ajwatson21
New member
I have a 55 gal. tank (without a refugium) and my nitrates are high. I have done a 10 gal. water change. Any other inexpensive ways to lower nitrates? What are the best ways to lower nitrates?
55 gal. tank with nitrate problem
- Thread starter ajwatson21
- Start date
PatMayo
New member
ajwatson21,
Here is a great article that you should read that addresses this issue. It will help.
Good Luck
Regards,
Pat
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm
Here is a great article that you should read that addresses this issue. It will help.
Good Luck
Regards,
Pat
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm
XeniaMania
Active member
I like Seachem's De*Nitrate.
XeniaMania
Active member
I was able to drop my nitrates from 80 mg/l to 0 within a month's time. It has been at 0 ever since then. What I did was take a water bottle, poke a few small holes on the bottom. Drill a hole in the cap that just fits the airline tubing snuggly. I created a siphon and the vacuum from the water leaving the bottom keeps the siphon going. The water's coming out of my refugium. I'd say I'm getting about 5 gal/h flow which is 4x turnover of my tank. It doesn't seem much, but I mean, my test has been 0 even with heavier feedings. Initially, when I still had nitrates in my water, the water coming out of the bottle tested 5 mg/l lower. If you need a picture, I'll take one to show you what it looks like.
XeniaMania
Active member
Well, the bottle mod was basically a mini-canister filter. I wanted to make sure the water flowed through as much of the media as possible with a long contact time. I also didn't want to add another powerhead/filter, I'm an advocate of gravity feeding whenever possible. The only thing I can think of at the moment is if you could tee off the return from the canister into another compartment/bottle and turn down the flow in that direction. It would require you to have it in the tank which is most likely unsightly, black box maybe? But the important thing is making sure the water is forced through the media instead of around it, so like hanging a bag inside the skimmer outlet wouldn't work well.
XeniaMania
Active member
You can see the bottle and see how high the water level is. It's due to the vacuum in the bottle, otherwise, the denitrate would be exposed to air because water flows out faster than it's flowing in.
ajwatson21
New member
Poly filters are a good idea. How high are the nitrates? what kind of test kit?
I actually have a friend with the same problem (high nitrates) that I am currently having. My nitrates are about 50 (after the water change a few days ago). The other tank's nitrates are about 120. The second tank has had at least two 15 gal. water changes but the high nitrates keep returning.
Any other suggestions on how to lower the nitrates in the two tanks?
I actually have a friend with the same problem (high nitrates) that I am currently having. My nitrates are about 50 (after the water change a few days ago). The other tank's nitrates are about 120. The second tank has had at least two 15 gal. water changes but the high nitrates keep returning.
Any other suggestions on how to lower the nitrates in the two tanks?
XeniaMania
Active member
If you have a return box, that would work. Just spread it out evenly in the box. You'll get some spillage on the side which is ok since your Remora should be pushing 200gph or so. Also, I did have to "recharge" the bottle. Basically after it dropped from 80mg/l to 20mg/l I stopped seeing nitrate reduction, so I dumped it out, poured in fresh batch, and within another week it was 0. I haven't changed it since, I'm letting the nitrate bacteria grow in the media, so from this point on, I'm done w/ my nitrate issues, yay!
Remember that nitrates go down in direct proportion to the percentage water that is changed (assuming your using RO water that has no nitrates). A std 55 gallon reef tank has a little over 40 gallons of water (when taking water displacement of rock/substrate into acct) .. as such your 10 gallon water change should reduce nitrates by about 25%
XeniaMania
Active member
You have to factor in the continual production of ammonia and conversaion to nitrates. I don't know if 1ml of ammonia translates to 1 ml of nitrates. For all I know, the conversion formula could be 1ml of Ammonia>2ml of Nitrite> 4ml of Nitrate., so even if you do the water change, there's the constant creation of more waste. The only sure way is to devise a method to match consumption of nitrate with the production of it. You can do a whole bunch of water changes, I did at first, it'd go from 100mg/l to 80mg/l to 60mg/l after repeated water changes, but within a few days, it's back up to 80mg/l. That's alot of work and salt! However, the good news is, once you figure out how to get it under control, it stays under control. I have yet had to do a water change. I do need to add new water as I sell corals and each buyer takes water with them.
