Nitrate reducing products

[DREUTZ]

I have high nitrates ( about 40 ppm) and I have been looking at products from drfostersmith.com. Has anyone had any experience/luck with a product called

de-nitrate by seachem
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4180

or nitrate sponge by Kent?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4914

Does anyone recommend any other products that they have had good results with?

 

[isgon26]

Amquel Plus works well to reduce nitrates. A deep sand bed in my sump has also worked for me.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

You should first post what type of filtration you have and how much rock you have in the display.

 

[triggerhappy]

What i learned from many here and it has had better results for me is doing water changes. I am one of those who learned the hard way when trying to put to many additives in my tank.

 

[DREUTZ]

You should first post what type of filtration you have and how much rock you have in the display.

The tank is 3 months old. It is a 29 gallon biocube that I have installed a fuge in the back chamber a few weeks ago that has chaeto and live rock rubble. The tank has 40 lbs of live rock and 35 lbs of live sand which is about a 2.5-3" sand bed. I have a skimmer and have that blue and white filter floss that I have been changing every 1-2 days. I have a CUC of 10-15 leg hermits, 3 nasarus snails, 3 astrea, 2 turbo, about 12 other mixed snails, 1 emerald crab, a cleaner shrimp, and a peppermint shrimp. I have a feeling that it is overstocked because I have 2 occ clowns (3" and 2.5"), 1 royal gramma basslet (3"), 1 scooter blenny (3"), 1 bi color blenny (3.5"), and 1 very small high fin banded goby (1"). I have a bunch of softies, and LPS and all are doing well, except for some faded coloring that might be because of my stock lights.

I also have an electric flame scallop that I've been feeding rotifers 2 times a week, I'm not sure if overdosing rotifers would add to the high nitrates.

I feed the fish 1-1.5 cubes of mysis, brine, or plankton a day.

The test kit i've used is an API test kit that is a pain in the ass because the difference in color on the card from 30 ppm to 80 ppm is hardly noticable but if I had to guess I would say it is +/-40.

Any input would be awesome

 

[DREUTZ]

I also have chemi pure elite and activated carbon

 

[DREUTZ]

What i learned from many here and it has had better results for me is doing water changes. I am one of those who learned the hard way when trying to put to many additives in my tank.

I have been wary of this as well, that is why I was asking about those two products in my first post. If I am correct (which I am most likely not haha) it looks like they will absorb nitrates rather than add more chemicals to consume nitrates like liquid/powder additives.

 

[triggerhappy]

I meant no offence by it Dreutz just had bad luck with chemicals is all my 46 Bow has been running for a year now after all the problems and i found frequent water changes work best for ME.

 

[DREUTZ]

None taken at all! I didn't intend for my response to sound annoyed with you. I was just letting you and others know what I was thinking in case someone can provide some input. I'm still a noob to the hobby and I am in no position to start getting mad at people that are trying to help haha.

I meant no offence by it Dreutz just had bad luck with chemicals is all my 46 Bow has been running for a year now after all the problems and i found frequent water changes work best for ME.

 

[e.muehlbauer]

Take out the filter floss...its supporting the aerobic bacteria that produce the nitrates. I have had some luck, years back, with AZ-NO3.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

3 Months is pretty new still but I would not add coral till the nitrates come down,What skimmer are you using?AZ-NO3 does work but follow the directions carefully.It's only a short term solution.

 

[DREUTZ]

3 Months is pretty new still but I would not add coral till the nitrates come down,What skimmer are you using?AZ-NO3 does work but follow the directions carefully.It's only a short term solution.

It is the oceanic biocube skimmer (http://www.nanotuners.com/product_info.php?products_id=496)

Just wondering... are you telling me not to add corals because they will increase the bioload/nitrates or because they might be harmed by the high nitrate levels?

 

[DREUTZ]

Take out the filter floss...its supporting the aerobic bacteria that produce the nitrates. I have had some luck, years back, with AZ-NO3.

The filter floss really takes out a lot of matter. Will it be bad to have that remaining in the tank? I have the floss before the chaeto, would the chaeto compensate for the lack of floss and take that crap out?

 

[cowfish]

There's a great thread on the chemistry forum at RC about about the use of polycaprolactone (a kind of plastic) as a media for nitrate reduction. It's supposed to be a form of solid carbon dosing to take the place of vodka or sugar. A similar (same?) compound/chemical is used in a new product by Instant Ocean.

 

[ZANYMASTER]

I would leave the floss and remove the rubble,might be causing a lot of filth being there isn't a lot of flow down there.Try upgrading to a Tunze 9002 nano skimmer.

 

[rookie07]

Just wondering... are you telling me not to add corals because they will increase the bioload/nitrates or because they might be harmed by the high nitrate levels?

Both

 

[DREUTZ]

I would leave the floss and remove the rubble,might be causing a lot of filth being there isn't a lot of flow down there.Try upgrading to a Tunze 9002 nano skimmer.

Would a small powerhead aiming down into the liverock stir it up enough to leave it?

 

[ari5736]

vodka has worked for me in multiple tanks.

 

[cmor1701d]

I feed the fish 1-1.5 cubes of mysis, brine, or plankton a day.

Cut that by half and then try feeding every other day instead of every day. Overfeeding could be a large cintributor to the nitrate problem in addition to the other items mentioned. You have a shallow sand bed so no help there in nitrate reduction, though the LR will help a bit.
Overstocked? Yes IMO, but good husbandry can work that out. That means more maintenance on your part, like 20% weekly water changes, perhaps more.

You may want to try 2x/week 20% water changes along with reduced feediong to help get the nitrates down. Then keep the feedings down and try a weekly PWC schedule to see if you can maintain a decent level.

Get rid of the filter floss

The test kit i've used is an API test kit that is a pain in the ass because the difference in color on the card from 30 ppm to 80 ppm is hardly noticable but if I had to guess I would say it is +/-40

There seems to be a problem with the screening on the API Iprobably all) vials so you are not really testing a 5ml sample. Get a syringe, eye dropper,etc ( I use a syringe from a Salifert kit) to make sure you are testing 5ml of tank water.
I too can not tell the difference between closely spaced color swatches which is why I use Salifert or Lamotte test kits for most items. My trAtes are low enough that I have to use the 10x method of reading the range on the Salifert kit. This kit does force you to match against a color scale, but I find the pink easier to differentiate.

 

[DREUTZ]

I have high nitrates ( about 40 ppm) and I have been looking at products from drfostersmith.com. Has anyone had any experience/luck with a product called

de-nitrate by seachem
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4180

or nitrate sponge by Kent?

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4914

Does anyone recommend any other products that they have had good results with?

Should I try one of these products and do water changes, reduce feeding, and other suggestions in this thread or should I not even bother?