Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fishtank Filtration and Cycling => Topic started by: Charlotte on December 30, 2016, 07:41:43 PM
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For the past month or so my nitrates have been testing at 1ppm.
Should I be concerned at all?
I even went and bought a different test kit to make sure I wasn't getting a false reading but both api and jbl read at 1.
Is it possible to have zero nitrates and what could happen in that scenario?
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What levels were you getting previously?
What is the nitrate level in your tap water?
Do you have any floating plants?
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The tank was started in august and initially the nitrates were at 80 ppm until it cycled,I added jbl nitrex until it dropped to around 20 then removed it.
I have not tested tap water.
I don't have any floating plants but I have plenty of plants in soil substrate.
PH 7.5,ammonia 0,nitrites 0,kh 5,GH 7.
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I'm aware that my tap water has 40ppm nitrates, but the tanks where I have a lot of floating plants have slightly lower levels.
The general rules are that tap water level +20ppm of nitrate is acceptable, which is useful when looking at the frequency & volume of water changes.
You may be lucky to have very low levels of nitrate in your tap water, and it would be worth checking that.
Your plants will be using the nitrates, but I don't have any experience of such low levels.
Perhaps the more experienced keepers will be able to offer some specific advice.
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Found this
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/11-fertilizers-water-parameters/183596-nitrates-too-low.html
which may indicate that your plants are using the nitrates in the tank.
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http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/articles/10-planted-tank-myths
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Thanks for your help littlefish