Best Way to Reduce Nitrate In Your Tank
- Thread starter Zoous
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Zoous said:
I'd consider retesting if you haven't done so already? What test kit are you using?
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I haven't heard of these before, maybe someone else can chime in on their reliability.Zoous said:
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- 11756
Zoous said:
...but not too much accurate.
RDSB = Remote Deep Sand Bed (DSB in a bucket or DSB in a container). For me, the natural way, inexpensive and simple.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Googlesearch.htm
There are nitrate reduction tools on the market that can/do work... Most are anaerobic/hypoxic bacterial culture facilities that require (IMO too much) testing, adding of sugar, alcohol... other feeder stock. Some electric, electronic devices are out there too... For such a size, type system as yours and the good, regular maintenance you perform, I would put my money, time into either a Deep Sand Bed/Plenum and/or an external sump/refugium with live rock, lighting, macro algae set-up to reduce nitrates (along with many other benefits). The pre-made denitrators on the market are not worth the money... and the approaches mentioned are far more steady, beneficial in action.
Bob Fenner
I run in to these site: http://aquaripure.com/ they talk about "The denitrator", assuming that these device reduce and/or eliminates water changes. I truly don't believe that it can eliminate them but maybe it can reduce them.
<Uhh-ohh...>
Well, Juan- I had not seen this device before, but after a very cursory glance at the web site, it looks like a "coil denitrator", which essentially provides a long coil of tubing (like a couple hundred feet) to accommodate a very slow flow of water from the display tank. The water becomes essentially devoid of oxygen in the tubing, and is denitrified by anoxic processes when it leaves the tubing. You can adjust the flow of water to create the desired reduction...The key is keeping the flow slow enough to foster denitrification. By the way, you can relatively easily build a passive denitrification system like this, as outlined in Anthony's "Book of Coral Propagation". It's a proven concept, but it is not a "cure all", nor a substitute for good overall husbandry (no mechanical devices are). If it were me, I'd concentrate on fostering denitrification processes and nutrient export in a properly constructed deep sand bed, and utilizing aggressive protein skimming, water changes, and activated carbon/Polyfilter pads to assist. Hope this helps. Good luck! Regards, Scott F
Just a thought.. :sigh:
:spin:
Rossana
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- 11756
Zoous said:
Your skimmer probably isn't strong enough to keep up with a BB tank. If you're overfeeding and not doing water changes, you're just digging yourself deeper and deeper into a hole.
What kind of flow do you have in this tank? How often to you siphon detritus? Do you just let it sit in the tank(because you aren't doing water changes)?
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DaRealDvs1 said:
Beautifully asked question. I applaude your efforts :biggrin: .
DaRealDvs1 said:
Bad advice + poor reading...
1) I didn't follow a good (methodic) practice of water changes.
2) I didn't siphon my substrate. Still having troubles with that.
3) I used to overfeed my clowns (it would be 1st :biggrin: and not 100% solved :banghead: ).
4) I didn't practice to harvest my macro algae.
5) My Remora wasn't taking too much and I just made a mod on it (even so I'm still collecting half a cup or so weekly).
Poor nutrient export in a BB tank. (20 main + 10 sump)
Beginner's mistakes.
Rossana
BTW I forgot to mention I had a Yellow Tang until 4-5 days ago when Wingo took it.
I was using the strips (Jungle and Mardel) and having nitrate readings bellow the real value. They are also inaccurated in alk.
I also had bad circulation and replaced my return pump last week.
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