gradual water changes to control nitrates - how slow or fast?

ryanpal · 09/10/2007, 09:52 AM

if there's a spike in nitrates and you want to bring them down but doing so in a gradual manner due to sensitivity in anemones...whats a good pace to do so?

i'm looking to do 10% water changes...shoudl this be done every few days? once a week? once a day?

i want to do so gradually but also get the nitrates to 0 ASAP w/out stressing my anemone or any fish that are sensitive to quick changes.

hypertech · 09/10/2007, 09:57 AM

I'd do 30-40% changes if you want to affect levels. I'm not sure on the pacing, maybe every other day if you are needing to drop them in a bad way. Just a side note - I'm not sure its possible to truly get it to 0 but you want them as low as possible.

2 - 30% changes will reduce the level about the same as 7 10% changes.

Mr31415 · 09/10/2007, 10:04 AM

If you do 10% water changes it means your nitrates will be

50mg/L (assuming)
45
40.5
36.45
etc...

It will take forever.

Rather do larger changes like hypertech suggested

ryanpal · 09/10/2007, 10:13 AM

is this recommended for newly introduced fish? i thought you don't want to have drastic changes...especially with anemones. guess im missing something here.

im confused at what to do hehe.

seapug · 09/10/2007, 11:27 AM

I wouldn't be too worried about removing nitrates too quickly. The less there are, the better the health of the system would be. The "drastic changes" you really want to avoid are temperature, salinity, and light (mostly low light to high light).

RichConley · 09/10/2007, 11:30 AM

I wouldnt be too worried about nitrates, period. Anemones can absorb them, and use them as food.

ryanpal · 09/11/2007, 11:13 AM

it seems my salinity has dropped a bit since my last water change (guess i didn't have enough salt in each 5gallon). it seems to be around 1.021. i like to keep it at 1.025.

if i do a big water change 30-40%, how should i adjust the salinty? as mentioned above, i don't want to have too drastic chagne in salinity. although, i'm not sure what amount is considered drastic.

thanks again guys ;]

ryanpal · 09/11/2007, 07:59 PM

i did a water change and the salinity is at 1.022 i think it may rise a tad more after the water circulates a bit and some mixes in more. (some is on the bottom of the sump)

i imagine that going up that small amount is safe...would going right up to 1.025 be too much? still trying to find out what a big change is considered.

ryan

09/10/2007, 09:52 AM	#1
ryanpal Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 756	gradual water changes to control nitrates - how slow or fast? if there's a spike in nitrates and you want to bring them down but doing so in a gradual manner due to sensitivity in anemones...whats a good pace to do so? i'm looking to do 10% water changes...shoudl this be done every few days? once a week? once a day? i want to do so gradually but also get the nitrates to 0 ASAP w/out stressing my anemone or any fish that are sensitive to quick changes.

09/10/2007, 11:27 AM	#5
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	I wouldn't be too worried about removing nitrates too quickly. The less there are, the better the health of the system would be. The "drastic changes" you really want to avoid are temperature, salinity, and light (mostly low light to high light). __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

09/10/2007, 11:30 AM	#6
RichConley Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Bostonian in Chicago going to DC Posts: 9,908	I wouldnt be too worried about nitrates, period. Anemones can absorb them, and use them as food. __________________ NO TANKS!!!

09/10/2007, 09:57 AM	#2
hypertech Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 244	I'd do 30-40% changes if you want to affect levels. I'm not sure on the pacing, maybe every other day if you are needing to drop them in a bad way. Just a side note - I'm not sure its possible to truly get it to 0 but you want them as low as possible. 2 - 30% changes will reduce the level about the same as 7 10% changes.

09/10/2007, 10:04 AM	#3
Mr31415 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Surrey, Canada Posts: 1,926	If you do 10% water changes it means your nitrates will be 50mg/L (assuming) 45 40.5 36.45 etc... It will take forever. Rather do larger changes like hypertech suggested

09/10/2007, 10:13 AM	#4
ryanpal Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 756	is this recommended for newly introduced fish? i thought you don't want to have drastic changes...especially with anemones. guess im missing something here. im confused at what to do hehe.

09/11/2007, 11:13 AM	#7
ryanpal Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 756	it seems my salinity has dropped a bit since my last water change (guess i didn't have enough salt in each 5gallon). it seems to be around 1.021. i like to keep it at 1.025. if i do a big water change 30-40%, how should i adjust the salinty? as mentioned above, i don't want to have too drastic chagne in salinity. although, i'm not sure what amount is considered drastic. thanks again guys ;]

09/11/2007, 07:59 PM	#8
ryanpal Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: New Jersey Posts: 756	i did a water change and the salinity is at 1.022 i think it may rise a tad more after the water circulates a bit and some mixes in more. (some is on the bottom of the sump) i imagine that going up that small amount is safe...would going right up to 1.025 be too much? still trying to find out what a big change is considered. ryan