Nitrates

[angelah]

Hi all,
Yes, still around, just been very busy.
Over the last 3 months my tank seems to have settled well and weekly checks indicate that nitrates have levelled off at a steady 15/20 ppm.
As water changes are usually done to lower nitrate levels I am wondering if I need to do them at all...???
I do, about once a fortnight at the moment, which drops nitrates to about 10, but they eventually pick up to the original level and just stay there, I never get above 20 ppm.

Stocking levels are low, about 70%.

Any suggestions/directions would be helpful.

Angela

 

[angelah]

Anybody?

Angela

 

[Johno2090]

Water changes are always good just to keep chemicals in check which can build up over time, I'm not sure if you dose Ferts for plants? but you do add food for the fish, i'm assuming. All of which will lead to an increase in the concentrations of various salts. Changing the water out is the only real way to keep the levels in check.

I'm sure one of the more experienced guys will be along soon to explain it to us both in more detail.

 

[angelah]

Thanks Johno,
I did a 30% change earlier, just in case. I usually do a change but once a fortnight rather than weekly.
I use JBL Ferropol and of course feed fish, usually with JBL NovaBel. I also drop in some TetraWafers and now and then Aquarian Sinking Pellets. When I don't feed those I use frozen food as a variation. Today is fasting day anyway.

Stats are ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20 (today), pH 6.6. When I last tested GH/KH at the end of last month they were 60 and 30 respectively on the Nutrafin kit assessment, which is low, especially the KH which I was a bit worried about and thought it might want buffering a bit. I just got some crushed oyster shell that will go in the Fluval 305 tomorrow. Phosphates read 1.0, again a Nutrafin liquid test.

Angela

 

[bigmatt]

hi angela! Do you have some more tank stats - size, filters, co2, planting etc? All these things influence how often you need water changes. For a low tech tank with decent planting and a big filter, for example, water changes can be very little indeed. My ultimate guide is a happy tank - if plants and livestock are happy, don't sweat it! Hope this helps, Matt

 

[angelah]

hi angela! Do you have some more tank stats - size, filters, co2, planting etc? All these things influence how often you need water changes. For a low tech tank with decent planting and a big filter, for example, water changes can be very little indeed. My ultimate guide is a happy tank - if plants and livestock are happy, don't sweat it! Hope this helps, Matt

Hi Matt,
How stupid of me not saying what the tank was... It's a Roma 240L, heavily planted bot low tech, that is no Co2.
Filters are the Fluval external 305 that came with it supplimented by a JBL CrystalProfi e 1500, so stacks of filtration.
The bottom of the tank was first covered with a 2.5 cm layer of JBL AquaBasicPlus and then a MA bought 2.5 cm layer of sand, duly washed of course. I fert with JBL Ferropol every Sunday.

Here is a pic taken a couple of days ago after cutting the Vallis back.

 

[bigmatt]

PUT THE TEST KIT DOWN!!!!!!
If your tank has happy livestock and plants the numbers are completely irrelevant!!!!! (and probably inaccurate with a home test kit!) If your tank has "settled well" don't unsettle it by fiddling with things that, evidently, don't need changing! As far as water changes go it sounds like you'd be fine cutting back on the changes. I ran a low tech, low light 215l setup (admittedly very lightly stocked) and did small water changes (about 10-15%) monthly or less - everything was perfectly happy in that tank with very few algae issues! Moving buckets of water round is a heavy chore, so remember every tank is it's own little system and if YOUR system seems fine, don't change stuff just because some book/article/website says you should be chasing specific numbers!
Hope this helps!
Matt