Peat to lower NO3 or Fluval Lab Series Nitrate Remover?

[ccole]

hello guys n girls

I have been trying to reduce the nitrate level in my 180ltr over the past week and have managed to get it from 160 to 40. As i understand it i need it between 10 and 5.

I was toying with the idea of using peat in my water but this idea had a mixed responce. As it stand i know it will lower all aspects of the water chemistry which currently stand at kh 80 ang gh 120 ph 7.5 and as said before nitrat 40 my nitrite is 0.

So should i used peat?

I also came across this product called Fluval Lab Series Nitrate Remover
which only lowers the nitrates and nothing else.

Has anyone else used this before?

All of my fish can be in a ph of 6.5 - 7.6 and medium soft to medium hard water (what ever that means!)

Hope you can all help.

respects and thanks
cole

 

[D-MAC]

Hey Cole. Peat will not remove nitrate, Anarobic bacteria will, by using the No3 as a food source and converting it to nitrogen gas which then escapes the aquarium. This type of bacteria needs a oxygen starved area to colonise before it will work well (like the centre of Siporax)...This normaly takes about 3 months to establish...Something like this product works very well.http://www.danditropicals.co.uk/index.php?view=product&product=188 But to be honest, plenty of water changes is sometimes the best way to go

 

[ccole]

hi dereck - i dont know where i got that from then:dk::fr:
I dont mind doing it the hard way with lots of water changes but will the nitrate at 40 harm the fish?
After reading your post i looked around and some websites claim that 50% water changes should be done for a month.
What kind of water changes do you think i should be doing?
thanks dereck:thumbup:

 

[D-MAC]

If your tap water has low no3 then the problem you have is of your own making, ie loads of waste getting converted to no3...This is something you are not alone in, we all like to have every nice fish we see, lol, myself included, but they do create waste...What you need to do is set yourself a 40ppm trigger for waterchanges...This is what I do in the shop and it works well for me...Hit 40ppm= waterchange...It may be once a month,fortnightly,weekly or every other day, but this is the rule I work by...If you find you have to do it every day, then the answer is to seperate the fish into more than one tank, so diluting the issue and giving you more time between changes.

 

[ccole]

Hi derek

I looked up my water quality report for my area and the nitrate level is 36ppm. So its not over stocking its the water. I have done tests leaving the water to settle and also adding 60ltr equivalents of space in plants to a hundred litre tank and this plus seachem prime has reduced the level to ten. So I plan to continue with daily water changes until the old water has been replaced by the new lower nitrate water. Hopefully that will be a rap on that one!

Cole

 

[D-MAC]

Hi derek

I looked up my water quality report for my area and the nitrate level is 36ppm. So its not over stocking its the water. I have done tests leaving the water to settle and also adding 60ltr equivalents of space in plants to a hundred litre tank and this plus seachem prime has reduced the level to ten. So I plan to continue with daily water changes until the old water has been replaced by the new lower nitrate water. Hopefully that will be a rap on that one!

Cole

Hi Cole
Sounds like you have it under control :clap: Let us know if there are further developments. :thumbup:

 

[meloizias]

i would suggest to dealing with your fish room to use RO water, will make it easier to cope with and better for sorting breeding out.

 

[ccole]

Will being doing that for sure m, am taking it slow to make sure I get it as right as I can!