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Some of you might remember this topic of mine http://www.kokosgold...oerba-yun-fang/ about adding pothos to my plant to reduce the nitrate. Quick overview over what is going on in my tank/s: --- My "main" tank is overstocked. 55 gallons with 3 single tails and 4 fancies. The single tails range from 3.5"- 5." size in length and the fancies between 2.75" and 3.75" (all without tail) --- I feed my fish "a lot", and in an overstocked tank this can make the nitrate rise very fast --- My fish destroy plants, even the "hard leafed" kind that most fish don't touch My maintenance routine is a bi weekly water change of as much water as I can drain until my largest fish's BACK (not the dorsal!) is touching the water surface. This brings the water level down to about 2 inches. My fish are all used to this and don't get freaked out/stressed at all. I think this is about a good 85% water change bi-weekly. At this point, the nitrate usually was up to 20ppm (or maybe higher, I am having problems seeing the difference between 20 and 40, but it looked closer to 20ppm) To keep the nitrate as low as possible, I did what I showed in the topic linked above, added pothos to the tank so they are mostly out of reach for the fish, while absorbing nitrate. The fish will and are nibbling on the roots as they are available, but they are doing this for months and it hasn't harmed a fish. IMPORTANT INFO: When I had my first, small pothos (only about a third the size of my current plant) on that tank, it took it several months to pick up on the nitrate control. I don't know how, but it seemed like the plant needed to adjust to the new living conditions (roots submerged in water instead of being planted) until it showed its full potential of nitrate control. Because of this, interestingly the old (much smaller) plant removed more nitrate from my 55 gallon tank than the new larger plant, but I know that the new one will eventually catch up and do absolutely amazing nitrate control in a few months. Anyway, today is day 6 after I added the large pothos. I fed as usual (no fasting day in between) and today I tested the parameters, which were: 0/0/10 For a way overstocked tank with heavy feedings and decently sized fish after 6 days this is absolutely AWESOME. As said, in a few months I am sure that in that very same time frame I will see the nitrates drop to 5ppm and lower. Maybe even fully disappear. So for everyone who wants nitrate control but for one reason or another can't have tank plants, this is an amazing way to do it! Just make sure you keep your cats and dogs away from the plant, as it can cause problems if they eat the leaves PS: I will surely continue with my bi-weely 85% water changes because I don't want to stunt these fish, but I am very happy seeing that the nitrate is very much under control This post has been promoted to an article
