Billc Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Well, seems I am back .. amazing the amount of info that is out there now. Last time I had a box of water I was dabbling in reef tanks in the early 80's, and other than a magazine or two, and your LFS, you were on your own. Life intervened and it has been several decades but finally went out and got a 10 gallon kit as a gentle way back in. Decided to really try for a heavily planted tank and see what would happen. Other than some algae directly under the light the tank seems to be coming along nicely. Plants have been in for 6 weeks, livestock (5 platies) for 4. I have a question though (naturally!) .. My nitrates are ALWAYS at or just above 0ppm (not even a 5ppm on the test kit but slightly darker than the 0ppm color) and have been reading how optimal for plant growth is 5-20ppm or so. I just started using easy green and I use root tabs so not sure how much of an issue this will end up being. The back 2/3 of the tank uses Fluorite black sand as the substrate, and have read that this will absorb Nitrates. I guess my question is . if the substrate is absorbing the Nitrates, is that enough, or should I work on trying to up the Nitrates in the water column for long term health of the plants. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ fishing Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Welcome to the forum! Others will know better than I, but I find the same with my nitrates level. I believe a sign of plants growing well. I have to dose easy green 2 or 3 times a week for some of my tanks, or do a water change as my water comes out at 20ppm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMiller2020 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Welcome to the group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindabee53 Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott the fishman Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 welcome!! I have the same issue with nitrates and guess what i use fluorite black clay gravel 65 pounds of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 welcome to the forum. heres my theory on fertilizing.. reading nitrates is ok, but the real question is, do the plants look good. if they are green, healthy, and growing then you're doing enough fertilizer. if they arent, then the nitrate readings give you a measure of where you are. if plants are not happy looking, and you have 5 nitrates, add a bit more fertilizer and get the number up a little, then watch the plants for a week or three, and adjust from there. the 1 pump per 10gal, 1x a week is a baseline average. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) Hi @Billc. If you’re dosing Easy Green you should be detecting Nitrates. The API liquid Nitrate test is very finicky. You need to follow the directions exactly, including shaking the bottles for the indicated amount of time. It’s pretty easy to get a false negative. I’m not the only one who’s done it! I think @Candihas a chart that indicates how much of each compound is in each pump of EG. Edited January 10, 2022 by Patrick_G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levi_Aquatics Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Welcome! Unfortunately I have the opposite problem with my nitrates so I won't be much use to you in that regard. We're glad to have you on the forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BETTA999 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 beatiful platys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candi Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 @Patrick_G NO3 3ppm PO4 0.162 K 2.01 Mg 0.18 Fe 0.034 B 0.004 Mn 0.01 Mo 0.0002 zn 0.002 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMiller2020 Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 Welcome to the group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atitagain Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Welcome to the forum, and back to the hobby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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