High Nitrates

[Steve A]

I am trying to keep my Nitrates below 40ppm but not having much luck.  I have a 80 gallon tank with 4 Emperor 400 filters running at about 1/3 flow. I have about 12 Water Wisteria plants, about 30 guppies, 30 blue velvet shrimp and 6 Amano shrimp.

I feed once a day and everything cleans it up in less than 10 minutes. For plant fertilizer I am using CO-Ops Easy Root Tabs and Easy Green as directed and a Fluval light.

When I change water I do about 40 gallons about every 10 days.

Any idea how I can keep the Nitrates lower?

[KBOzzie59]

Is there a specific reason you want to keep it below 40?  Not a bad thing but probably not necessary, I keep my heavily planted tanks @80'ish.

I see that one of those filters is good for 80 gallons so it's probably not a filters issue since you are running 4 of them.

Either more water changes and or more plants.  And back off on the easy green a bit.

Are there nitrates in your source water?

 

[Steve A]

Thanks KBOzzie59, the manual with the test kit suggest keeping Nitrates below 40ppm.  My house water I use to refill the tank shows 0ppm of Nitrates.

Spoiler

 

 

[murphy lover 101]

hornwort and duckweed are my absolute go tos for removing nitrate, but be careful as once you introduce duckweed, it is very hard to get rid of so make sure you want it.

[Steve A]

On 7/18/2023 at 6:11 PM, murphy lover 101 said:

hornwort and duckweed are my absolute go tos for removing nitrate, but be careful as once you introduce duckweed, it is very hard to get rid of so make sure you want it.

Thanks I might try some hornwort, I had some duckweed hitch a ride with some other plants but I had surgery last November and could not take good care of things and I lost all my plants and the duckweed.

[KBOzzie59]

On 7/18/2023 at 4:11 PM, murphy lover 101 said:

duckweed, it is very hard to get rid of so make sure you want it.

This.  Very much this!

[Steve A]

On 7/18/2023 at 6:48 PM, KBOzzie59 said:

This.  Very much this!

Combs work very well at gathering up, when you get up in the morning and comb your hair you just go to the aquarium and comb the duckweed 😄

[Sora]

I would stop dosing easy green. It’s basically nitrates in a bottle. If your nitrates are 20 and above that’s basically natural fertilizer. Also I wouldn’t worry about nitrates unless it’s above 80, I’ve heard that anything under 100ppm is safe.

[Steve A]

On 7/18/2023 at 8:35 PM, Sora said:

I would stop dosing easy green. It’s basically nitrates in a bottle. If your nitrates are 20 and above that’s basically natural fertilizer. Also I wouldn’t worry about nitrates unless it’s above 80, I’ve heard that anything under 100ppm is safe.

Thanks Sora, I am using the Easy Green because I just planted the Water Wisteria and hope it will start rooting and convert to underwater plant.

[JettsPapa]

On 7/18/2023 at 8:20 PM, Pepere said:

I would never ever pay good money for Duckweed.   Just wait.  It will show up in your tank sooner or later without spending a cent….

I'd pay good money to get rid of it.

[Mmiller2001]

What substrate are you using?

[Steve A]

On 7/19/2023 at 8:48 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

What substrate are you using?

I am using Black Gravel

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/19/2023 at 8:07 AM, Steve A said:

I am using Black Gravel

You are probably seeing the root tabs leeching from the substrate and increasing your nitrates. 

[Steve A]

On 7/19/2023 at 9:10 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

You are probably seeing the root tabs leeching from the substrate and increasing your nitrates. 

I dont think so, it was like this before I replanted last month.  there had not been any plants for over 6 months.

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/19/2023 at 8:18 AM, Steve A said:

I dont think so, it was like this before I replanted last month.  there had not been any plants for over 6 months.

Then I would reduce the fish population or just increase frequency or water volume changes.