My 5 Tips for Reducing Nitrates [THESE WORK!] - Stop Worrying About Nitrates!

[@BenOchart]

Thank you for stopping by! For more fish keeping videos with tricks, tips and hacks, check out these playlists: For "My Best Fish Keeping Tips" click here: kzbin.info/aero/PLr8ew8o8WXoDLeItfzOiRG8DV-1W9qNX4 For tips and tricks with Fluval FX canister filters go here: kzbin.info/aero/PLr8ew8o8WXoC8gSuqdG1c4nOzlAMFTmiD For tips and tricks with SunSun canister filters go here: kzbin.info/aero/PLr8ew8o8WXoCiMWEpBFJFJGxTqJH_MdMg For videos on water changes and controlling nitrates, click here: kzbin.info/aero/PLr8ew8o8WXoCdEYkD0rQa0OWejFk5-bHD For videos on general canister filter maintenance, click here: kzbin.info/aero/PLr8ew8o8WXoA-6pu7lFTc_D6idLKGCE2j My Top 10 most popular videos of all time: kzbin.info/aero/PLr8ew8o8WXoBdSWOkNg1Roe2M47dP9Mva What products do I use and recommend to keep my fish healthy and tanks looking great? Visit my Amazon store at: www.amazon.com/shop/benochart You Rock!

[@michaelskuse4019]

Hi Ben, I have had really good luck using lava rock inside of my sump it close at 750 gallon per hour and I have a 0 nitrates 0 nitrite 0 NH3 in my tank continuously it is a heavily stocked 55 with multiple species of tropical fish on the larger side. Anything that has surface area works well including pot scrubbers from the dollar store. I have tried some of the commercially available biohome except they do a great job perhaps much better with much less media but on the cheap I can buy two bags of lava rock for $6 a piece and that seems to do well for a 55 gallon tank

[@relaxingnature2617]

Simplest ammonia test ....look at bubbles on the underside of the water surface , the bubbles will get smaller and smaller the higher the ammonia gets ..eventually they will become micro bubbles and will begin clumping more and more ....this eyeball test never fails ..this test was taught to me by a grand old fish keeping wizard ..I've been using it for years ..no problems

[@Kilometriko]

If the bubble is big means the ammonia is good? The small is no good?

[@drinkbuddy]

Given my recent test readings, this is definitely true. I can see what appears to be particles which are actually tiny bubbles. I’ve got a small ammonia issue in the tank (nitrites are fine), but bringing this down by feeding less often and more frequent water changes etc.

[@ohno316]

@@drinkbuddy you need more mechanical media and there's something you're doing wrong if you have ammonia

[@drinkbuddy]

@@ohno316 Cheers. Mechanical media is fine as I have a large Oase pump. Since posting, I’ve resolved this issue by increasing water changes slightly (did a 10% change every 2 days for a week), but more crucially I dropped feeding to once every couple of days and changed foods. Sorted it right out and the fish are so much happier(obvs) as a result.

[@CatalinaFOIA]

Unless you're medicating your tank then you may see numerous tiny bubbles at the surface. For example to treat finrot we have been using Melafix and Fin & Body Cure... it states on the packaging to expect extra small bubbles.

[@pondguru]

Hornwort will be munched by Malawis for sure, lol The problem of starving bacteria caused by common treatments is very misunderstood too and is often the single most important reason why a cycle won't fully complete when everything else is in place to ensure it does. More on that further down my comment..... Any decent media in a suitable quantity should provide enough internal surface area to support a large enough population of anaerobic bacteria in the slow flow zones deep in the media to reduce nitrate. With very consistent media (e.g. biohome ultimate) that is generally between 1kg per 100 litres (26 US gal.) for a normally stocked community tank to 2kg per 100 litres (26 US gal.) for heavily stocked tanks. For random structured media like matrix (low quality pumice) that may still be capable of supporting the anaerobic bacteria but since each piece can be very different structurally (and it often contains lots of 'junk rock', e.g. obsidian) it is way more difficult to say how much could be needed to achieve the same result - could be 3 litres of media per 100 litres of water or it could be 6 litres per 100 litres, maybe more. For plastic media and cheap ceramic rings it is generally all aerobic due to the lack of porosity so no chance of achieving full cycle unless used in a nitrate reactor (very slow flow to promote anaerobic conditions). Now onto what affects the development of bacteria.... Common treatments which claim to 'detoxify' of 'bind' ammonia, nitrite and nitrate definitely seem to have an active starving effect on bacteria ensuring that the bacteria 'food' remains largely in an unusable state so the active population of bacteria in the system stays very low. That may be enough to ensure 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite (processed by aerobic bacteria which lives everywhere) but a low population of anaerobic bacteria will simply result in high nitrates. Bacteria should be colonizing every part of every piece of media and media should be good quality to be efficient. When a full cycle has been achieved (0,0,0) and the water conditioner is changed from a 'normal' dechlorinator to one which claims to detoxify / bind the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the nitrate level will almost always go up which is a clear indicator that the anaerobic bacteria population has been damaged (reduced) sufficiently to render it too low to process the nitrate. The same is true when a fully cycled tank (0,0,0) has the carbon switched to a chemical media which claims to remove ammonia, nitrite and nitrate - the nitrate shoots up. These things are more rapidly noticed in situations where the filter is doing the vast majority of the filtering (e.g. malawi tank / tank without plants) and everything relies on a healthy population of bacteria. Added to that the first part of a cycle (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite) should take no longer than 2-3 weeks but when using a conditioner which is a detoxifier / binder of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate that part of the cycle can extend to 7-8 weeks which is ridiculous. Chemical companies will simply recommend that the fish keeper uses different additional chemicals and additives to get the cycle going and keep the water 'healthy' (masking the resuklts instead of treating the problem) - that is what I meant by a 'pharmaceutical business template' in the comment I put on the last video. Before you know it you have a cabinet full of 'treatments' to keep the water good when all you need is a normal dechlorinator and a properly set up, suitably sized filter and a regular maintenance schedule. When I had the aquatic storeI found it strange that people were buying so many chemicals and their water and fish always had problems - people who kept it simple had great water and happy fish. It is only in the years following the closure of the shop to concentrate on selling filter media that I've had so much feedback from people using the biohome in all sorts of situations all round the world that the full picture has emerged regarding the damage some of the chemicals do to bacteria - there is a clear link and that link simply is not known by the majority of fish keepers. It is known by some of these chemical companies with the pharmaceutical business templates but they do not care about anything than having a customer for life, treating symptoms instead of treating the root cause of a problem (sounds very much like the US / UK 'health care' system?). There is very little money in curing a problem compared to causing and treating the symptoms of a problem. Today it's all about money....... (sorry for the long rant again but I'm damn passionate about filtration and the way some companies deceive and rip off their customers)

[@GSP-76]

I just recently moved away from canisters to a Trigger 39 sump. I put the bio media I already had into the first section but in the section before the return pump, I bought and put a Marinepure 8 inch block and buried it in crushed coral...I'm hoping that the very low flow enviornment will allow for the colonization of anaerobic bacteria. Weekly water changes are becoming a pain and I'm hoping to reduce that to every other week, if possible.

[@joythompson4134]

Pondguru I learned A Lot from your video on filter setup and the Full Nitrogen Cycle. I’m going to be buying a Lot of biohome ultimate as soon as I get the funds. I have 9 tanks going currently and 2 of them are Malawi Cichlids so it’s going to be 25 - 30 kilos. Might just start with the 2 Cichlids tanks since I cannot grow plants in there What I do now is have extra large external fry boxes hanging on back and fill them with Pothos plants. I have the water trickling through them. That helps, but will work better with good media in there and in my canisters. You’re information is spot on!

[@migueleespinosa2632]

Pondguru I totally agree with the starvation state cause by over use of Chemicals. I see people doing water changes and adding chems to the tank instead of pretreating the water before adding it. It will also cause Bio shock if you change to much of the water. It is just to difficult to match water parameters on a consistent basis.

[@reneap9049]

That made a cool “Wooosh!!” sound as it flew over my head!! Going to reread it, I got some of it the first ride, lol!! Thank you for sharing, that took a lot of thought and insight, it’s greatly appreciated.

[@sharkbit61]

I have my 260 on a drip of 3 gal/hr and have not measured any nitrates yet. I am on a well with pretty decent whole-house filtration etc. Most people cannot do this but if you can, it is a great setup. I have my overflow plumbed right into the drain. I can empty 1/3 of the tank in a matter of minutes by simply rotating the overflow standing pipe (which is not glued) 90 degrees. Next stage is to have a fresh water supply with a hot/cold mixing valve right at the tank. At that point I will only use the Python for vacuuming. Another great Vid! Cheers

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

You can eliminate your substrate completely and replace with a simulated rock bottom mat from Aquadecor. I did this on three of my big tanks and eliminated bottom cleaning entirely. One of the best ways to eliminate maintenance

[@BenOchart]

You are heading for a very ideal set-up that is going to require less work. Very cool.

[@BenOchart]

But I love watching the cichlids move mouthfulls of substrate around and build craters...

[@TaciGrant]

😂😂😂😂 I think you hit the bell about the conspiracy! Hahaha totally make sense for their business! 🤯😆

[@aseriouslollygagger5734]

I had a rough time processing nitrates until I started growing some Pothos vines in the tank. The root structure looks amazing, provides surface space for bacteria, the fish and fry enjoy cleaning biofilm off the roots and sleeping in them. I added the pothos vines till their growth slowed and the nitrate levels were close to zero. The plants are good indicators of what's happening with the cycle and pothos are fast growing, greedy nutrient consumers. Sometimes the vines start to starve my aquatic plants so I have to remove one of them or trim the roots to slow them down. It also looks great having all that green around the aquariums.

[@kdocdreamer2930]

Pothos is a nitrate magnet once it get established

[@alfredvara8880]

Water changes are the key to water quality bar none. People rely on there filters, filters are just convenient add on. In school we kept fish alive with potted plants with know problems noooo filers just air stones and grow lux bulbs. Sort of Hydroponics. Water quality was excellent never over crowd and and Lava rock built up around the air stone. And frequent water changes. There is also the touch feel eye observation method to tell you how your water quality is. But that’s for some other nitrates and ammonia should never be an issue. I’m 77 years old I never owned a fresh water test kit. Marne fish it’s a must. Great channel. Big pet chains rely on filtration notice fish are sick or substandard 😁

[@sage6336]

I think yo have the issue back to front. Having to do water changes is a product of inadequate filtration. Essentially a water change is an admission your filtering isn't sufficient

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

Great discussion topic Ben. For Biohome, Pondguru recommends 2 kg per 26 gallons of aquarium volume. Equivalent to 8 kg of biohome per hundred gallons of water. Buying off Amazon at $49.99 per kg., this is $400 in biohome needed per 100 gallons for a heavily stocked tank. For my 500 gallon it would cost me more than $2000 for the 40 kg (nearly 100 pounds). Even if their were studies supporting the effectiveness of ceramic type media, it is cost prohibitive for the typical ACichlid keeper.

[@edgarrivera4488]

This comment doesn’t have enough likes.

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

@@edgarrivera4488 I will be doing a video on this topic in a couple weeks (on vacation now). Unfortunately the marketing "hype" for marginally effective products seems to get all the attention.

[@greghaste5216]

On all the cichlid pages im on, I have yet to see anyone yet that says biohome has reduced their nitrates.

[@rantsandreviews]

Great point HM/HF!

[@michaelharman7512]

Great wave engineering is a third of the price of amazon. About 13 dollars per kg

[@mattienorml349]

I ran a very slow moving algae/planted refugium with Mangroves and my nitrates soon fell to the point I actually had to add plant food because it was doing such an efficient job! It was on a heavealy stocked 29gal reef.. That's been my go to for filtration ever since :)

[@BenOchart]

I understand that what the plants actually use is ammonia, which of course lowers nitrates since the ammonia is not there to convert over to NO3. I want to do a tank where the plants are doing the filtration and cleaning is done by cory cats and snails.

[@susanbriggs862]

Thanks Ben for another great 5 best tips video! I've added fast growing frogbit and duckweed to a couple of my tanks (you could add to sump and use good LED light) and I've seen a 10 to 20 ppm drop in nitrates overall in my over stocked tanks. One tank that is lightly stocked has 0 nitrates. I also use Biohome Ultimate media in my canisters. It grows so fast I have to remove some of the floating plants weekly but a lot of fish love to eat it. I also believe in smaller more frequent water changes. I try to never alter the pH (and gH) by more than 0.2 Pond guru also makes a good point by not mixing other types of media with Biohome as some media actually produced rather than reduces nitrates which diminishes the effectiveness of the Biohome media.

[@BenOchart]

Great points. I wonder if I put duckweek in the chamber that includes the pump, I wonder if it would clog the pump?

[@susanbriggs862]

it might clog your pump if enough gets sucked in. It could work if you could set up a screen around the pump somehow to keep it out. It's a bit of a messy plant but beats pothos for reducing nitrates. Easy to remove when it gets too dense which seems like overnight, LOL! Feed the extra to your fish.

[@susanbriggs862]

There is a giant duckweed available online. Maybe less messy. Chris from Palmer Aquatics I believe is using giant duckweed in his South American cichlid tanks. Hornwort is good option and is happy floating.

[@fr33dumb55]

Hey Ben I like the video.. I bought used crushed coral and didn’t wash it, well it spiked my nitrate level fast and high in my 60 long. So every water change I took a section of coral out and washed it under tap water then put it back until I did the tank and it corrected the nitrates very well. So sometimes for nitrate levels I will take the substrate out like this and wash it, helps a bit took it from 80 ppm to 30 ppm 😎

[@BenOchart]

I spent almost an hour trying to get the white crushed coral to stop running off milky white. It was quite a task and it still gave off some milky smoke when I filled the tank.

[@TaciGrant]

Lovely information!! I wish you and all your swimmer babies all the best! I’m so thankful for such a huge help you are giving me right now! ❤️thank you🙏

[@tomneary]

In the past I never even did any nitrate etc testing and my fish lived for years. Wonder why it all changed.

[@BenOchart]

That’s a good question. Probably growth in the hobby, easier access to information and real good marketing by those who sell us aquarium care products.

[@WilliamSmith-dg5re]

Big hang on with lucky bambo in it. You can put tons of them in it. Strap them together with a rubber band and set them in. Dont need lots of light, or nutrients. Good video ben.

[@5chum1]

Great and very informative video. In the UK, I have a constant 20ppm coming out of the tap and the aquarium water I can't get below 40ppm even when using RO water for my water changes. This is in a 230l (51 gallon) tank that is pretty well planted with a reasonable fish community. I've just started using the Seachem Prime water conditioner for my water changes which can help to remove nitrates from the tap water as well as the usual heavy metals etc so I'll see how that goes.

[@samarcher6632]

The thing is if you do lots of water changes to remove nitrates, your also going to be raising the ph which is deadly for your fish especially if they like a low ph around 6.5. So what I recommend is a ph stabiliser which you add to the bucket filled of water before tipping it into your aquarium. This way you can do lots of water changes to lower your nitrates but also ensure your not raising your ph to much.

[@CatalinaFOIA]

I agree. Use test straps prior to adding water to your tank.

[@JohnClark-tt2bl]

I use the ph 7.0 powder every time I add any water to the tank. It neutralizes the chlorine to begin with, plus it helps keep the pH stable, win win.

[@peapodamoose]

Great info. The science of nitrates broken down to a simple form. Keep the videos coming Ben.

[@BenOchart]

Thank you Brian.

[@JustMyFish]

Great video Ben👍🏻 what you was saying towards the end of the video that some test kits test higher nitrate then they should I discovered that other particulates can read as nitrate with hobbyist test kits. Particulates such as calcium zinc lead although they're relatively small in most water supplies. In some countries they put fluoride in the water to counteract these things but fluoride gives off an unstable pH. So one day the pH can be 8 out the tap the next it could be 6 out that same tap. So the people in these areas I believe the only real option is to fit a filter directly to the tap it will save money on all those chemicals and chasing PH and nitrate. 😊👍🏻👏

[@BenOchart]

Interesting. I do believe that Los Angeles water has fluoride. My only concern with a tap filter is the complete removal of minerals. Thoughts?

[@bethpaux4667]

Yes, follow the money! So, im a new fish mom! I emergency adopted a common pleco, 11 platy, 1 black neon and a mystery snail from my son's apt. They were now homeless. Whats a grandma to do? Adopt! So, now im full in! All i can think about. Lenny, the pleco, has been upgraded to a 55 tall from a 10 gal. Yikes! Thanks for your videos. Super helpful for us newbies!

[@joythompson4134]

Ben, As I mentioned to Pond Guru, I’m going to be buying a Lot of biohome ultimate as soon as I get the funds. I have 9 tanks going currently and 2 of them are Malawi Cichlids so it’s going to be 25 - 30 kilos. Might just start with the 2 Cichlids tanks since I cannot grow plants in there What I do now is have extra large external fry boxes hanging on back and fill them with Pothos plants. I have the water trickling through them. That helps, but will work better with good media in there and in my canisters. I have Pothos, Spathium(Peace Lily, or Wandering Jew in a fry box on every tank. Thank you for your videos. They are very helpful.

[@dontaylor8451]

Be sure to get Biohome from GreatWave Engineering to save $$$$$

[@joythompson4134]

Don Taylor thank you for the tip 🤗

[@susanbriggs862]

@@dontaylor8451 yes, that's where I buy it. Great customer service too.

[@reneap9049]

Hello, my name is Renea and I’m addicted to fish ! Thank you, great info!

[@BenOchart]

It’s a good addiction 😀👍🏻

[@Sunny-qu2sf]

Wow !! Right to the point and great tips.. dead on. Great video

[@AEvolution]

Adding Pothos to your tank also works great!

[@BenOchart]

How much would you need to really make a difference in nitrates?

[@migueleespinosa2632]

@@BenOchart The plants are fast growing, so a back wall of them make for a great display with the roots in the water and definitely suck up nutrients. How to measure the true impact...I have no idea...LOL.

[@kdocdreamer2930]

That can go in any tank or sump with minimum of light and at least 8-10 inches of stem in tank it will grow once it start grow roots, nitrate magnet

[@kdocdreamer2930]

I was responding to someone comment on pothos, devil ivy

[@kdocdreamer2930]

I have a heavy planted tank that if I change even small amount water too often my java moss starts to thin out, I have to add fertilizer with extra nitrates , and it is a bit overstocked with fish

[@MrJTHines]

Great video! I'm just getting an African cichlid tank going myself. What brand of artificial plants are in your tank? They look nice.

[@Cougar139tweak]

Thank you for answers other then 80% water changes Just started my tank with a new filter (FX2) plus a somewhat mature Sponge filter Will get some more plants...(only have 1 small slow growing plant) and make the "problem" a solution :) SUBSCRIBED!!

[@BenOchart]

Thank you for the sub 😀👍🏻

[@TobiasHolenstein]

Very informative! Thanks!

[@BenOchart]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jfranco760]

Great video Ben!!! Keep up the good work

[@BenOchart]

Thanks Jesus!

[@Gigachadly]

Duckweed is amazing for this, I have a indoor pond in my basement stocked with goldfish and koi, I went to my farm and collected and bunch of duckweed and after a few days it cleared up the water that I didn’t have almost any nitrates at all , was able to add fish to my pond without any worry and not only do the goldfish and koi love eating it but it also multiples all on its own so you basically never have to worry about feeding them if you were out of town etc.

[@ladyt1866]

You should plant a section in your sump you would get any nitrates out left over if done right. How’s your bio home doing? For me purigen helped lower my nitrates but my plants suffered. I do believe that certain water conditioners foul your water parameters more than others.

[@BenOchart]

Interesting comment on the Purigen. Do you know why that was? Did the reduced nitrates starve the plants? The Biohome is working great and the fish have thrived since I added it.

[@TunedRAMS]

Very thorough and to the point thanks man!

[@gamingfishguy3546]

Great vid, Ben!

[@BenOchart]

Thank you GFG!

[@shippingexpert]

Ben: Thanks for the overview on Nitrates. My question is, what is the relationship between Nitrates and TDS. Stay safe...Stay well my friend. Steve

[@BenOchart]

Hi Steve. I'm certainly not a scientist but my understanding is that your TDS help to neutralize nitric acid. This is one reason we need "hard water" (mineral rich) for African cichlids. The minerals help to buffer. It's another reason why we need to continue to do water changes, even when when nitrates are not high. Minerals eventually settle and the tank loses it's buffering ability. This results in a pH and tank crash. So, at least for African Cichlids, we want lots of calcium/magnesium and other trace mineral in the water. It's not too big an issue where I live, in So Cal, since the water out of the tap is "liquid rock", very hard and mineral rich. Check this out: www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/water_chemistry.php

[@Bob-vj8qu]

extra bio-media absolutely works. low flow helps but with biohome ultimate is not totally necessary even in high oxygen environments. this has been my practice for the entire span of my aquarium hobby & it has always kept nitrates close to 0 without fail

[@sati1988]

Very informative video and you’re so amazing to watch !

[@BenOchart]

"amazing to watch" ... LOL, thank you very much ☺

[@rantsandreviews]

Excellent and informative as always.

[@BenOchart]

Thank you ARR!

[@gr0undrush]

Have you tried the biomedia method yet? I managed to get my nitrates to near zero, in a low stocked, medium planted aquascape, using a large amount of mixed sized pumice stone in a canister filter. Eventually I had to add more fish, to increase the nitrates, as the low nitrate environment encourages the growth of cynobacteria. Same principle in a well stocked 500 litre non-planted, well stocked tank, reduces water changes considerably. Not sure about the science with this method, but it took a long time (6-12months) for this to start working, so think the denitrifying bacteria is very slow to establish. About to experiment with a pumice layer beneath a sand substrate, to hopefully increase this further. Using trumpet snails to help the process and also prevent toxic anerobic gas build up in the substrate.

[@BenOchart]

That’s very cool Lee. A true full cycle! Let me know how that next experiment turns out.

[@themanfromatlantis6244]

Ben! ...... you are such a lovely guy, keep up the good work. X

[@BenOchart]

I'm blushing. Thank you! ☺

[@1domcouk]

Great video! Love your cichlids. You covered all the main areas of nitrate reduction. Here in London, the tap water is about 35ppm nitrate. This would obviously increase before a water change. Would it be ok to keep fish with these parameters or should I be looking at reducing nitrate with an RO system or Pozzani filter. (Removes nitrate)? The waterboard won't change the water. Thanks for any advice.

[@BenOchart]

The fish adapt and can tolerate it. It’s not ideal but not deadly. The problem with RO is it removes minerals which you would then need to replace. I’m not familiar with Pozzani. Some fish keepers buy nitrate-free bottled water for their water changes. It’s time consuming and gets expensive but worth it if you were keeping delicate fish like discus.

[@martroger5063]

Absolutely fantastic video 🙌

[@BenOchart]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Anna-Leigh77]

Haha follow the money love it

[@sebatcaballero9832]

🤣🤣you are funny . Love you man. Thanks 🙏 I am still dealing with the nitrate , but I have not tested my RODI water lately. Just in case !

[@BenOchart]

Thank you. People with a sense of humor are my favorite people!

[@JTCT371]

At the tail end of the nitrogen process with my first planted tank....2 per gallon ratio....never an ammonia or nitrite reading....yesterday I got a 5ppm nitrate and that held for this morning. Plants have changed everything in my experience. I watched them grow as if they were infused with Co2. They did it all. Of course as you said, not all fish will do well with allowing plants to exist without ripping them up, but after this first experience, Ill stick with fish that leave them alone.

[@ers18619g]

I have Nitrites & Nitrates in my Tap water ! This is a blessing tho because it grows my Nitrite Bacteria colonies & the Anaerobic Bacteria colonies really large, so even with filter cleaning I always get zero Nitrite and very low Nitrates even after two weeks after a water change !

[@rubinax]

Thanks for the great video! I love conspiracy theorists (and am one), so you're good in my book. I hadn't considered the conflict of interest with the companies, but that's actually a valid point.

[@crazyaboutafricancichlids1612]

Cool info Ben thanks for sharing.

[@BenOchart]

You're welcome JA!

[@scottmoran5408]

Great video & information

[@Puma1Sunfire1]

Plants rule for nitrite and nitrate reductions. My Red Jewel Cichlids don't pick on the Moss Balls, Java Moss or Java Fern. Never had any luck with keeping hornwart to say anything on it. Pothos and Peace Lilies are an awesome plant for removing Nitrates or Nitrites. Been seeing videos on people growing Sweet Potatoes as a Nitrate reduction so I want to try that some time in the future. Gotta love aquaponics

[@Megatog615]

It's more accurately stated that plants consume ammonia first and foremost, which in effect reduces the amount of nitrates that are left at the end of the cycle. They do consume a small amount of nitrates if they are starved of ammonia, by performing a backward conversion of nitrates back into ammonia(which I believe is called assimilation), which requires a bit of energy on the plant's part. I don't think you can get an aquarium to reduce nitrates entirely with plants(with exceptions! Duckweed comes to mind, but lots of hobbyists consider it a major pest). Plants can help prevent buildup of nitrates, and the more you have, the better. I just think a semi-frequent water change schedule and increasing plant usage can allow you to spread water changes out further.

[@BenOchart]

Yes, I've come across that ammonia idea and it makes sense. One person commented how his duckweed has gotten so thick he had an oxygen drop in the tank and the fish started to die off until he realized what was going on and cut the duckweed back and added an airtone. So many factors to consider. Thanks for the comment.

[@theNEWTful]

An external grow bed as used in aquaponics will keep things well balanced.

[@rubyamm]

I know I'm a year late. I'm setting up a 70 gallon cichlid tank. I'm making a custom sump that includes a refugium for plants that way I can have the benefits of plants in the tank without the cichlids consuming them. Have you thought about that?

[@Em-wb4kf]

Interesting information. What do you think about using rain water?? I use it for my Medaka Rice Fish and seem to have no trouble, but I do have lots of plants. They are hardy little ones.

[@victorlowe]

When you edit a video do you just randomly crank the volume? Every video of yours has a wildly different volume from each other.

[@Justpoppa93]

Just picked up my first test strip kit im at 0 for NITRITE and 20-40 NITRATE.. im zoned in😎

[@BenOchart]

Sounds good. Did you get the ammonia strips?

[@Justpoppa93]

It's the api 5 in one for PH NO2 NO3 KH AND GH

[@magzire]

Could you pump high nitrate tank water into a separate tank with lights and just plants, then pump it back into the fish tank after a few days, or when you usually do water changes. So basically never actually replacing water, except for loss due to evaporation. Just thought of this now.. sounds like it would work.

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

You describe aquaponics. I have videos on my KZbin channel on how I do this. Halfman halfcichlid channel

[@BenOchart]

What John (HalfMan HalfCichlid) said. You would need a sump set up or some such arrangement that wouldn't flood if a pump burned out.

[@jasabasenara8124]

Sound advice 👍

[@andrewderksen3342]

Can you grow plant out the top ? Or do your fish go after the roots ?

[@theandypandy1962]

Excellent

[@BenOchart]

Thank you 😀👍🏻

[@erikawana9021]

Mahalos braddah Ben you the man....................

[@RODsDIY]

According to a study the higher the flow of water over the biological filter the more efficient the bacteria are in nitrification. In fact this is supported by the fact that slow moving waters have lower levels of oxygen, which promotes anaerobic bacteria that compete more effectively over aerobic bacteria.

[@bobd9640]

Heard it all now, aquarium conspiracy theories, lol! Great video, really helpful.

[@migueleespinosa2632]

"Lucky Bambo" plants do very well and are virtually indestructible. They must be immersed but make for a great display "forest" in and over the tank. Pathos plants work well too. Also i put Marine Pure spheres in the tank itself as part of the substrate to have a low flow condition. it actually looks very good if done right with rock work.

[@taboo686]

Great video. A guy I'd like to have a beer with and discuss the hobby

[@prokittenmom9597]

Great advise! Thank you! My tap has 80ppm nitrates lol after contacting city they didn’t do anything about it. I must run RO system for my water changes.

[@BenOchart]

Wow! Something is wrong, that's high NO3 and will make keeping your nitrates down very difficult. You shouldn't have to go through the hassle of RO if the water treatment plant in your area was doing it's job. Are you near agricultural areas? They add nitrogen which goes down into water sources.

[@turtle_king1904]

Same, I live in an agricultural area and my nitrates range from 40-160 ppm from my tap depending on the time of year.

[@egoranonymous3223]

Jesus! It never occurred to me to test the tap water.

[@prokittenmom9597]

Not sure I live in South California, Riverside

[@Mr3Thousand]

Thanks Ben that was a big help keep preaching that fish gospel!!!!!

[@BenOchart]

Thank you Mr 3000!

[@brianfpv623]

Brilliant great advice thx

[@andrewdix3466]

Hi Ben, I had what seemed to be a very stable tank for the best part of 3months. Nitrates were relatively stable peaking at about 15ppm before ild do a water change. I tried to keep Nitrates between 5 and 10ppm. I had the urge to buy 3 more OB Peacocks and this is where my relatively stable tank has fritzed out. When i bought these fish I did a water change prior and used a water conditioner, which i believe really affected my Nitrogen cycle. Im now struggling with Nitrate spikes. I seem to be doing water changes every few days and have become a little ocd about water testing. Ive only lost 1 fish so far, but i seem to be riding a roller coaster of emotions at the moment. I currently run a fluval 406 canister filter on a 400Litre tank. I feel like my tank is cycling again, is my filtration adequate? I feel my initial response of going a bit over top with water conditions really affected my cycle. If anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

Andrew Dix how many fish were already in the tank? I have a rule to not add more than 20% new fish at any one time to a newly established cycled tank. I think you either introduced a disease with the new fish or the total fish load exceeded the capacity of your beneficial bacteria to process the additional waste.

[@evanfoulds1145]

406 is way to small of a filter, max put a 406 on a 75 gallon

[@yehoshuacirt8645]

Certainly much of what is marketed is a conspiracy. Tests, treatments, commercial biomedia. I easily and successfully due without them. And they tend to say, use weekly. Change every 3 to six months. That's what I think is called a scam.

[@aquariumtreasures1054]

Great info my tap reads 5ppm. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐😄🐟👍

[@BenOchart]

I'm glad you liked the video. The tap ppm is the hidden X factor that most fish keepers remain unaware of.

[@simonmoylan4014]

when you add declorinator in any tap water with chloramine it separates the ammonia from chlorine and which then breaks down to nitrates so doing alot of water changes isnt necessary

[@dlester8641]

Thanks Ben that was very informative I'll take my water to L F S to see what they find again thanks

[@efrainscichlids9038]

Great video Ben, here w/c, w/c and more w/c, twice a week to control the nitrate,

[@BenOchart]

...and you fish and tank looks epic Efrain!

[@cherieroyal2625]

Love your tips! I used to keep cichlids years ago 75 gal and 150 gal thanks. Plus various small feeder tanks. I guess the technology has improved since then, because I started back up real small, 20 long, nitrates are high coming from a well. I was at a loss! All other tests are great, just the nitrates are high. I have a sun sun 302. What do you think about the nitrate removing inserts for canister filters? Really dont want to go the chemical route.

[@BenOchart]

I’d avoid the chemical route too. With a tank that size you might want to just buy a couple gallons of bottled water every two weeks for your WC. But test the bottled water and see if it has nitrates.

[@cherieroyal2625]

Thank you so much. I thought of getting a few gals at market basket. It's pretty cheap too. I did do a lot of live plants as much as I could in that size.

[@OgDj2024]

Nice video! If the tap water has nitrates in it, what’s the next best thing to do??

[@johnfadds6089]

What I like about this channel is that Ben is trying all the stupid stuff for us. So we don't have to 😄

[@stuartmcdonald5172]

This channel is growing on me.

[@bettle590]

Have you tried pothos cuttings in the sump? A lot of people put them in their hang on back filters. They require very little light.

[@nizarbreathus2440]

Hi good video with a lot of information, I would like to know how do you check the nitrate and other parameters regularly, do you already have a video about this?

[@keyprophecy3729]

You can do this with pretty much any water testing kits, some good ones are - Jbl pro aquatest combiset and API water testing kit.

[@trenapatzer3631]

I don’t have a sump. I’ve been doing changes. Hopefully that’ll help. 😮

[@BenOchart]

It should. Are you testing your water?

[@matt79hz]

I replaced my substrate. It went through a 1ppm ammonia spike for about 2 days, then I barely even detected nitrites and it's gone straight onto perhaps 40ppm nitrate. Been sitting there with daily water changes for about 5 days. Will it subside, or is there something else to it. Fish in, using seachem prime.

[@BenOchart]

Sounds like you’re good. Always keep an eye on it but it looks like your BB caught up and things have pretty much stabilized.

[@matt79hz]

@@BenOchart thanks. I also added "stabilise". Just confused that nitrates seem to take so long to disappear. I'll check the tap water !

[@3acrehomesteadin884]

Thank you for the information. I love the tank behind you! What is the finish on it? Is it wood? It almost looks like metal.

[@BenOchart]

It’s a custom wood stand that I stained

[@sidneywhite749]

I have a cichlid tank 55 gal and use well water, tested my tank for the first time and all tests were in range But the nitrate range was 80-100 ppm.

[@dropem555]

Did u have luck keeping your fish healthy I want to set up a 75gallon peacock chiclid tank I have 0 ammonia 0 nitrites but my water is very hard the nitrates are 80-100 out of my tap

[@Lynda70]

What about some stems of Devil Ivy in the back of the tank with leaves part hanging over the back - seems to be working for me. What's your thoughts ? Mike

[@jameslee3363]

I'm struggling atm because my tap water is coming up 50ppm and can't afford a revers osmosis system and to buy distilled water for water changes is just costly it's £40 for 25ltr any advice I've currently brought de nitrate arriving today hoping it helps abit

[@BenOchart]

Let me know if it does. You can also add a load of plants to the tank or to the filter and they will consume ammonia/nitrate.

[@relaxingnature2617]

Water changes can effect fish by way of mineral changes .. fish mineral oxidation ..the fresh water fish will drink alot more water if the minerals in the water is low ...water with low minerals will pull minerals from the fish ..the fish has more minerals in its body than the old water has ..a waterchange can refresh the minerals, reducing oxidation stress on the fish

[@BenOchart]

Yes, one of the reasons for continuing to do WCs. It's not just for nitrate reduction. Thanks.

[@akamoroff]

I have a 55 gallon with 11 cichlids, no plants, change maybe 15-20% of the water weekly, hang on back filter. My Nitrates hang around 80PPM+, nitrites and ammonia are always good. Maybe we put to much thought into Nitrate levels.

[@mr.l7711]

Hey Ben you’re referring to anaerobic bacteria that survives in low / no oxygen environment? What does flow have to do with it as long as low / no oxygen is not present. Do the oceans not have flow? Anaerobic bacteria is deep in the sand bed / gravel etc. Yes?

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

Slow and/or no flow means very little nitrate containing water would penetrate the bottom of the aquarium or the media. One of the many reasons anaerobic deitrification will not work in your typical African cichlid tank

[@BenOchart]

You're right and I'm thinking that if a media, like a MarinePure block, could get bacteria going deep inside the block, that would be a "low flow" area regardless of the GPH. Right? The question is will bacteria truly grow that deep in the block or will it just clog and kill off the anaerobic???

[@parischristidis9195]

Sweet Power Keep Going....

[@monagurl1973]

Thank you

[@williamrusso3789]

Ben- What kind of Algae scrubber do you have that is also a bubbler and you can harvest the bacteria from it, that you have in your tank in this video?

[@BenOchart]

It’s made by a company called Santa Monica Filtration

[@kopiec6565]

The best plants are the ones that grow quickly, as they consume nutrients through growth, so anubias won't help much, they grow too slowly. Floating plants are great, guppy grass, hornwort, water wisteria. Just remember to remove some regularly, cause if they have no space for growth and no access to light then they'll slow down and won't absorb as much (they don't absorb much by just sitting in water)

[@BenOchart]

I really wish I could keep plants that the cichlids would tear to shreds in minutes. I'm thinking about some in the sump under the 150 gal.

[@danielmorkos8296]

hey there Ben, the link to the scrubbers is long gone, got any new links you could throw down ? thxs

[@BenOchart]

They moved to Salt Lake City. Go here: g.co/kgs/sKTrd9

[@jc49fishniner4lif7]

Thanks Ben I'm using the garden clay pebbles from PetSmart is the top fin brand in my canisters and it work well and that clay pebbles it's fairly sheep also thanks sharing another great video 👍👍

[@BenOchart]

Hello George. Sounds like you stumbled across something both inexpensive and workable.

[@MrMemek25]

my tests show a bit big on nitriets but fish akt normal and always hungry not sure if i should panik or not new to this

[@BenOchart]

My interest and concern would start at 80ppm, I usually run 20-40ppm

[@rosebud97044]

Seachem Matrix works well for me and just ordered a fresh plant

[@theklrdudeoo9173]

if you double the size of your tank , you have to double the size of your water changes as well . so you can make bigger water changes in the smaller tank and have good water as well . just saying .

[@undreiscool]

Python is a great tool to use when changing bigger tanks

[@sunilnirwana2131]

Sir Algae is supposed to be bad.Which Algae really help to reduce nitrates. My levels are above 80.Pl guide. My tank is 80 litre.

[@nicolepichalski731]

I pulled out all my fish and tossed em in my other tank. I took out 30% and added new water ... still reading high.. I let it sit all weekend with the sponge filter.. I'm going to water change it again.. my question is am I just sucking water out or am I actually cleaning the gravel like I normally do

[@BenOchart]

Check your tap, you might be getting nitrates that way. You might have to do bigger water changes to really lower nitrates, like 60%. If you’re under 80ppm don’t worry too much. 20ppm is a good target but 80ppm will not harm your fish.

[@stevesaquatics165]

Ben I use hornwort in all my fry tanks they seem to work great and all my Peacock Cichlid fry seem to grow bigger and faster than just a tank without hornwort alone.

[@BenOchart]

Have you tried it with the larger fish? I have anubias with my smaller fish, and they peck at it but can't really tear it apart. The bigger fish shreded it.

[@stevesaquatics165]

@@BenOchart haven't tried it with larger fish (africans) because I keep my lights out except for feeding time. That's what keeps aggression down in my African cichlid tank.

[@divineaquariums2774]

Tip #6 remove your old sponge filter. In my experience people have high nitrites because they never or wait to long to replace their filter pads.

[@BenOchart]

Even if they do a good job rinsing them out?

[@divineaquariums2774]

Ben Ochart yes, I’ve conducted this experiment on a couple of my tanks. I put an extra sponge in the filters (most recently on my Seaclear system II) and around 6-8 months my nitrites started to creep up. More so on my fine filters. I removed the filter did a 10% water change and tested the water 2 days later and nitrites were 0ppm. To give you context on the last experiment I did it’s a 50 gallon Seaclear system II using Seaclears fine filter, 2 poly filters, 2 gallons of marine pure, 500 ml seachem matrix, 500 ml seachem denitrate, and chemipure elite grande. This is primarily a live bearer tank with 2 Discus, pleco, shrimp, and Malaysian trumpet snails.

[@susanbriggs862]

Going to try that. My sponge filters in my canisters are dark even though I rinse them in tap to get clean. Curious to see if it helps. Thanks.

[@divineaquariums2774]

Susan Briggs the chlorine does a good job of removing the nitrites. I would recommend trying it with only rinsing the filter with tank water only. That will allow the nitrites to build up on the fine filters.

[@apaulmcdonough2170]

@@divineaquariums2774 , you keep repeating "nitrites" . This video is about nitrAtes. NitrAtes are the end product of the Nitrogen Cycle. PS: the SEACHEM De-Nitrate supports Anaerobic Bacteria that's why less than 50 GPH water flow over it. Throwing De-Nitrate into a high flow filter is a waste of time and product.