Brightwell Xport NO3 brick is no joke

[gus6464]

Due to some miscalculations I was having some issues with high nitrates that not even a 50% water change was alleviating and tank was at a constant 30 ppm nitrate. My red planet was starting not to like that much nitrate so I ordered a brightwell xport NO3 dimpled brick. I seeded it per instructions by putting the brick in a loaf pan with some salt water and half a bottle of microbacter7 overnight.

In the morning I tested by NO3 right before I put the brick in the sump and it was 29ppm. I then put the brick in a low flow area and fed with some carbon in the form of redsea NOPOX. 24 hours later I tested this morning and no3 is at 1ppm. Monitoring to my corals to see how they are responding to that massive quick drop in nitrate.

 

[TUSI]

That is very interesting, pls keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Ridem32]

About how long does the brick last?

 

[gus6464]

About how long does the brick last?

Forever I would assume unless you put something on top that crushes it. It's similar to marine pure but it's coated in sulfur to aid with denitrifying bacteria growth. Concept similar to a sulfur denitrator. I use two blocks now. The bio block suspended in air with more flow passing through it for nitrication and the no3 brick submerged with less flow for denitrification.

 

[Lowstorm]

Has this kept your nitrates down still?

 

[jason2459]

Keep in mind the sulfur will be consumed. That part won't last. The block will continue to house bacteria.

 

[jason2459]

Btw, nice sump. Is that a dream box?

 

[gus6464]

Yeah no3 still in the 3 range. I actually haven't ran my skimmer in over a month. It's crazy because the amount of o2 in the water has gone up as my ph hits over 8.5 now when lights on.


The sump is actually a geo su36.

 

[jason2459]

pH going up would be a reaction of CO2 going down. O2 wouldn't directly effect pH.

 

[NeverlosT]

I can vouch that the marinepure block didnt do much for my nitrate levels. I ditched it and went back to a macroalgae fuge and carbon dosing and now the levels are coming down.

The trick to this new block must be the sulfur? Did your skimmer go nuts for that day due to bacterial bloom or anything?

That is a big drop in nitrate, pretty wild.

 

[jason2459]

I can vouch that the marinepure block didnt do much for my nitrate levels. I ditched it and went back to a macroalgae fuge and carbon dosing and now the levels are coming down.

The trick to this new block must be the sulfur? Did your skimmer go nuts for that day due to bacterial bloom or anything?

That is a big drop in nitrate, pretty wild.

The block/brick/sphere/etc itself will not do anything other then provide a place for bacteria to grow. The bacteria need nutrients to populate that surface area. The sulfur in the brightwell brick will help but will be consumed at some point and then it will be just the same as those with out that sulfur added. Then the bacteria will need to be fed via another method like feeding your fish, carbon dosing, etc.

 

[SPR1968]

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering how the NO3 brick is doing ?

I started a thread asking for review on it last week coincidentally

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brightwell-aquatics-xport-no3-brick.313659/#post-3873019

 

[Reeferdood]

Due to some miscalculations I was having some issues with high nitrates that not even a 50% water change was alleviating and tank was at a constant 30 ppm nitrate. My red planet was starting not to like that much nitrate so I ordered a brightwell xport NO3 dimpled brick. I seeded it per instructions by putting the brick in a loaf pan with some salt water and half a bottle of microbacter7 overnight.

In the morning I tested by NO3 right before I put the brick in the sump and it was 29ppm. I then put the brick in a low flow area and fed with some carbon in the form of redsea NOPOX. 24 hours later I tested this morning and no3 is at 1ppm. Monitoring to my corals to see how they are responding to that massive quick drop in nitrate.

I’ve been reefing a long time and never seen a form of mechanical filtration that can strip nitrates that rapidly.. I know that Amquel can give you rapid false positive results on testing for nitrates...
Something seems fishy because my brick took months before seeing anything different, that’s even in conjunction with BP’s...

 

[Gregory Stephens]

I am designing a sump for a triton based system using these as my main source of denitrification. I am a bit confused. Would you need both products, The Xport NO3 and the Export Bio?

 

[Velcro]

Yeah no3 still in the 3 range. I actually haven't ran my skimmer in over a month. It's crazy because the amount of o2 in the water has gone up as my ph hits over 8.5 now when lights on.


The sump is actually a geo su36.

Oxygen has nothing to do with pH.

 

[schooncw]

Following

 

[Chris Jakubowski]

I am designing a sump for a triton based system using these as my main source of denitrification. I am a bit confused. Would you need both products, The Xport NO3 and the Export Bio?

Ditto - did you ever find an answer to this - from what i can gather the NO3 does the same as Bio but better

 

[schooncw]

I removed my xport bricks. They replaced the first ones I had, due to them disintegrating and the 2 replacements did not seem to be any better. Very disappointed in the product, as I had high hopes.

 

[Chris Jakubowski]

*Sigh* That not what I wanted to hear!

Ryan at BRS just did a video on the 26th october raving on about them - I have marine pure blocks however all they actually do is take up room in my sump, was hoping that these where a better solution for my new setup

 

[schooncw]

I saw the video and who knows, maybe I will try them again. The science is solid but even the new ones I put in were rather "crumbly". Took them out, as I did not want a repeat of a very messy sump.