Subj : Re: first filter change To : All From : Ron Hansen Date : Thu Jul 17 2003 09:36 pm Dr Engelbert Buxbaum wrote: >Ron Hansen wrote: > >> You should be changing 10% (3 gallons) of water every week. Nitrates >> are the end product of the Nitrification cycle that is possible in most >> aquariums. Food rots and fish poop and pee and this produces ammonia >> (toxic to the fish). Bacteria break down the ammonia, but give off >> Nitrite (more toxic to the fish). Other bacteria break down the Nitrite >> and give off Nitrate (much less toxic to the fish). No process in a >> typical tank will consume the Nitrate. Therefore, you need to get rid >> of it. By changing 10% of the water each week, you will dilute the >> Nitrate and reduce the levels. If you don't, your fish will eventually >> die. > >There is one such process: Plant growth. Plants need nitrogen and will >absorb it either as ammonia or nitrate. That doesn't mean one should >skip water changes in a planted aquarium though, as fishes produce other >waste products besides nitrogen ('organic dissolved carbon'). But plants >can certainly help keeping nitrogen compounds at bay. I agree, but the tank would have to be heavily planted for his Nitrate load and would probably need CO2 to promote such growth. I'll stick with my original statement: >> No process in a typical tank will consume the Nitrate. with emphasis on "typical" --- þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info@bbsworld.com --- * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 7/17/03 8:36:42 PM --- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 100 * Origin: MoonDog BBS, Brooklyn,NY, 718 692-2498, 1:278/230 (1:278/230) .