Cemax187 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hi guys, As the title suggests , I'm almost certain (from the results in my testing) that the Nitrates in my normal tap water are extremely close (if not exceeding) 40ppm. Is it true the the ONLY way to decrease Nitrates from my tank is to do waters changes? Becuase as you can see , in my situation, That isn't really going to help me. If the last resort is get water delivered, I'm pretty sure that Spring water/Purified water has neutral PH. Am I screwed?! On a side note: My tank is 6(long)x3(high)x2ft and is absolutely riddled with Volcanic rock, caves aplenty. I have recently purchased a colony (2 Males 4 Females) of 14 month old F1 7 Bar Kigoma Frontosa. All they do is hide! If I come anywhere near the tank *pew* they are off! They haven't eaten since I got them (4 days ago) but could be very well eating the hard pellets after I leave the room. (Most of them do come out when no-one is watching) Water is in great condition apart from the damned near constant 40ppm of Nitrates (which I have been told isn't enough to phase them). Are they just sooks? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YAL05T Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Can't help with the nitrate issue, sounds like a curly one. However my mates Burundi colony were also very skittish when he first got them, all he has done is provide a fish in almost a dither capacity, but he has used black calvus that are big enough to not be front food. Once the altos settled in the frontosa became more outgoing and have started to breed like bunnies with fins. Best of luck with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milky Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 thats just fronnys mate, let them settle in for a few weeks and they will start to come out more. id also give them a day or 2 without food so they get hungry then they will come out and get the food as you drop it in. when i first got mine i had the same problem so i would feed them when the tank lights went out at night. there was still plenty of light from the room and the tv so they could still see the food and they were alot more active. also if the tank is too bright it will also make them more skittish, frontosa come from deep water and therefore like a dark tank. i use a 3 foot single light on my 6 footer and it has plenty of dark corners for them to feel safe. Another thing is watch out with the lava rock it looks awesome but i found they were too sharp and my fronnys were scratching themselves alot when they got scared, i took it out cos i was worried that they would damage their eyes. i now use the smooth round river rocks and dont have that problem anymore. im not sure how you can remove the nitrates but i have a few anubias plants in my tank cos the plants feed off it. it wont get rid of them but it helps keep them down, might be worth adding a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cemax187 Posted January 28, 2009 Author Share Posted January 28, 2009 Thank-you so much for the reply's guys. Realy appreciated. Will definately look inyo Anubias. Cheers! Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 First, check that your nitrate test kit is accurate. Take water to a shop and have them do a nitrate check. Build a denitrate filter. Probably keep your nitrates down around 5ppm if large enough. I made mine out of 150mm pressure pipe (cut to desired length) filled with Seachem Denitrate - just copy a canister filter design and fill it up. While anubias will use nitrate, as they are such low nutrient uses you will need a huge amount of plants to make an impact. Perhaps ribbon grass would be better as it can do well in alkaline water and can grow faster than anubias. Water changes remove nitrates and other pollutants such as phosphates, so they will still be worthwhile doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gianniz Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 just my observation from 3 of my tanks. 1. my 4footer is overstocked and has the brightest white light on 12+ hours a day. Not one fish is shy. 2. my sisters 2footer which she doesn't have the light on most of the time but has natural sunlight that isn't overly bright. 3. my 2footer with mostly natural light. I noticed with callochromis macrops they do that same thing as you have described. Particularly tank number 2. I see the fish at the front but soon as i go near it, they dart to the back of the tank. If i stay long enough and feed they do come out but very hesistant and ready to dart back. I noticed this same beviour when i moved the other macrops in the 4footer to the tank number 3. It behaves exactly the same as tank number 2. For the last couple of days, I have left the light on to see how they react and so far they are noticeably less skitish. I'll post more results soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cemax187 Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Thank-you dearly for your reply's. Very much appreciated. I use an FX5 for the majority of the filtration and have a second cheapo external cannister filter with only the sponge inside which acts as a powerhead for my chiller. I will look into this Seachem Denitrate and see how that would go being stuffed into the cheaper cannister. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cemax187 Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I just read that Seachem Denitrate turns nitrates into Sodium and that Planted Tanks won't do well with Sodium [The fix for this would be to use Seachem Matrix as it is less harsh] can someone confirm this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 You could build a denitrator... would be a while before it is running efficiently though. You could use plants... wont really ever totally remove the nitrates... or you could use various nitrate absorbing filter media. My personal preference is for chemi pure. It will keep you water crystal clear and nitrate/nitrite/ammonia free for 6 months. Its excellent stuff. IMO its far superior to denitrate and matrix combined. You only need the one product, and it does more than just nitrate. But as suggested, you might like to verify the accuracy of your test first. regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CThompson Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I just read that Seachem Denitrate turns nitrates into Sodium and that Planted Tanks won't do well with Sodium [The fix for this would be to use Seachem Matrix as it is less harsh] can someone confirm this? Matrix and Seachem Denitrate are only surface areas. Neither can do anything to hurt your water. All they do is provide a surface for bacteria to live on. The difference is the way the media is set up. You say you have a nitrate problem - denitrate set up in a anaerobic situation will tackle this problem better than matrix set up in a sump. BTW it was my understanding you haven't got a "planted tank". If you did you'd probably be adding nitrate as a full-on planted tank sucks out nitrates. Do a search on the technical pages and you'll find old post on denitrate filters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cemax187 Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 That tank is not planted no. Although I am seriously considering adding plants. I currently have 1kg of Chemi-Pure running in the FX5. I think I might go to get the water tested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Nitrate should be zero if your chemi pure is still active. It certainly removes all the nitrate in the tanks I use it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cemax187 Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 Interesting. Think I better get the water tested by someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shirecichlid Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Interesting. Think I better get the water tested by someone. well how did the water test go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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