Plants and Nitrates

I've noticed a slight change in my nitrate readings after adding new plants that aren't doing very well. The change is not that much (from 5 ppm to 10 ppm) and well within a normal range, but I'm wondering if one or two dying plants will cause the nitrates to rise? Is it better to leave them in, in case they are just adjusting to the change in water conditions from the pet store, or should I toss them? I thought plants liked nitrates?

 

Odds are your plants are just getting adjusted, give them time. I doubt that the addition of the plants is what caused your nitrates to go up. Nitrates are always slowly increasing in your tank, until you do a water change to lower them, unless you have a moderate to heavily planted tank that will consume the nitrates faster then the fish can produce them.

With new plants, it is best to leave them be for a while to adjust to things. After 2-3 weeks you will see what is doing well and what may need to be trimmed.

 

Yes they do, as long as they are not too high. You May be a dosing problem:

EDIT: here is a more user friendly EI dosing website:

 

Thanks Dolfan, I will leave them in and see what happens. I was worried that so many leaves are turning brown and falling off - upper leaves seem to be ok, it's the mid- and lower leaves that are dying off and floating around the tank.
dcutl002, so far I'm not dosing anything, they don't get any fertilizers except fish and snail poop. Appreciate the links though, will be reading through those.

 

Annie, are these plants new? Like the ones in the little plastic tubes at PetSmart? If so, they will lose leaves, but grow new ones.

 

They are new, I've had them about a week. After 2-3 days they started turning brown and dropping leaves like crazy. It's normal? None of the other plants I got did that, so I figured they were dying......They came from my local Feeder's Supply - not in the little plastic tubes but from a planted tank.

 

Yeah, that is normal. They are Emersed (like a terrarium plant) and not Immersed (like an Aquatic plant). It'll take time for the plant to adjust.

 

I'm new to having aquatic plants. To be honest I thought it was gonna be too much work, and were limited to 1 color. My nitrates have never been lower then 10 ppm, sometimes as high as 40 ppm. I always do 50% weekly water changes. I recently added 4 small plants. To my amazement, my nitrate levels are now down to 5 ppm. And my fish love the plants.

 

Live plants make all the difference. Glad to hear you and your fish are loving them.

 

In all my years of fish keeping, I never thought I would. But, there really quite beautiful.

 

Since I've started planting my tanks, I can't go back! Every tank is a jungle, and I love it. Welcome to the club!

 

Yea it's great, my tetras love spawning over the swords. I wish I could get fry, but my corys see to it that it will never happen.

 

Since I've started planting my tanks, I can't go back! Every tank is a jungle, and I love it. Welcome to the club!

Do you know if plants have any effect on PH?

 

Do you know if plants have any effect on PH?

Not that I've noticed.

 

Ok was wondering . I have very hard water my PH is any were from 8.0-8.4 . I hope that don't hurt my plants.

 

My pH is 8.2 and I have no issues with the plants I have!

 

Thank God I'd hate to lose my new plants

 

Thank God I'd hate to lose my new plants

What species did you get? Do you have a favorite yet?

 

I have a java fern, a giant corkscrew Val, an Amazon sword,and another type sword(not exactly sure which) I like the java fern and Amazon sword. Not sure which is my favorite tho.

 

You should try crypts! Most are easy and low-light, and they're my favorite!

 

+1 for the crypts! I have 2 in my 30 gallon and they are thriving, and I'm new to plants.

 

You should try crypts! Most are easy and low-light, and they're my favorite!

Will definitely give those a try. I got plenty of room for more plants

 

Since my husband got some anubias barterI in his tank (20 gal) I gotta admit I like them too. Hence why I added lots of plants to my new tank (5.5 gal) while I wait for it to cycle. Got anubias, crypt wendtii, java fern, moss ball, and we split a batch of taiwan moss between our tanks

 

Nice post! I decided to plant my tanks for the first as well and am addicted! I can't even look at those plastic plants anymore

 

Nice post! I decided to plant my tanks for the first as well and am addicted! I can't even look at those plastic plants anymore

I here ya live plants for me from now on. The funny thing is there about the same price as the plastic.

 

And they reproduce by themselves, so eventually you can stop buying them and still have more to plant.

 

Yea I didn't think about that. Lol try to get that out of fake plants.