Nitrate Reduction

[Reefer0513]

I was just wondering what everyone on this site does or uses to reduce nitrates in their aquairum. I have been having problems even after massive water changes keeping my nitrate levels below 20 mpm.

[rayme07]

I do 10% water changes weekly and remove as much detritus build up as I can find and also have a nice chunk of cheato in my tank.

[CarmieJo]

I use a deep sand bed, lots of flow, weekly 10% water changes and have a refugium.

[Amphibious]

There’s more to the equation than, what do we do to reduce Nitrates. It begins with designing our system from the beginning to continuously reduce Nitrate through natural methods of denitrification. Having a system that isn’t designed properly will accumulate Nitrate continuously. Nitrate is the third element in a four element process. The reduction of Nitrate requires an anaerobic area in your system to reduce Nitrates to Nitrogen gas, the fourth element.

Let me explain why you can’t lower the Nitrates through water changes alone. You’ve got 20ppm Nitrate. If you do a 20% water change, theoretically it reduces your Nitrate by 20% down to 16 ppm. Because your not addressing the real problem, eliminating Nitrates through the denitrification process, your Nitrates climb quickly back to 20 ppm or higher.

What size tank and what do you have for fish, corals and invertebrates? What filtration method are you using? Be as specific as possible.

[CarmieJo]

There’s more to the equation than, what do we do to reduce Nitrates. It begins with designing our system from the beginning to continuously reduce Nitrate through natural methods of denitrification. Having a system that isn’t designed properly will accumulate Nitrate continuously. Nitrate is the third element in a four element process. The reduction of Nitrate requires an anaerobic area in your system to reduce Nitrates to Nitrogen gas, the fourth element.

Let me explain why you can’t lower the Nitrates through water changes alone. You’ve got 20ppm Nitrate. If you do a 20% water change, theoretically it reduces your Nitrate by 20% down to 16 ppm. Because your not addressing the real problem, eliminating Nitrates through the denitrification process, your Nitrates climb quickly back to 20 ppm or higher.

Absolutely!

[Reefer0513]

Sorry, it has takening me so long to reply to your thread. After reading and thinking about your thread that you wrote about water changes it makes perfect sense I have never had anyone explain it to me that way. No wonder when I do a water change my nitrates go back up in a matter of a few days. I have a skimmer and cheato growing in my sump along with two chemical filter media one in a mesh bag and one in a phosban reactor and still my nitrates are high. Out of all my water parameters nitrate is the only one that outside the normal range for a reef system everything else is as it should be for a reef system. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Amphibious]

What size aquarium system are we talking about?

What type of filtration are you using?

[CarmieJo]

How long are you keeping the media in the bags? It can grow nitrifing bacteria just as efficiently as bio-balls.

[Reefer0513]

I have one 125 gallon tank, two 20 gallon tanks, one 55 gallon tank all hooked into a 110 sump with a refugium and chateo as a biological filter. I am also using a skimmer. The only tanks that have anything in them is my 125 and one 20 gallon the other two tanks are empty except for a few snails to keep the glass clean. I also change out my media in my media bag and phosban reactor every couple of months or sooner just depends on what the media looks like at the time. Just to let you know I do not use bio balls in my system.

[CarmieJo]

Media in a bag for a couple of months could certainly grow a fine crop of nitrifing bacteria. I am a big fan of using small amounts, (i.e. couple TBS) and changing it out weekly. The media past the first layer probably doesn't really get used, no one really can say how long media is effective for and it can contribute to increased nitrates.