SeaChem Nitrogen and Nitrates

[Fishytales]

I am a bit confused about dosing with SeaChem Nitrogen.

Right now I am dosing Flourish, Excel, Potassium, Phosphorus, Iron and Trace according to the labels for my 20 gallon tank. It is a tall tank, low light and only has one anubias nana, one java fern, and some java moss. We restarted this tank after moving and planted it in mid-January. We already have a flower on the anubia. All of the leaves on the java fern that had turned black and decayed during the planting have been removed and new leaves renewed many times over. The java moss shows considerable new growth. The plants certainly appear to be going in the right direction to me. Livestock at this time is only 6 long-finned zebra danios and an unknown quantity of ramshorn snails.

API chemical analysis of the water confirms that the nitrates increase from 5-10 ppm after water change to 25-30 ppm in 10 days or so and that is when we do a 50% water change.

How do I determine if I need to add SeaChem Nitrogen? And if so, I would think that the amount to be added would be dependent on the Nitrate level in the tank. Is that correct?

I have searched the two forums that i thought might contain this information to no avail. And the SeaChem nitogen page does not seem to answer my questions.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Howard

[Tech Support GL]

You would normally add nitrogen when the levels are not high enough to maintain good growth. It sounds like your levels go up so, for the moment adding more may not be ideal. You may want to check your phosphorous level to ensure you are maintaining enough phosphorous for nitrogen uptake.