How to lower nitrate levels

[scpion]

If u do not maintain the cleaning schedule to your filter, you have found your problem.. No matter how good is the filter, if u dun clean it, it's a excellent nitrate factory.

[trever22]

If u do not maintain the cleaning schedule to your filter, you have found your problem.. No matter how good is the filter, if u dun clean it, it's a excellent nitrate factory.

Yeah I realize that now. I just didnt think that I would have to clean it so soon considering that my tank has been up for 3 weeks but I definantly will clean it out.

Thanks

[scpion]

I used to use 2 large canisters but there was a time when I couldn't keep up with the cleaning schedule. So I decided to disconnect one of them and guess wat.. My nitrate actually dropped. Now I just use a pre filter over the intake to catch those larger craps and leave the canister to work on the biological process. Canisters are designed for biological filtration Imo, try not to allow stuffs to get trapped in there.

Over filtration is good, but I would say that's referring to mechanical aspect. Remember, more ammonia sources, that would mean more nitrate. Mechanical filtration is there to minimise or "skip" this process.

[Pufferpunk]

How did you cycle this tank? How are the other levels?

[trever22]

How did you cycle this tank? How are the other levels?

I used tetras instant cycle and I dumped it directly into the filter like you told me. I didn't check the other levels today but the other day I checked them them and everything was good except for the nitrates

[RTR]

A misconception is happening here - you cannot "add" something to a tank to "remove" something else. You remove things by removing dirty (i.e., old) water) and by rinsing mechanical media to remove trapped organics.

How much water are you removing weekly? Changing 50% is about standard, but if you over-feed you may need to do larger or more frequent partial water changes.

HTH

[JRC3]

A misconception is happening here - you cannot "add" something to a tank to "remove" something else. You remove things by removing dirty (i.e., old) water) and by rinsing mechanical media to remove trapped organics.

How much water are you removing weekly? Changing 50% is about standard, but if you over-feed you may need to do larger or more frequent partial water changes.

HTH

Does PP still have her "the only solution to pollution is dillution" signiture? Because it says it all.

[Pufferpunk]

Yep!

[RTR]

Yep, the Lady has the best sig line on the web...