Re: High Nitrates

[Kelly Beard <apistogramma at home_com>]

> Date: Tue, 30 Mar 1999 18:55:58 PST
> From: "K Will" <steelwill27 at hotmail_com>
> Subject: High Nitrates
> 
> My tank has been up and running for a little more than a month. The
> problem i'm having is high nitrates. It started out at around 12ppm, but
> now is close to 50ppm. I'm not using any co2 because i didn't want the
> extra work, plus i don't mind having slow growth. I started adding 1\4
> tsp of kso4 and mgso4 daily to see if it will help the plants use up
> some of the no3. I noticed increased plant growth, but the no3 isn't
> coming down any.
> 
<snip!>

I guess the nitrates aren't coming down because of the limiting nutrient
here - CO2.  In my planted tank, I have to add some nitrates to maintain
a readable reading.

I think that you'll find adding CO2 is less work than worrying about
nitrates and doing water changes twice a week to keep them down.

Another point folks often make is that aquariums do not run themselves -
some kind of management is needed to keep things healthy.

So, I guess you can choose nitrate management if you want to.  It's a
legitimate aspect of aquarium management.  But, growing bigger plants is
more fun.  :-)

> 
> I'm using a biowheel 30 for filtration. Is this my problem or do I have
> too heavy a fish load? I'm begining to wonder if my no3 test kit is
> reliable. It's made by tetra and isn't easy to use.
> 

The reason you have high nitrates is not because of the biowheel.  In
fact, it's doing it's job well if all you see are nitrates (No ammonia
or nitrItes).

Take care,
Kelly Beard

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