nitrogen Free Easy Green might be a possibility. I’d definitely buy that one. 

It would make a lot of sense for low tech tanks, since the demands aren't quite so high. However, when you're adding 10+ grams of dry ferts to your tank every other week or so, it becomes a much less useful product.