Size of a Nitrate in microns?
- Thread starter s7even
- Start date
No, they can't. A nitrate molecule is probably larger than a water molecule, but it's not the sort of thing you filter. IANAChemist, but I'd guess what you want to do (it's NO3 [nitrogen/oxygen) is break it down chemically, break the bond, which releases nitrogen as a gas, I'd guess, which is what the bacteria in your rock and sand do. This is one reason why live rock is a better cleaner than, say, filters, which only trap gunk, but that won't lower your nitrate the way good old biochemistry can do. Most of what you want to do in your tank involves 'breaking down' the stuff, so it changes into two good things (nitrogen gas, which being lighter than water---leaves; and oxygen, which the fish can use. If your curiosity still wants to know more---ask over in Reef Chemistry and some real live chemists can give you an answer involving angstroms and molecular weights and actual description of the molecule compared to, say, water.
Half Vaped
New member
Molecules are measured in nanometers (1,000,000 nm = 1 mm) or Angstroms (10 A = 1 nm). No mechanical filter fine enough to catch them exists. As far as I know.
Just a follow-up thought re 'undesirable' chemicals or elements. There are 3 solutions to the problem.
1. dilution is the solution to pollution---or at least a good start on it. Spread out the problem molecules by removing some water and adding clean water instead. A 30% water change is safe.
2. breakdown of the problem molecule---its component elements may be easier to handle: nitrate, as above, is a good example: nitrogen gas floats away and oxygen gets used nicely. Breakdown can happen via, say, bacteria. "Gas exchange" is how, say, co2 leaves the system: this happens via the surface water, and agitation of it helps.
3. binding the troublesome element: some products use chemistry to 'convert' a problem into something similar but harmless, for example a chemical to convert deadly ammonia into something else---Prime and Amquel do this: I don't know what they change it to---maybe ammonium, which is harmless to your tank. There are also binders like PolyFilter, which use a polymer plastic to 'trap' unwanted metals like copper and other pollutants so that, when you throw the pad away, you're disposing of the problem. And there are phosphate removers like Iron oxide in granulated form (GFO) that bind specifically phosphate and remove it to prevent algae.
You may not be a chemist now, but a few years in this hobby will give you mad skills with plumbing (I had no hesitation taking on a 5000 gallon pond problem) AND some knowledge of chemistry.
1. dilution is the solution to pollution---or at least a good start on it. Spread out the problem molecules by removing some water and adding clean water instead. A 30% water change is safe.
2. breakdown of the problem molecule---its component elements may be easier to handle: nitrate, as above, is a good example: nitrogen gas floats away and oxygen gets used nicely. Breakdown can happen via, say, bacteria. "Gas exchange" is how, say, co2 leaves the system: this happens via the surface water, and agitation of it helps.
3. binding the troublesome element: some products use chemistry to 'convert' a problem into something similar but harmless, for example a chemical to convert deadly ammonia into something else---Prime and Amquel do this: I don't know what they change it to---maybe ammonium, which is harmless to your tank. There are also binders like PolyFilter, which use a polymer plastic to 'trap' unwanted metals like copper and other pollutants so that, when you throw the pad away, you're disposing of the problem. And there are phosphate removers like Iron oxide in granulated form (GFO) that bind specifically phosphate and remove it to prevent algae.
You may not be a chemist now, but a few years in this hobby will give you mad skills with plumbing (I had no hesitation taking on a 5000 gallon pond problem) AND some knowledge of chemistry.
RobZilla04
Active member
Molar mass 62.0049 g/mol
Found via a simple Google search. As for the rest of the info, I dunno.
Edit: That's weight. I know nothing.....
Found via a simple Google search. As for the rest of the info, I dunno.
Edit: That's weight. I know nothing.....
Half Vaped
New member
I always assumed RO passed NO3 and PO4 and that they were eliminated in the DI portion, but a quick search in Google tells me the RO can, in fact, remove most NO3. But yeah, it would also remove everything else in the process.
Not sure on the size of NO3 molecules, but the size of a hydrogen atom is about 1 Angstrom or 0.1 nanometer or 0.0001 micron or 1/10,000,000 of a millimeter. RO membranes have pores from about 10 to 100 nanometers.
I rarely see any filter socks with pores smaller than 200 micron, which is thousands of times bigger than the pores in an RO membrane. A filter much finer than 200 microns will likely get clogged so quickly that it wouldn't be worth the trouble.
