a question on nitrate

[charliethetuna88]

i have something called an oxegen recator i think thats what it is. it a long tube maybe 3 feet high by 5 inches wide the water comes in from the top and exits threw the bottom in this tube its filled with noddles like bi balls and on the bottom theres an air hose that goes in to it and it gets connected to a pump and oxegen gets pumped in on a reef tank are u or arent u supposed to have bi balls i am asking this because i always have like 40 ppms of nitate i got ride of my big fish cleaned the sand bed i am woundering if this unit may be causeing the nitrate in the water any ideas from some experianced reefers

 

[House of Laughter]

Sounds like it is.

House

 

[charliethetuna88]

do you think i should get rid of it i think its more for a fish only tank right

 

[cali_reef]

You sure it is not an ozone reactor? never heard of an oxgen reactor for a fish tank.

Maybe A nitrate reductor? here is a discription on one:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4567&N=2004+22784

 

[charliethetuna88]

cali no its not a nitrate reducer i have never seen it before any were and u dont have to a a pill for food i really have no idea what it is when i bought the tank from the classifieds the guy had it hooked up and he said its a oxegen reactor i took pics but i dont know how to get them on the computer i gotta wait till the girlfriend gets home

 

[charliethetuna88]

im wondering if i should take it off

 

[Deanos]

Charlie, this page is the only one I could find on an "oxygen reactor". It doesn't seem to mention affecting nitrates though.

 

[cali_reef]

I say ditch it, a good skimmer will put more O2 than the DIY design in that link.

That guy must not use a skimmer.

 

[charliethetuna88]

deanos thats it man u found it but really in a fish only tank u would use this right do u think this is whats mahing nitrate it houses bactiria right

 

[charliethetuna88]

do u think its benifisale or hurting me

 

[alrha]

why do you need that in the first place?

 

[charliethetuna88]

i dont think i do if it will benifit my system then i wanna run it if it will cause nitrate then i will dissconect it i need oppions

 

[ShaunW]

Originally posted by charliethetuna88:
like 40 ppms of nitate i got ride of my big fish cleaned the sand bed i am woundering if this unit may be causeing the nitrate in the water any ideas from some experianced reefers

I would disconnect it from the system, something like this provides no benefit to a reef tank. Bio-balls could represent a nitrate sink.

Please define "clean your sand bed"? Did you have a nitrate spike or has it always been 40ppms.

What's your phosphate levels at?

 

[charliethetuna88]

yeh i syphoned my sand i always had about 40 ppms of nitrate im trying to get it lower and i was wondering if this unit is kepping me from getting it lower

 

[ShaunW]

Many factors in combination could be causing the increased nitrate, but if it was me I would disconnect it and see if your nitrate goes lower over time (best way to answer your question). However, without the nessesary means to biologically lower it (live rock, microaerophilic bacterial population, macroalgae growth and harvest) you may not see it drop even with the units removal without many water changes in between, i.e. no increase in nitrate after a water change. So the homeostasis in your tank may be towards high nitrate because you don't have enough sources for nitrate removal.

[ May 25, 2005, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: solbby ]

 

[charliethetuna88]

what do yo recommend i do im changing 15 gallons a week i gotta 120 wide tank i use r/o water

 

[charliethetuna88]

my tank is packed with rock (live) and everything seems to be doing fine i did have a few big fish in the tank that i got ride of about 3 weeks ago mybe just time and water changes

 

[joseney21]

how long has the tank been running????

 

[marrone]

Why don't you give spec's on the tank, like how long it's been up, what filters your running, LR and LS and what you actually have in it and such.


Also if you had large fish you would have needed to do some water changes to bring the nitrates down, they wouldn't have come down by just removing the fish.

 

[charliethetuna88]

, marrone i did water changes i have pleanty of live rock live sand the skimmers is mtc its 4 feet high i run carbon, iadded a refgium abot 4 weeks ago i got 2 110watt atinic vhos,2 110watt 50/50 vhos 2 175 watt metal halide 14k