Nitrate levels - what would you consider safe?

[kilnakorr]

It's common knowlegde we need clean to keep our discus happy. However when having live plants a certain level of nitrate, phosphate and so on are required to make the plants happy.
Where would you guys draw the line for nitrate levels? I know my plants would love 40+ ppm but pretty sure the discus wouldn't.

[discuspaul]

You're right - the discus wouldn't be comfortable with 40 ppm of nitrates.

Some say it should be less than 20 ppm - I maintain mine @ less than 10ppm without fail - usually not much more than '0'.

[kilnakorr]

Thanks Paul. Most threads state 0-5 ppm but wasn't aware that 20 ppm might be ok. I'll try increase slowly and watch the reactions.

[Akili]

Thanks Paul. Most threads state 0-5 ppm but wasn't aware that 20 ppm might be ok. I'll try increase slowly and watch the reactions.Why increase it,just maintain the low levels you have.

[pascal]

I have less than 10 ppm nitrate in my discus tank and the plants are doing very good.

[kilnakorr]

It all depends on the plants. Some require more ferts to thrive. I use to have some pretty demanding plants that needed 40+ppm nitrate. These have been removed when converting to discus tank. I have been having around 5-10ppm but a few plants seem not too grow to well and colors are down. I'm going to wait a bit before making any changes. Maybe some adjustment to lighting will make the difference.