Best Nitrate Eliminator!

[Iplantz]

I have a 30g Finnex M tank and Im going to make a 4 tray media rack for my filter area. I have filter floss in the overflow but I cant really beat my nitrates at a solid 20 right now. I have a media bag hanging with chemi-pure elite and purigen, but they seem to not be getting enough flow through. The Chemi Pure seems like its wearing out, same for the purigen. My question is what is the best nitrate remover for this?

I was thinking in keep filter floss in overflow with carbon, in tray 1 a poly filter for added screening and removal, area 2 some type of phosphate media, and lastly a nitrate remover. My question is what are the two best medias for phosphate and nitrate?

I have a slight hair algae problem and Im hoping that with 5> or so nitrates I can kill it off with the help of my mangroves and chaeto.

[BIGBIRD123]

The best nitrate remover is water changes...

S

[uriah]

True that! Water changes are really the best fix for almost anything and from there its all about having the right filtration, avoiding overstocking and feeding on schedule.

[subsailor]

The best nitrate remover is water changes...

S


ditto

[DrMark]

Why are the nitrates at 20 in the first place?

[SoLiD]

Macro Algae... Nah, water changes. Make sure you start out with pristine RO/DI water before you add your salt. The TDS meter should read 0 (Zero) or at least no higher than 5. You really have to find the source of your Nitrates though. Good Luck! :)

[LoneStar]

Macro Algae... Nah, water changes. Make sure you start out with pristine RO/DI water before you add your salt. The TDS meter should read 0 (Zero) or at least no higher than 5. You really have to find the source of your Nitrates though. Good Luck! :)

:thumbs_up:

[jc]

I use the granular ferric oxide from bulkreefsupply and it seems to work great. I believe that the gfo and cheato are keeping my nitrates less than 5 ppm using a salifert test kit. I hardly ever do water changes.

[Iplantz]

I don't know why I have nitrates. I hardly feed but twice a week to my two fish. I think its because of dying chaeto. For some reason it keeps turning white and breaking up. It just doesn't want to live for me. I think my tank might have recycled a little after a major cleaning to remove hair algae about 3 weeks ago. My Purigen was like black and didn't turn very white after rinsing. I am thinking of going something more hardy than chaeto??? If theres such a thing. By the way I change my water once every 5 days, and change 5g with IO salt. Maybe my salt is bad??? That could explain a lot............

Whats the vote on a new macroalgae???

[CoryDude]

Do a 50% h2o change and watch NO3 levels over the next week or two. If it shoots back up, then you need to find the source of those nutrients. I doubt it's your salt, but you can never count anything out. Do you change or clean the filter floss regularly?

[snfkotara]

I heard Miracle Mud in the sump will help greatly.

[Iplantz]

my hair algae just exploded and since I changed the water more frequently this week (2 times in 8 day, instead of 14) I'm thinking its something in the salt. Also my chaeto just won't live, so I'm thinking when it dies its re releasing nitrate into the tank.

[Iplantz]

By popular vote phosban is the winner of the P04 eliminator, but I still need to decide on the nitrate removal media. Vote lol . Just don't vote though I want reason and results :bigsmile:

[Kristy]

Problem is, the nitrate removal methods you list do sometimes help to reduce nitrates, but only by a little fraction. If you want to put a dent in it, you gotta do aggressive water changes til it comes down.

[gjuarez]

Like everyone is saying water changes. Lets not forget the about the nitrogen cycle, amonia, nitrite and then nitrates. Nitrates dont convert to anything, they have to be exported out through different ways. Anarobic bacteria deep in a deep sand bed or rock, macro algae, or some aggresive water changes. I strongly recommend the water changes as the best way to export nitrates. What type of filtration are you running? Any mechanical filtration?

[ErikH]

Do you have your own RODI? I would bet your DI Resin is being used up. Have you packed it and kept it packed?

Lots of rock and sand will cure your nitrate woes. You could make a fluidized sandbed reactor. Large ones can strip too much out of your water IIRC. I can tell you how to make a cheap small one that should help and costs would be very small.... Call me though, I dont feel like typing it all out, lol.

[ErikH]

Oh, phosban works just fine...

How deep is your sandbed, and how large is your CUC? are you filter sockin your sump? You may just need to turn off your return and "stir it up"...... Suck out all of the detritus you can, with a hose, not your mouth. :p

[lhoy]

Those nitrate reduces are good when you have a huge tank, do regular water changes and still would like to knock them down a little. For a small tank, regular water changes are the ONLY nitrate reducer you need.

What topoff water are you using? If your Chaeto is dying due probably to lack of sufficient light.

Lee

[coraline79]

Macro Algae... Nah, water changes. Make sure you start out with pristine RO/DI water before you add your salt. The TDS meter should read 0 (Zero) or at least no higher than 5. You really have to find the source of your Nitrates though. Good Luck! :)

I was told by a number of the pilars of this community that they dont swap their RO/DI cart's/media until 10 to 12 on the PPM.

[Iplantz]

Ok a rundown:
My water is purchased from River city, and I trust them so I don't think its that.
My CUC is
50 Dwarf Ceriths
16 Florida Ceriths
10 Nassarius Snails
3 mangroves (who have roots but no leaves, and are destroying my magnesium levels :mad:)
Chaeto (that is "recovering"<- because I got a refractometer and had a salinity of 1.05 two weeks ago)
Ulva
My sand bed is about 4" in the DT and 3" in the fuge.

I do weekly water changes of 5g and my systems water total is between 20-22g.
I have about 40 lbs. of sand and rock, about half the rock is base, the other is really nice Fiji.

I scrubbed down the rocks of algae and changed water (using a fellow reefers oceanic salt, which was way better than my IO) and it lowered the nitrates like 8 ppm. I noticed a little rise today, but its also media changing time and I want something new.

Thanks everyone so far!

I was convinced that its something in my salt. TODAY, I found a screw about 2" long that was rusting to pieces in the bottom of the bucket. I can only guess its been there awhile. Could this be the culprit?

[Iplantz]

ALSO, Purigen or chemi pure removal media? Its a dead tie, but I would just go regular Chemi pure since Im going to have a strictly Phosphate media.

[TexasTodd]

You didn't list any fish. Do you have some in there?

It's not the salt. I would check at RC to make sure they're using RO/DI water and what is the TDS.

What is your iodine at? What light is over your ref?

You should not have to replace so much water per week...25%?

Are you running a trickle filter "wet/dry"?

Clams LOVE to eat nitrates as long as they're not too high. They will help keep them down but they'll knock your CA too.

Todd

[TexasTodd]

I'd try getting rid of the filter floss and possibly all the pads. If you want to run a Phosban or purigen get a two little fishes reactor....if you have a place for it. If not, put the granules in the foot of some panty hose and leave it loose...lots of room and put that in your overflow. Phosban is really for phosphate not nitrates.

On the floss, let the detritus settle out in your sump and vaccum out with water changes.

Trickle filters, wet drys, lots of pads and floss BOOST nitrates. That's why people have gone away from them.

Todd

[Iplantz]

I have 20 zoas, 2 mushrooms, 1 Derasa clam (4") Firefish goby, and a falco hawkfish. I have no sump, Im running a media rack made of eggcrate, I have a remora skimmer with a MJ1200, stable temps of 80-82. I have a 250w hetal halide like 10" from the surface. Im looking to remove silicates too, thats why I want phosban, and I can't afford space or money wise a reactor right now.

[LoneStar]

Hands down, the best way to get rid of nitrates is to program one of these bad boys, send it back in time, and it will eliminate any nitrates before they exist~










http://www.spiralpocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/the-terminator.jpg

[TexasTodd]

Is there a skimmer? Is there any way to get a HOB skimmer on it?

IMO 80-82 is not optimal. Shoot for 77.

Try Calurpa instead of Cheato. If you can, keep the light over the Cheato on 24/7. It doesn't need to be a big light.

I understand space can be a problem. You can get the TLF Phosban reactors used usually for about $15. I think they're $30-40 only new plus a small MaxiJet.

Todd

[mikedelgado]

I have been looking for a better way to control nitrates myself.without getting rid of my big fish. I tried a big ole deltec skimmer,nope. A deep sand bed, nope and it was a poop trap.Carbon in a media reactor,nope maybe a different type of media would have worked.chaeto and caulerpa in my fuge that was growing pretty good, nope.A sulpher denitrator , yep. but has to be constantly monitored or it stops working. Even when its dialed in perfectly and there is 0 nitrates coming out of it I still measured higher than optimal nitrates in the tank. Maybe I should have got the bigger one.water changes with ro/di water, yep. I hate changing water but so far that is the only thing I have found that really works. I tested ozarka bottled water, positive for nitrates. I tested my product water from my ro/di unit with the di showing some tds,positive.I changed the di resin ran a few gallons, got a 0 tds reading then tested again,0 nitrates.I then tested that good water again after I mixed it with salt, 0 nitrates. So I conclude that if my di resin isnt showing 0 tds I am adding nitrates to my tank daily via top off.Makes me want to give up on the majority of my sps cause that is the only thing that doesnt look great when the nitrate levels get high. what is gfo? and does anyone know is it sucks up nitrate?

[TexasTodd]

gfo is granulated ferric oxcide.....Phosban etc...all of them.

I agree on the 0 tds needed. DI resin is pretty cheap. FYI a water softener will KILL your DI fast. You want to somehow get your inlet water ahead of your softener.

Big skimmers help, but you need the system set up so the detritus gets out of your tank and in to the skimmer/sump so it can be skimmed/removed. One of the main reasons many sps tanks are bare bottom with lots of flow and the flow pushing waste to the skimmer and areas where it can be removed.

Todd

[mikedelgado]

My sps started looking alot better after i went bb a year ago.I recently removed the rock from my sump making it much easier to remove the detritus, and there was alot.You were kidding about di resin being cheap? right? I didnt know about the softner causing the di resin to exhaust faster. The filter guys and buckeye field supply both told me that excess co2 was the most likely the cause of this problem and reccomended that I airate the water before I push it thre the di stage. pita so I dont do that.I do have a carbon tank ahead of my softner that dechlorinates the water before it hits the softner, makes the water not taste like swimming pool water, maybe I will tap in after that but before the softner and see if my resin lasts longer.Does anyone have any ideas on how to store di resin? I use so muck I bought a larger amount from buckeye but it came in ziplock bags . there was a paper in the box that said the ziplocks are for transport and not good for long term storage.GREAT?

[TexasTodd]

BB ;) I've gone in with others in the past and purchased like 50lbs plus of DI resin and I don't think it was that much. I always just really closed the big bag up that it comes in when you buy a bunch. The best would probably be to use a vaccum packer Seal a Meal deal.

Todd

[mikedelgado]

the seal a meal thing sounds like a good idea to me, I might even use it to preserve food too.Do you remember where you got the 50 lbs of di resin from and what it cost? also was it nuke grade?

[mikedelgado]

o ya,
does anyone know of a particular media I can use in a reactor or a sock that is effective on nitrates. I am not really worried about phosphate. that always shows up undetectable on a salifert kit.

[TexasTodd]

I thought about this more today. Without a decent skimmer I would go with that new knock off of ZeoVit, I think it was call ProPolyp or something. John and Brian at Kingfish in Austin were telling me about it and John uses it in a non skimmed tank with great results. Similar to alcohol etc. It has a certain bacteria, food, amino acids etc. that eat up the waste.

Sounds perfect for your setup. It's not cheap, but on a small tank it'll last a long time and you don't need to use up your space etc.

I think it was Nuke grade. It may have been buckeye, he had a special on the non color changing stuff...looked like rootbeer color. It was a long time ago as my big tank has been down for 2 years almost.

Todd