NITRATE REDUCTION: Top 3 ways to keep Nitrates down?

[fishface NJ]

i am in the group who is trying to get my nitrates up. Daily dosing NeoNitro. I have live rock, sand, dose aminos daily, feed fish heavy daily and coral foods every 4 days. I have a lot of feather dusters and sponges

 

[CherBear811]

Clams. Its hard to keep measurable nitrates.

Love this!! What species do you use and where did you get them?

 

[jnava19]

6 month ago I started dosing red sea NOPOX, great result with nitrates, somehow even after stopping dosing, nitrates were almost undetectable in the kit, causing some issues.
I dosed a bit of nitrates and now to keep them between 2-5 just turned off skimmer during the day. Have to test this on the long run but for last 4 weeks worked well.

 

[Jimmyneptune]

i am in the group who is trying to get my nitrates up. Daily dosing NeoNitro. I have live rock, sand, dose aminos daily, feed fish heavy daily and coral foods every 4 days. I have a lot of feather dusters and sponges

Trade me tanks. It will keep your nitrate up.

 

[MohrReefs]

My tank is the equivalent of a cave man, very simple. If Nitrates are high, water change inbound. I do 20% every two weeks anyways. Might change to a 10% weekly though as I heard 20% on a tank my size might cause a nice alk swing and my corals do seem irritated after water changes.

 

[Miszka]

For me, chaeto and protein skimmer give amazing results in reduction.

 

[El_Guapo13]

When I had my biocube, I had setup the sdcond chamber as a mini refugium with some chaeto. Worked fine for the tank. Now in my 29 gallon, I do nothing but water changes amd adding either a bag of carbon or chemipure blue. I don't think my AIO Kit from Fiji Cube is translucent enough to allow enough light into it from the back to properly grow chaeto or any other macro algae. So I will probably have to do something else if I ever need to setup something to reduce nitrates. I am considering an algae scrubber or hob protein skimmer.

 

[X-37B]

My nitrates have run 1-2 since startup 1 year ago.
Same with po4 .02
Bare bottom tank with no scheduled water changes.
Quality properly sized skimmer.
50% live rock.
Good cleanup crew to keep tank algae low.
3 liters of eheim substrate pro in a mesh bag in sump.
I feed 2 cubes 3-4 times a day for 11 fish.

 

[icedearth15324]

My nitrates were terrible until I started doing NoPox. It's been much more manageable ever since.

 

[vetteguy53081]

day 15 entry:

1. What methods do you employ to keep nitrate levels in check?

Protein skimmer and use of ChemiPure Blue

2. Do you have a problem keeping your nitrate level at an acceptable range?

I did until i added Zeovit unit and larger skimmer

3. What is an acceptable range for you and nitrates in your reef aquarium?

.02 - .06

 

[154162]

Water changes, I have bio pellets too, but the water changes really does it. The tank is a Fluval 13.5 gallon so don’t really need a skimmer... until I upgrade

 

[techdef]

Love this!! What species do you use and where did you get them?

Any of them. IME they just eat anything that'd make your glass algea up. The Hippopus are notorious filter feeders.
I'm not sure how much a 1" maxima will do to a 300g tank, but the 12" maxima in my 160 keeps those levels unmeasurable, as was the case in the old 120g for years.

 

[Straasha]

I primarily use Water Changes and NOPOX with my protein skimmer

 

[CherBear811]

Any of them. IME they just eat anything that'd make your glass algea up. The Hippopus are notorious filter feeders.
I'm not sure how much a 1" maxima will do to a 300g tank, but the 12" maxima in my 160 keeps those levels unmeasurable, as was the case in the old 120g for years.

Wow, great video, thanks!!!!

 

[jreece11]

Clams. Its hard to keep measurable nitrates.

What clams do you recommend for nitrate reduction? How big of an impact per clam?

 

[techdef]

What clams do you recommend for nitrate reduction? How big of an impact per clam?

Any of the decorative ones - I honestly have no way of doing the measurements, sorry not to be helpful, but when you have a happy reef tank it’s not like you’ll pull a pet out for a few weeks to see if the water goes to hell! Hah, well, I currently only have one, maxima, about a 12” shell. Over 7lbs. Problem solved.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Till now 64% have chosen a skimmer.
Nitrate is the end product of aerobic remineralization. Almost all systems have a skimmer in use. Most systems having a high nitrate reserve do use skimmers. Obviously, it does not help much, using a skimmer.
Without a skimmer, more remineralization will take place,

As a skimmer removes continuously some of the essential building materials needed to remove produced nitrate, the main reason the nitrate reserve is building up may be found in using a skimmer, as a skimmer does not remove inorganic nutrients.

If we remove the skimmer, more building materials will become available due to remineralization, more nitrate, phosphate, and CO2 will be produced. More growth will be supported using up produced nitrate-nitrogen, growth which can be harvested.
This growth can be anything, including clams, but preferred is photo-autotrophic growth, using up by remineralization produced CO2, closing the carbon cycle, importing organic Carbon which can be reintroduced in the system.

We try to keep it simple, a good remineralization filter to keep DOC as low as possible followed by an assimilation filter based on growth in a refuge, making it possible to manage the nutrient content as desired. Maintaining the N/P reserve as desired is done by supporting sufficient growth using for the target nutrient modified feed medium. We try to avoid the use of a skimmer in this setup.

 

[sfin52]

1. What methods do you employ to keep nitrate levels in check?
Nothing don't test any more
2. Do you have a problem keeping your nitrate level at an acceptable range?
I dont worry about nitrates.

3. What is an acceptable range for you and nitrates in your reef aquarium?
Last I checked they where they where over 100. That was months ago.

 

[Crashnt24]

• 2-3 inches of sand - back end removal
• Real Live Rock - back end removal
• Heavy skimming to remove organics before they enter the N cycle - front end removal

Fourth would be macro/chaeto in a fuge.

I did not know that some of those things on the list removed nitrates. I hope that people do not think that Lan Chloride or Bio Balls will do this job after seeing the list.

All of these things keep my N between .1 and .5, but usually at .1. Have to use a ICP to even tell since all hobbyist test kits (terrible) are not this accurate. Low, but more than enough naturally.

Same as what I use. I prefer a deeper sand bed for nitrate reduction.

 

[Crashnt24]

I use a 3-4" sand bed along with thick porous real live rock(Tonga, pukani) for primary nitrate reduction. Secondary I use a refugium with a quality light.

The anoxic zones do such a good job I'm debating on removing the chaeto to keep NO3 at detectable levels.