How long does it take for Nitrates to go down after adding plants?

I added some floating plants (Salvinia Minima), and some additional plants to my already planted tank.

My Nitrates are at 20ppm. How long does it typically take for Nitrates to go down?

 

Depends. What plants besides the floaters did you put in? Many plants take a few days to get their metabolism going after being replanted. Also it depends how big the bioload of the tank is. In case you have a light stocking and added fast growing plants the nitrates may go down within a few days. High stocking (and feeding accordingly) and slow growing plants can make it take a week.

 

The best way to get nitrates down are water changes. As far as the plants it all depends on how fast they take them in.

 

The best way to get nitrates down are water changes. As far as the plants it all depends on how fast they take them in.

True, but just as an example: I have 20 mg/l of nitrates in my tap and waterchanges don't change that. I presumed the same is the case here. Doesn't mean waterchanges are not necessary. Quite the opposite.
But yes, if the tap has no nitrates a water change is the best solution anyway.

 

True, but just as an example: I have 20 mg/l of nitrates in my tap and waterchanges don't change that. I presumed the same is the case here. Doesn't mean waterchanges are not necessary. Quite the opposite.
But yes, if the tap has no nitrates a water change is the best solution anyway.

Yup my bad I was rushing posting that. I thought I added providing your source water is nitrate free. Thanks for clarifying

 

Depends. What plants besides the floaters did you put in? Many plants take a few days to get their metabolism going after being replanted. Also it depends how big the bioload of the tank is. In case you have a light stocking and added fast growing plants the nitrates may go down within a few days. High stocking (and feeding accordingly) and slow growing plants can make it take a week.

I added a couple Rosette Swords, and a Bacopa Carolinia. I have 0 Nitrates in my tap.

 

The growth rates of both are not the highest, so they might not have any impact on the nitrate reduction. The Salvinia might have the bigger impact.

 

The growth rates of both are not the highest, so they might not have any impact on the nitrate reduction. The Salvinia might have the bigger impact.

Interesting. Didn't know growth rates affected Nitrates. Thanks.

 

The rosette swords probably won't do a lot as they grow pretty slow; the bacopa carolinia - if it likes your tank - will grow like mad. If it likes you tank - you should cut it frequently and replant to form new plants.
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In my tanks the plants that grow the fastest include:
water letuce
frogbits
anacharis (not legal everywhere)
hornworth (if it likes your tank - in one of mine it grows like crazy)
Rotala Rotundifolia red (not very red but grows a few inches every week)
jungle val (worse weed ever)
I'd mention duckweed but it is a curse i would not beset upon my worse enemy.

I added a couple Rosette Swords, and a Bacopa Carolinia. I have 0 Nitrates in my tap.

 

A tank filled with as many fast growing stem plants as physically possible, under high lighting and high CO2 concentrations up-took just over 3ppm of NO3 per day (under moderate NO3 levels).

Water changes are the best bet to lower nitrates, so long as the source water NO3 concentration is lower than the tank water.

 

Interesting. Didn't know growth rates affected Nitrates. Thanks.

You're welcome!

 

Hi,

I wonder if I am beginning to sound like a stuck record . My daughters tank (70usg) has 1ppm nitrates. Our tap water is 10ppm nitrates. Although the tank is heavily planted I know that it's actually her filter media that's bringing the nitrates down. She has two other tanks very lightly planted and using the same media we get exactly the same result. We have way more issues with phosphates than nitrates.

If you have the budget you may want to try a small filter with Biohome Ultimate. The recommended use is 1kg for 100L or 26usg.

AiYn'U

 

I don't know. In one of my tank with very fine substrate; the nitrate stayed between 1 and 3 ppm for 8 months. Didn't matter how much i fed or how many fishes i put in the tank - it wouldn't budge - i had to get a 2nd nitrate measuring kit to finely measure between 1 and 5 ppm (api kit is pretty coarse at that level). The filter didn't have much in it - just a sponge and little bit of carbon that probalby died the first week. We presume that anaerobic bacteria formed in the substrate and this was partly supported by little bubbles that would occasionally rise from the substrate (we presume it was nitrogen; and cyo that grew where the bubbles rose). Eventually the cyo died off when we adjust flow over that section of the substrate - anyway did this make the water crystal perfect for the fishes - i have no clue - i mean they did fine as fine as my other fishes do - maybe 8 months isn't really long enough to judge. Probably not - maybe i should wait 5 or 8 years to comment and then i might have more data - not sure - i moved everything into a larger tank (added more substrate - i like deep fine substrate - i try for 3 inches) - we will see what happens - but it took a long time to figure out why the nitrate stayed close to 0 while my other tanks hang between 10 and 30. Esp given that i didn't do a water change the first 3 months. Finally broke down via peer pressure to do water changes on it.