# Which Plants for Nitrate reduction



## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

I have a 75 Gallon Planted tank. I want to know some low/med light plants that help with lower nitrate levels. 

I am one day BEFORE my weekly water change, and have measured the Nitrate at 10 to 20 ppm. I want to lower this to 5 ppm. There is (or will have) about 110 - 120 % stocking level (as per AqAdvisor), and yes, i might be overfeeding a bit... The overfeeding will be address a bit, but here are some of the plants i have already:

Java Moss, Jave Fern, Hygrophilia, Bacopa, anubias barteri, Pennyworth.

None of these plants get eaten by my goldfish.... Less luck with amazon frogbit, but i may re-add these. 

Pls list the most effective low / medium light plants that are good nitrate eaters. I preffer NOT to use Hornworth, it is too messy for me.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

10-20ppm is a very acceptable level of nitrates in a planted tank. Less and many plants show Nitrate defficiencies.

Here is a article discussing what plants generally desire at what levels (and a couple ways/products to acheive them).

Exerpt:


> Suggested levels are:
> 
> Nitrates 10-20ppm
> Phosphates 1.0-2.0 ppm
> ...


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

wow, i didnt know that.... So i should actually have 10 - 20 ppm Nitrate for my plants to be healthy. Thanks Will.


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Note the the words in the article "*Suggested levels *are", if your tank conditions does not lend itself to good uptake of those suggested nutrients, there is a very good chance algae & you will become very good friends.
Those target levels are very suited to the EI method with 50% or more weekly water changes are done weekly & lighting , plant mass & uptake are all good.
Just a thought


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

10-20ppm nitrates is perfectly fine for freshwater fish.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

I don't think those nutrient levels have anything to do with EI method specifically, and everything to do with what (target levels) plants desire. (The reason you read about doing weekly 50% watchanges is to prevent overdosing- since EI method includes daily injection of plant nutrients)

If you have algae, then it's because those levels are going too high from overdosing, or from insufficient plant uptake, compared to the production of those natural nutrients. Fortunately Hygrophilia species are extremely nutrient hungry species. If you look at your plants, you may be able to define what nutrients are lacking (yellowed leaves, holes, curled leaves, white spots, brown blemishes) and perhaps what is in excess.

Algaes can be caused by both too much, and too little of certain nutrients. Green Spot Algae goes away after dosing phosphate.


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Will said:


> I don't think those nutrient levels have anything to do with EI method specifically, and everything to do with what (target levels) plants desire. (The reason you read about doing weekly 50% watchanges is to prevent overdosing- since EI method includes daily injection of plant nutrients)
> 
> If you have algae, then it's because those levels are going too high from overdosing, or from insufficient plant uptake, compared to the production of those natural nutrients. Fortunately Hygrophilia species are extremely nutrient hungry species. If you look at your plants, you may be able to define what nutrients are lacking (yellowed leaves, holes, curled leaves, white spots, brown blemishes) and perhaps what is in excess.
> 
> Algaes can be caused by both too much, and too little of certain nutrients. Green Spot Algae goes away after dosing phosphate.


 I`m well aware of all that, all i`m saying if the plants don`t eat it algae will, a gold fish planted tank is a fickle beast due to 2 reasons, nutrient build up from waste ( more so that smaller tropicals)& their desire to eat some plants.
I have done Ei & others since 2004.
Regards


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## zfarsh (Apr 7, 2011)

just so you guys know, right now my substrate is only Play Sand (nothing of nutrient value), and i have not been doing any dosing for many months as I didnt want to affect the red cherry shrimps / amano shrimps / bamboo shrimps. My logic is that my fancy goldfish are making alot of poop and i wanted this to be handled by the plants (as well as my overfeeding at times)

I have had some black beard algua in the past, but mostly gone (will explain further). I had 2 x 33W shop lamp bulbs and lowered it to 1 bulb only, as the java fern that had no protection from the light (ie no shading) were developing black beard algua, or looked like they were burning up. The timer on the lights is about 8 hours. I have provided more shading for the java fern, and it would seem as things are improving in that department.

I will be doing a separate thread on my 10 gallon Red Cherry Shrimp / Amano Shrimp dedicated tank, as there was / still persisting a bit, some spider algua that would stick the the java moss and shrimps couldnt move very well.

Another note, the current plants in the tank are not being eaten by the fancy goldfish, and plants in general look to be thriving, at the moment anyways.


What is EI?


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## cliff (Aug 30, 2010)

EI= Estimative Index

Essentially frequent measured dosing of ferts so that there is always an excess of nutrients available for your plants to consume. A large(r) water change is performed to reset the amount of nutrients available each week which prevents the excess accumulation of the nutrients over time. This negates the requirement to use test kits to confirm what should be dosed and when.

More EI reading then you can shake a stick at here:
http://www.barrreport.com/forumdisplay.php/38-Estimative-Index


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