nitrates and Water changes

[Ishkabod]

I was wondering what level should i keep my nitrates below and if they get above that level by 5ppm or more how much of a WC would reduce the amount and by how much.

Thanks

Lisa

[krazy_Karma]

I was wondering what level should i keep my nitrates below and if they get above that level by 5ppm or more how much of a WC would reduce the amount and by how much.

Thanks

Lisa

You need to do at least a 50% change to lower the nitrates any real amount, if they get to high it will take up to an 80 or even 90% water change to get your nitrate levels back to a decent level, The level you want is as low as possible, ... as close to 0 as humanly possible...I had mine at 10 and within 3 days there were spiked...and I have been doing daily changes of 65-80% to try to get this leveled off.

Lisa

[punman]

I guess there are lots of factors such as type of filtration, quantity of fish, size of tank, amount of feedings.

I find that if I change 1/3 every week to 10 days I am in pretty good shape.

[Boom]

There is no easy answer to what your asking. There is no magic number for how much water to change and how often, due to all the factors puman mentioned, and more.

You have to test your water for nitrates. Test it, if it's above an acceptable level (decide whats acceptable to you, usually 30 - 40 ppm max.) then do a 50% water change. Test again a few hours after the water change. If it's down to where you want it (around 10ppm) then that amount of water change was good. Then test you water every day for a week and see how long it takes to get back up to where you need to change it again. Keep doing this for a while and it won't take long to figure out how much water to change and how often.

Don't forget it will change slightly if you add more fish or increase feedings.

[Ishkabod]

Thanks so much everyone, that answers my questions. I really really appreciate the advice.

Thanks again

Lisa

Edited October 14, 2008 by Ishkabod

[firestorm]

The only way you will really ever get your nitrates to 0 and maintain them there is with a planted tank. Otherwise 10ppm is usually a safe level.

[werner]

The only way you will really ever get your nitrates to 0 and maintain them there is with a planted tank.

Yes, theoretically. But even in a planted tank you don't want zero nitrates and will end up adding them back through fertilizer. 10-20ppm is considered a good target range.