Denitrate

[HB Fisheye]

Does anyone use Seachem Denitrate? Or Seachem Prime? I'm trying to decide if I should dose or put media in a reactor to bring down my nitrates.

 

[bloodlimit]

Tried denitrate but it did not work well unless I dose vodka. And then I removed all the denitrate, kept dosing vodka and nitrate was kept in low level.

 

[Scrappy RN]

I use a combination of chaeto in the sump and water changes to reduce nitrate. BRS has an awesome video series about the chaeto method! I don't like adding any chemicals that aren't absolutely necessary into my tanks. I've done FW ones for years and do the same with my saltwater tank. No problems so far. But I am new to SW so we'll see!

 

[HB Fisheye]

How big is your tank? Do you just float the chaeto in your sump or?

 

[Scrappy RN]

How big is your tank? Do you just float the chaeto in your sump or?

I have a 75 gal DT and the sump is around 20 gal. I float the chaeto in the front of the sump near where the return line dumps in so it gets plenty of water flow. It's a separate area from the actual return and is also separate from the next chamber where the protein skimmer sits.

I have a grow light above it that I bought for a planted FW tank a couple of years ago and wasn't able to use at the time. I keep the grow light on most of the time unless I start getting too much pest algae in the main tank. Then I cut back to just lighting at night in the sump.

The BRS series is a great education on how it works!

 

[becks]

I use denitrate in a reactor and it produces 0ppm nitrate. It's important to ensure you have less than 200lph flow through the reactor and will take a few weeks to colonise. Your nitrates also need to be below 25 before you start for some reason.

 

[HB Fisheye]

Thanks becks. I'm leaning more toward the denitrate in a reactor method. How long have you been using it?

 

[HB Fisheye]

Thanks Scrappy RN, I'll have to look more into the cheato method.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Prime is a liquid and won't do anything useful for nitrate.

 

[HB Fisheye]

Thanks Randy. Why would one use denitrate over Matrix?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm not sure what criteria one would use to select between these two similar products.

 

[becks]

Matrix was intended primarily for ammonia/nitrite to act like normal filter media placed loosely in the sump etc, it's like having liverock in the sump but with more surface area. where as denitrate was intended to be used in a reactor to specificly reduce nitrates in a low flow/oxygen environment, it does not need replacing and there's no chemical or additive involved, just wash it every now and then.

If you place denitrate loose in the sump it will act like live rock in your sump and won't reduce nitrates as efficiently compared to a reactor. I use it loose in my QT tanks as it does not absorb copper and makes a great filter media.

 

[HB Fisheye]

Thanks becks. Great info.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Seachem seems to describe them almost identically:

http://www.seachem.com/denitrate.php
"de*nitrate™ is an economical, natural, porous material with a pore distribution and geometry that promotes both aerobic nitrification within the first few millimeters of depth and anaerobic denitrification at the core. "

http://www.seachem.com/matrix.php
"...whereas Matrix™ provides both external and internal macroporous surface area. These macropores are ideally sized for the support of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. This allows Matrix™, unlike other forms of biomedia, to remove nitrate along with ammonia and nitrite, simultaneously and in the same filter."

 

[becks]

They just recommend denitrate to be used in flow lower than 200lph, you could use anything really, siporax bioballs. It just a high surface area media.

Denitrate is smaller than matrix, the denitrate stones are about the size of pea gravel where as matrix is bigger...you could use matrix or any other media in a low flow reactor and gain the same results I imagine.

 

[teller]

In the past I run a reactor with siporax and 200lph.
The problem is the accumulation of detritus. In just two weeks you will see all that nasty accumulating in the reactor.
IMO you must implement a way to keep detritus out, which is not easy, otherwise it becomes another "nitrate factory".