# whats the best nitrate level?



## cueball (May 24, 2005)

well not realy but heres the idea of my set up.. ive been growin these plants from basic scrach,,,tinny cutting and stuff thay came along way since Dec. i got in the back left corner java fern growin off a rock,,infront of that is water sprite ,,them tall wavy thangs are some kinda wild val i picked befor the bugs got layin eggs on them i dont wanta bring in dragon flys or somthin lol

(crap i had problem loadin the pic ill get a nice pic tonight when i get home from work)


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

for planted you want to maintain a nitrate ppm of 10-20.


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## plantbrain (Jul 3, 2007)

Note, the sources of N are different in piranha tanks generally.
Fish waste does not start out as NO3, it starts out as organic N and NH4.

These are lot more toxic to our fish than NO3.

Adding KNO3 on the other hand is not toxic as it never starts out as NH4.
Thus comparing fish waste sources of NO3 vs KNO3 sournces are radically different in terms of fish health.

You generally miss the NH4/NO2 as those levels are very low, and end up testing the left overs.........NO3.
So it's merely correlation, *not cause that NO3 levels are high= bad.*

In order to test NO3 alone, you need to add KNO3 etc, not assume fish waste is the same as adding KNO3.

Many folks make this assumption, but it's wrong.

In the past, aquarists never considered adding KNO3, so it tends to conflict with advice, which often takes 10-30 years to debunk if it's wrong.

Many are still stuck on assuming that NO3 is all derived from fish waste and is on equal terms with KNO3 dosing.

There are several good review papers that address this and the levels are of NO3 before any signs of toxicity occur are massive, depending on the species: 200-10,000ppm NO3.

So you have a wide range here.

If you stock fewer fish, then you will obviously have less NH4, if you add lots of plants, you will also have less NH4.

So you can add less fish and more plants and nd up with a better health.

20-30ppm is a good target, but at lower light, 10ppm ought to be fine as well.
Make sure to calirate a NO3 test, they are terrible for the accuracy and must be calibrated if you plan on using it as a monitoring device.

here's a link how to make a NO3 or PO4 calibration solution:
http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index...ost-left-c.html

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

plantbrain said:


> Note, the sources of N are different in piranha tanks generally.
> Fish waste does not start out as NO3, it starts out as organic N and NH4.
> 
> These are lot more toxic to our fish than NO3.
> ...


dude i dont have a clue what you just said,,,,







alittle to downpacked to be helpful...is 40 ppm to much?


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## plantbrain (Jul 3, 2007)

Yes, you never need more than about 25-30ppm, assuming that the test kit is accurate,a rather large assumption unless you own a Lamotte(50-60$) or Hach test kit.

Sometimes I speak Greek, don't worry, I'm just a factory worker/meat cutter from a little town in the midwest, got tired of it so went back to school.

Don't let it scare ya though








I'm still the same really, just know a little more and am a lot more awre of how little I really know and need to question most things now.

Which is not a bad thing.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

as long as my tank isnt toxic its all good,,i got fry in the tank so ive been over feedin lately,, i did a 4 gallon water change in my 10g and the bad smell went away so i guess um good,, guppys are tuff fish,,,my water sprite is boostin right up so i guess that well take care of the nirates soon enuff as it get bigger


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