Pickupman66
New member
I brought htis over from an old forum... thought it might be good to bring across some of this good old stuff.. besides, I wrote it so I am proud..
One issue many reefers battle in their tanks is a high level of Nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are processed by Aerobic (oxygen consuming) bacteria, but the bacteria that process the NItrates into Nitrogen gas only thrive in an Anerobic (oxygen deprived) envronment. While live rock, sump sponges and sand beds provide a place for some of these bacteria, in many cases it is just not enough to handle the bioload of the tank inhabitants.
there are several ways to reduce the nitrate levels in your tank.
One way to reduce Nitrates may include using microporus products such as Seachem's Denitrator. While these products may work, they are expensive and not necessarily long lived. From reading Seachem's website, the Denitrator product they sell is a highly porus granule that can be used for substrate or placed somewhere in the sump.
For those with lots of light in the tank, such as Metal Halide or even VHO lighting, clams are a great choice for reducing their nitrates. Clams feed of this chemical, but they are expensive and if you dont have sufficient light, they wont last long at all.
THe most widely used method of using nitrates is regualr water changes. The theory is that by changing a large volume of your tanks water, you are basically diluting the nitrates. while this is true, many here at FF dont believe in water changes. they are expensive, time consuming and at times Messy.
A solution to Nitrate issues that is starting to catch on in this forum. Many of us have started using De-Nitrator coils. there are several commercial units on the market ranging in price form $70 to $300+. While expensive, these products are effective. But wouldnt you rather spend that hard earned $$$ on fish or corals? De-Nitrator coils are basically a very long piece of tubing coiled up inside a tube or canister with a slow low pressure flow rate. the tubing provides a surface for which the bacteria can attach themselves. in the first third or so of the tubing, you have the Ammonia processing bacteria. these bacteria use some of the oxygen in the water to turn the Ammonia into Nitrite. the second third of the tubing houses the Nitrite processing bacteria. THis bacteria uses the remaining oxygen in the tubed water to process the Nitrite into Nitrate. By this time, the water has been depleted of its oxygen content and the NItrate processing bacteria are allowed to thrive and thus process the NItrate into soluble nitrogen gas which is then expelled at the water surface of the tank or sump.
Knowing these principals, you can build a coil for under $30 not including a pump. mine cost me $22! I bought a 60ft length of 1/4 inside diameter black pvc tubing at Tractor supply Company. it cost me $.22 a foot. I then took a 24" piece of 4" PVC pipe and purchased 2 4"endcaps. I drilled 2 holes just large enought for the tubing to fit thru in one of these caps. I rolled up the tubing neatly and stuffed it into the pipe and ran the two tag ends of the tubing out of the cap with the holes. I then purchased a inline air valve (like used with aquarium air pump) and placed in on one end of the tubing so that I could control the water flow. the other end I hooked up to an existing pump with a low pressure outlet, but several here have used a 4gph fountain pump. I have mine adjusted to about 3-4 drops per second. That is all there is to it.
it will take about 6 weeks or so for the unit to become fully functional (cycle), but from what we have discovered, these devices work wonders on reducing nitrates.
Parts List:
50-60ft 1/4" pvc (air hose) tubing
24" section of 4" pvc drain pipe and 2 end caps (have heard of some using a large coffee can)
1 adjustable air valve
4gph fountain pump
One issue many reefers battle in their tanks is a high level of Nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are processed by Aerobic (oxygen consuming) bacteria, but the bacteria that process the NItrates into Nitrogen gas only thrive in an Anerobic (oxygen deprived) envronment. While live rock, sump sponges and sand beds provide a place for some of these bacteria, in many cases it is just not enough to handle the bioload of the tank inhabitants.
there are several ways to reduce the nitrate levels in your tank.
One way to reduce Nitrates may include using microporus products such as Seachem's Denitrator. While these products may work, they are expensive and not necessarily long lived. From reading Seachem's website, the Denitrator product they sell is a highly porus granule that can be used for substrate or placed somewhere in the sump.
For those with lots of light in the tank, such as Metal Halide or even VHO lighting, clams are a great choice for reducing their nitrates. Clams feed of this chemical, but they are expensive and if you dont have sufficient light, they wont last long at all.
THe most widely used method of using nitrates is regualr water changes. The theory is that by changing a large volume of your tanks water, you are basically diluting the nitrates. while this is true, many here at FF dont believe in water changes. they are expensive, time consuming and at times Messy.
A solution to Nitrate issues that is starting to catch on in this forum. Many of us have started using De-Nitrator coils. there are several commercial units on the market ranging in price form $70 to $300+. While expensive, these products are effective. But wouldnt you rather spend that hard earned $$$ on fish or corals? De-Nitrator coils are basically a very long piece of tubing coiled up inside a tube or canister with a slow low pressure flow rate. the tubing provides a surface for which the bacteria can attach themselves. in the first third or so of the tubing, you have the Ammonia processing bacteria. these bacteria use some of the oxygen in the water to turn the Ammonia into Nitrite. the second third of the tubing houses the Nitrite processing bacteria. THis bacteria uses the remaining oxygen in the tubed water to process the Nitrite into Nitrate. By this time, the water has been depleted of its oxygen content and the NItrate processing bacteria are allowed to thrive and thus process the NItrate into soluble nitrogen gas which is then expelled at the water surface of the tank or sump.
Knowing these principals, you can build a coil for under $30 not including a pump. mine cost me $22! I bought a 60ft length of 1/4 inside diameter black pvc tubing at Tractor supply Company. it cost me $.22 a foot. I then took a 24" piece of 4" PVC pipe and purchased 2 4"endcaps. I drilled 2 holes just large enought for the tubing to fit thru in one of these caps. I rolled up the tubing neatly and stuffed it into the pipe and ran the two tag ends of the tubing out of the cap with the holes. I then purchased a inline air valve (like used with aquarium air pump) and placed in on one end of the tubing so that I could control the water flow. the other end I hooked up to an existing pump with a low pressure outlet, but several here have used a 4gph fountain pump. I have mine adjusted to about 3-4 drops per second. That is all there is to it.
it will take about 6 weeks or so for the unit to become fully functional (cycle), but from what we have discovered, these devices work wonders on reducing nitrates.
Parts List:
50-60ft 1/4" pvc (air hose) tubing
24" section of 4" pvc drain pipe and 2 end caps (have heard of some using a large coffee can)
1 adjustable air valve
4gph fountain pump
