Solid Method of Nitrate Reduction

[Drew1600]

Thank you both so much, truly some of the most helpful/kind posts on this thread. I do 4-5 hallon wc once a week, clean filter pads, algae scrubber, and replace media once a month (carbon, purigen, chemipure). I have been experimenting with NitraZorb and IO's Nitrate Reducer, have seen levels drop since then and the addition of the algae scrubber. The key for me seems to be heavy feeding the night prior and day of wc (Reef Roids really dirties the tank). So is the only real issue with a canister the fact that it can hold gunk if not cleaned enough? Therefore, if cleaned weekly, biweekly, etc. it should not be an issue? Just trying to understand being a long time freshwater hobbyist.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Greetings all,

"Keep your nitrates low" is the center of many posts and articles across the web, but few of these actually explain how..

I run 2 tanks, a 13.5 gallon mixed reef and a 6 gallon mixed reef. My nitrates are consistently 20-30 in the 13.5 gallon and 20-40 in the 6 gallon. Even after multiple water changes I am unable to bring the nitrates below 20. The 6 gallon has a single clown goby, sand, live rock, 2 mangroves, and some macro. Filtered by an AquaClear 50. The 13.5 has a Cascade 500 canister filter, a pair of clownfish, and a blue damsel. Live rock and sand also.

I would be happy to keep both tanks in the 15-20 range but lower would be preferable. I have tried Seachems denitrate with no luck and api nitrazorb with little luck so far. My phosphates test 0-0.25 via api test.

I wc the 13.5 weekly and the 6 gallon twice a week as of lately.

My question is, does anyone have a solid method of nitrate reduction? And if its carbon dosing, do you use a specific product? Thank you!!

There are several good and some not so effective ways to reduce nitrate. Carbon dosing and deep sand beds and denitrators (carbon and sulfur) are likely the only ones that are clearly focused on nitrate reduction more than phosphate, and carbon dosing is my preference when that is the goal. I personally prefer vinegar.

Growing macroalgae is also a great choice for reducing both nitrate and phosphate.

Water changes are somewhat useful.

Organic matter export methods, such as purigen and GAC and skimming are somewhat useful.

I discuss all of the methods here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

There

 

[howaboutme]

Thank you both so much, truly some of the most helpful/kind posts on this thread. I do 4-5 hallon wc once a week, clean filter pads, algae scrubber, and replace media once a month (carbon, purigen, chemipure). I have been experimenting with NitraZorb and IO's Nitrate Reducer, have seen levels drop since then and the addition of the algae scrubber. The key for me seems to be heavy feeding the night prior and day of wc (Reef Roids really dirties the tank). So is the only real issue with a canister the fact that it can hold gunk if not cleaned enough? Therefore, if cleaned weekly, biweekly, etc. it should not be an issue? Just trying to understand being a long time freshwater hobbyist.

It sounds like you're doing a lot of things. Again, no right or wrong to me. I'd suggest you do one thing at a time rather than doing all of the methods at once. If you want to use the canister for flow, keep it. Try it first with cleaning it weekly and see what happens. If it helps, great! Keep it w/ the routine. If it doesn't take it out the media completely (but keep it for flow if you'd like) and keep doing water changes. What happens? Slow and steady. All good things take time in this hobby.

 

[HuduVudu]

in summary what would you say was the basis of your low nitrate in that tank?

The "solid method" is natural uptake by growing coral,

Have thought about this quite a bit and I reread some of the posts, and @KrisReef 's post caught my eye. I am in solid agreement with @KrisReef. It is the coral ... more specifically the stony corals. The faster the growth on the corals the lower the nitrate. I wasn't testing my tank for nitrate for some time, but the algaes really started to abate with a bigger clean up crew, which I have mostly lost due to lack of food and the size of the corals.

I notice if there are any areas or times when the corals start to recede for whatever reason then the algaes start to make a come back.

That is my answer. Stony corals, where the faster the growth the more of the reduction.