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I know this is the most n00bish question you can ask but... How do you get rid of nitrate. I am getting my gravel siphon back from a friend today. Do i just need to change water. Its at 40ppm, and I am worried!

Chris

Yep, just water changes really. They have the effect of physically removing some nitrates from the water, and also dilute whatever is left with an addition of fresh clean water. Of course, if your tap or well water contains nitrates, that's another story. In that case using RO or DI water would be the way to go.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Well, Could deterus from under the UGF be causing high nitrate? Thanks.

Chris

Will high nitrate cause gill curl to our fishes?
Thanks.

Hi,
When I read the post about high nitrates "curling" the
gills of a fish, I went exploring. I did a search on:
"high nitrate levels, effects on aquarium fish."

I got several pages of hits, most of which were
infomercials from various companies.

This is an example:
http://www.algone.com/nitrates.htm

In none of the reading did I see anything as specific
as the "curling" quote. All seem to indicate that
the very high nitrate levels (100+) stress the fish by
interfering with the workings of the various organs of
a fish and the fish has to "work harder" to live thus
shortening its life and making it vulnerable to numerous
diseases.

When a tank hits a nitrate reading of 40, it is at its
upper limits already for fish health. Water changes, and
gravel vacuuming is necessary to remove the causes of the
high nitrates. High nitrates are a sign that the tank
is not being taken care of in a regular manner and instead
is being left alone (just feeding and topping off for
evaporation). When a tank reaches 100+ nitrate readings
all sorts of things happen and the tank then falls into the
"Old Tank Syndrome" (OTS).
See this link for the OTS:

http://www.bestfish.com/oldtank.html

A well planted tank should run nitrates between 10 and
20, max. Well planted means that there is very little,
if any, vacant space to be seen in the tank. If you have
barren gravel swimming area(s), then chances are your
tank is not "well planted" and does not need nitrate
readings that high, 0 to 10 or 5 to 10 would be more
appropriate for tanks with few or "some" plants.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Gravel vac is the way to keep it lower. The gunk under the UGF likely may lead to higher nitrates, but it is easily kept in check with frequent partial water changes.