Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 (edited) Hi . I tested my tap water and 0 nitrates . I do water changes about every four five days . I seem to run a nitrate level of about maybe 30ppm when I test . It seems pretty consistent each time I test . I don't test every time as the reading is the same after about four days . But I do mostly check first . I have plants java moss and hygrophila angustifolia , water sprite . There is room for more plants but they will cover the remaining substrate if I add more . I have 11 fish and 4 snails and about 30 bloody mary shrimp in a 10 g . Any advise on lowering the nitrate level a bit more between water changes or to add time between changes ? My fish are okay no problems with any fish dying for any reason aside from death by betta . I try feeding my fish less , but by the way they feed I do get flakes dropping to the bottom . My tank has been running for close to a year .Thanks Edited July 18, 2023 by Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 I use emergent plants to help with nitrate. Floating plants also do good for nitrate control. Here is a fantastic thread that gives information on emergents. Here are a few of my tanks for some ideas. Any houseplant that can be water propagated or tolerate “wet feet” work well for me. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 8:46 AM, Pepere said: Floating plants work too. Essentially any plant that has its leaves above water accessing co2 from the atmosphere where it will not be the limiting factor to growth. Of course you need to remove a fair amount weekly or it overtakes the top and keeps light away from other plants… Hornwort is good too… Once I started injected co2 to my tank though I eliminated the floating plants. My plant growth soaks up all Nitrate from my tank faster than the bioload produces it. I need to actively fertilize to maintain nitrate levels. So the plants use nitrates . 0 nitrates = no food for plants . No food for plants . Plants die . High nitrates = dead fish . Add nitrate to tank , test shows ppm . So for my set up , how many ppm's is considered bad as mine seem to run near 10/20 ppm . Hard to tell with the color chart on the liquid test . Made a mistake saying 30 ppm looking at the chart . No 30 on it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 @Guppysnail That video made it simple .. lol my nitrate level isn't bad and actually preferred for plant growth as said, 20 to 50 is good . So just do my water changes as doing and that is good . @Pepere Thats what I am running so thats good . I am going to change to strips as they maybe more clear to read . More definitive than trying to find the best light to read the liquid . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 9:58 AM, Pepere said: I have strips, but only use them as a screen. I prefer the liquid tests… as far as making reading easier, sometimes diluting a cup of tank water with a cup of tap water and stirring and testing a sample of that can help with determining what the real level is. I have a hard time distinguishing between 10 and 20 ppm nitrate, but easy to distinguish between 5 and 10. If I am not sure if it is 10, or 20 and dilute a sample and retest and I still have trouble, that I know the tank is closer to 20. Otherwise if the diluted sample looks closer to 5, I know the original is closer to 10… good one ... Thanks 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 (edited) Thanks to you two . The video , suggestions , and pics really helped out . I've seen on other forums where people say if your not at 0 , your fish are swimming in a sewer .. So this really cleared things up . 😎 No pun intended .... lol Edited July 18, 2023 by Jackson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 How much water are you changing? 30ppm isn't bad. You should be fine, but adding more plants and larger water changes could help to bring it down to 20ppm (if that is your goal). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 (edited) On 7/18/2023 at 2:34 PM, Galabar said: How much water are you changing? 30ppm isn't bad. You should be fine, but adding more plants and larger water changes could help to bring it down to 20ppm (if that is your goal). I change about 30% every 4 sometimes 5 days depending on how guilty I feel . I have a pitcher that is about a gallon . So 3 of those sometimes 4 unless I vac . Then I have to eyeball about where I am at . On 7/18/2023 at 2:34 PM, Galabar said: How much water are you changing? 30ppm isn't bad. You should be fine, but adding more plants and larger water changes could help to bring it down to 20ppm (if that is your goal). My goal is to have the most reasonable parameters for happy fish . Edited July 18, 2023 by Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 4:24 AM, Jackson said: I have 11 fish and 4 snails and about 30 bloody mary shrimp in a 10 g . Any advise on lowering the nitrate level a bit more between water changes or to add time between changes ? It's just overstocked a bit, unfortunately. What is the tank currently on? Is it on a stand or? On 7/18/2023 at 11:41 AM, Jackson said: I change about 30% every 4 sometimes 5 days depending on how guilty I feel . I have a pitcher that is about a gallon . So 3 of those sometimes 4 unless I vac . Then I have to eyeball about where I am at . I'd recommend just doing weekly 50% changes. On 7/18/2023 at 10:38 AM, Pepere said: I am willing to bet, if you tested every home aquarium in America today, the number of tanks under 20 ppm nitrate would be a very small minority. Very true. One of the things a lot of people overlook is the nitrate from bioload compared to the nitrate from fertilizers. I'm ok with 20 ppm from a fert, but if I have 20-40+ from overstocking, it can be a perpetually rising issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 2:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said: It's just overstocked a bit, unfortunately. What is the tank currently on? Is it on a stand or? I'd recommend just doing weekly 50% changes. It's on one of those petco towers . I made shelves for it after seeing a post on it . I hate it . Part of the reason to lose my pleco and rasboras is to cut that bio load . Though I would like to get another two black neons less the six . I was wondering with my w/changes still running 20 after 4 days , if I had a nitrate problem .. Off tp petco they go now . Proved to be to costly to ship for anyones worth while . I'll work on the new tetras when I redo my tank . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 12:09 PM, Jackson said: It's on one of those petco towers . I made shelves for it after seeing a post on it . Can you show me please? There is a reason for asking that may very easily solve your issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 2:01 PM, Jackson said: So what was with the stand question .... Did I miss something .. lol What is the tank on? How is it supported? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 2:13 PM, Jackson said: I can post a pic but I don't like my set up at the moment .. It's practical . It is just a metal tower that the tank sits on . The first pic is when I very first started my tank . The second pic is what it is now . Stand and all . I have two of those. They work well. One method to help the issue is to replace the 10G with a larger tank. I thought that you could use a 20H in place of a 10G, but it does not appear to be the same floor dimensions. 😕 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 6:02 PM, nabokovfan87 said: I have two of those. They work well. I have been thinking of a 20L for quite a while now . When I remake my tank I may at that time just go that way as the money will be flying... lol I want a 50" kitchen base unit with drawers and a nice formica top . Put 3/4 " ply under the formica . New like stand for it would be around 100 bucks . We will see on that . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Just an FYI on the metal stands. You take fabric and sew magnets into the corners. Then you can cover the base so it doesn't look like just a metal frame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 18, 2023 Author Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 6:15 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Just an FYI on the metal stands. You take fabric and sew magnets into the corners. Then you can cover the base so it doesn't look like just a metal frame. Crossed my mind . Gonna wait and see if I can do it all at once . does look messy there . Make me straighten it out now .. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 19, 2023 Author Share Posted July 19, 2023 Dropped off my pleco and rasboras to petco . Now 5 fish. , 4 snails and 30 shrimp (about). Going to do a test and maybe a water change to start off with the lesser bio load . I'll check again in four days . I would like to keep the nitrates to 20 and have decided that I would rather add nitrate than try to remove it . So see how this goes lol . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 19, 2023 Author Share Posted July 19, 2023 bummer ... just found another rasbora .. There were 6 not 5 .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 19, 2023 Author Share Posted July 19, 2023 On 7/18/2023 at 9:58 AM, Pepere said: as far as making reading easier, sometimes diluting a cup of tank water with a cup of tap water and stirring and testing a sample of that can help with determining what the real level is. Tried the diluting trick , and it worked . I see closest to 5ppm after a 50% w/change .. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 (edited) It will be a week tomorrow that I dropped my part of bio load 7 fish if you include taking out my snail for a few days . I just did the 50/50 test and I got this result . Two different light views Tough getting the right light . One looks like 5ppm the other 20 .. Edited July 24, 2023 by Jackson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackson Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 This is just straight from the tank .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted July 24, 2023 Share Posted July 24, 2023 On 7/24/2023 at 6:45 AM, Jackson said: This is just straight from the tank .. Looks like 20. It hasn't shifted to any red yet. (30+) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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