"Newbie Bill" wrote in message
om...
I know this is probably a controversial subject but I am still trying to
get a real grasp of what concerns I should have about nitrates. The
opinions seem to be diverse. Some say the number is not so significant so
long as the fish grow with it. Others say don't worry unless its almost
off the scale. Others say whoa 10ppm max, no 20 well no more than 30-50.

That's the advice I've usually gotten from people who
have really large tanks with a lot of expensive fish.
I have small mostly cheap tropicals.

I am
hopelessly addicted to my little fishes so I generally think I keep a
pretty good tank.

I managed to kill off all but my Cory cats before
someone clued me in on nitrates. Now I have heavily
planted tanks and don't worry about nitrates. Plants
are healthy, fish are healthy, and I do partial water
changes about every 2 weeks to replace minerals and
bring pH & kh back up. (Adding baking soda is
helping with that, plus I'm starting to experiment with
a bit of crushed coral.)

Around 10x gph/tank size with penguin filters. Weekly water
changes and vacuuming. Test 2x/wk. No ammonia or nitrites. But my
nitrates do tend to be a little high (depending on who you talk to).=10-40
I think.

Could be you're overfeeding a bit. That's something a
lot of us do, I think. Maybe try throwing in a fast day?
It's hard to walk past a tank knowing I haven't fed
the poor guys that day, but it really doesn't hurt them
and might help keep the nitrates down. Anyhoo, I
schedule Wednesday for my fast days. (by "my" I
mean the fish, but I suppose I could do a fast day
for myself, too. LOL)

It seems you would have to be an accomplished artist to correctly
interpret those shades Frankly my budget is well suited to the
inexpensive bio wheels,

I use those, too. And I find natural light (I step just
outside my door) can help compare the results to the
paper scales.

but I am tempted to try canisters just so I can add some nitra zorb
or other additives, if it's really necessary.

I have added stuff in the power filters. Buy small media
bags at Petsmart or wherever. I've never had a canister.
Nothing against them, just prefer power filters.

Of course then there are
other vets who say UG filter and a sponge filter, thats all you ever need
to add to a tank. The bottom line is I am going to have a tendency to
want to spend sparingly, add as little as possible and stock heavily

By "stock heavily" what do you mean? If you're putting
too many fish into your tank(s), that could well be the
source of your higher nitrates (which don't seem excessively
high to me, but could be lower). Better to move up to
a larger tank than overstock.

and I am trying
to 'learn' to know how many fish I can handle safely. I am willing to put
in more time quicker than I am more money. I really do value each fish so
I don't want to learn by death rates. But, I also pond. From there I
know there are alway those who suggest much lower stocking rates, 'to be
safe' when much higher are possible if you know what you've doing and are
willing to moniter things a little more closely.

Sorry, I know this is a long post and probably some will be tempted to say
give it 4 years and you'll get you 'fish sense'. I'm hoping I can cut
down that time with some of your wisdom.
Thanxx
Bill Brister - Austin, Texas

"4 years" ?? I killed off most of my poor little fish over
a 7 year period - never learned a darned thing - until a
favorite elderly (and original inhabitant) Cory cat started
acting weird. In trying to learn what was wrong with her
and how to help, I started learning about water chemistry
(from hobbyist friends and from books), found the aquaria
newsgroups, went from plain gravel w/ fake decorations
to heavily planted tanks.

It takes whatever time it takes, and if you're ready
to learn more now, that's cool. But don't put a
time limit on yourself. You want to do the best for
your fish and that's a great attitude.

Gail
near San Antonio TX
::hi neighbor::