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"
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