The Planted Tank Forum banner

Should i be doing less water changes?!

385 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  esarkipato 
#1 ·
i never thought there was such a thing so this may be a very silly question

i do a 40-60% water change every 6-8 days

in the past my nirates have been around 10 at this point

last week i upgraded my lighting from 1 20watt florecent to 36 watts of T-5

when i did my water change the nirate was only up to maybe 3 or 4

are my plants absorbing more nirates now?

am i robbing plant nurients with my water change schedule?

i always thought a water change added things for the plants for the most part but i know they absorb nitrogen too

i don't have CO2 and i have yet to find a store in my area that carriers flourish excel (i'm looking hard tho i know i will need it very soon)

just wondering if this is something to worry about

i'm still very new at trying to understand nutient uptake/balance in connection with light level and available carbon - just that sentence confused me.

thanks for your answers
 
See less See more
#2 ·
You don't mention any fertilizer dosing, so I'm assuming you don't dose anything.

Yes, with an increase in wattage your plants will eat up more nitrates. especially if you switch from fluorescent strip lights to compact fluorescents or T5.

I'd say you will need to start dosing nitrates if you see that big of a difference, but with 36 watts over 20 gallons you probably don't need carbon addition (although excel never hurt anyone :))

I'm not sure if skipping water changes to save nitrates is such a good idea, but short term it might help . . . .
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top