What removes nitrate in a reef tank? (new, coming from freshwater)

[Bruce Burnett]

9 gal aio. First is keep number of fish low and don't over feed. Best way to control it in a 9 gal nano is water changes. With many micro sized around one gallon people do 100% water changes. 10 percent approximately weekly is less than one gallon. Unlike say a 300 gallon would be 30 gallons.

 

[CBonito]

If you have clams, they remove everything.

 

[danimal1211]

I keep a 10gal and water changes are the most simple way for me to manage nutrients in fact it’s one of the biggest advantages of small systems.

 

[Jesus]

THIS IS SO PRETTY! Where Can I buy this?

I also have dragon breath in my refugium in my 120 gal sump for my 300 gal mix reef display but I have mine tumbling. Also you may not need any of these I set up 2 55 gal frag tanks wit 3 fish each and each has only a canister filter which I only clean every 4 or 5 months and change 10% water every month my frags are doing great and phosphate and nitrate are always very low

 

[Dburr1014]

This is a basic summery of how corals get nutrients. From Lou Ekus

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Aside from the fact that I like the drawing of the happy bacteria in the first slide, and a few debatable points about nutrients, I'm skeptical that it makes any sense to say that corals generally cause an increase in nitrate as the first slide seems to suggest.

 

[Hot2na]

Algae scrubber , chaeto reactor,macro algae in sump/refugium,look up Jean Jaubert - plenum ,6" FCC directly on the bottom of tank will dentrify as well...

 

[lil sumpin]

If you have clams, they remove everything.

I've heard this too but I feel like this is double edged cause the second somethin fishy starts happening with water quality, wont they be quickly affected? My understanding is they require pretty good water quality and strong lighting to keep healthy. Definitely not suitable for a newer tank

 

[Hot2na]

If you have clams, they remove everything.

You would need a football field of clams to adequately denitrify a full blown reef.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've heard this too but I feel like this is double edged cause the second somethin fishy starts happening with water quality, wont they be quickly affected? My understanding is they require pretty good water quality and strong lighting to keep healthy. Definitely not suitable for a newer tank

IMO, the primary issue is that they do not grow very fast, so cannot take up nearly as much N as macroalgae or microalgae in an ATS.

 

[Dburr1014]

Aside from the fact that I like the drawing of the happy bacteria in the first slide, and a few debatable points about nutrients, I'm skeptical that it makes any sense to say that corals generally cause an increase in nitrate as the first slide seems to suggest.

I think the first slide you are mis-reading.
The picture is a happy polyp eating no3(ammonium really) and not eating phosphate while the happy bacteria is eating phosphate and not eating no3.
It's just showing us how nutrients are being used up.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think the first slide you are mis-reading.
The picture is a happy polyp eating no3(ammonium really) and not eating phosphate while the happy bacteria is eating phosphate and not eating no3.
It's just showing us how nutrients are being used up.

Well, as a slide without words it is very hard to understand, but you may well be right and I still disagree with it. lol

 

[Dburr1014]

I still disagree with it. lol

What part??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What part??

Corals can take up both nitrate and phosphate. The up and down arrows seem to say something different, but again, without the words that were spoken at the same time, I am hesitant to focus much on it.

Bacteria can be both users and sources of nitrate and phosphate. What is shown seems to be some select set of bacteria and food.

 

[carol3]

THIS IS SO PRETTY! Where Can I buy this?

Take a look at https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/tigahboys-macroalgae-tank-s.737622/post-11776316 for great macro algae ideas, he has amazing tanks.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Hello! I am coming from Freshwater, and fully understood the Ammonia cycle in fresh:

Fish makes ammonia, bacteria turns it into nitrite then nitrate -> plants take up nitrate and oxygenate water.
With my large freshwater Discus tank I don't really have to do water changes frequently and ammonia and nitrates stay very low because of the full cycle.

I realize with salt...the plant part is missing. What takes up the nitrate after it's changed to that from ammonia by the bacteria? Is it only water changes?
I have a very small nano reef (9G) that I am just starting.

The plant part is about making choices , also in a marine aquarium. Micro-plankton, macro algae, sea grasses, bentic algae. and they restore the C/N ratio of internal feed by taking up produced CO2.
The same processes as are taking place in fresh water. Heterotropic anerobic remineralisation or heterotrophic denitrification, autotropic denitrification mainly using sulfur ( BADES) or sulfur compounds, all constantly taking place in a normal biofilm in an aquarium. The anaerobic bacteria use the oxygen present in nitrate producing nitrogen gas. The presence of nitrate is important for certain in a small aquarium, otherwise these normal natural anaerobic processes will reduce sulphate for an oxygen source and in a marine aquarium sulfate is a main part of seawater. This means it is not without risk to use chemical nitrate removers in a marine aquarium. The natural nitrogen export rate by denitrification is about 15%. Not having plants to restore the balance ( your choice) means the C/N ratio of the feed is very important (protein content). Autotropic nitrifiers use ammonia not used up by faster growing heterotropic bacteria who need organic carbon. High protein ( high nitrogen content) food needs more nitrification capacity to avoid toxic ammonia build up. Using high protein food in a small marine aquarium is asking for nitrate overproduction and in the case it is a good thing. And then one may need regular water changes.

Water changes, first and foremost. Otherwise:

• Macro algae, usually chaeto that is grown in the sump fuge
• Micro algae, that stuff in your display and also can be grown in a turf scrubber
• Carbon dosing, e.g. vodka or vinegar
• Direct bacteria dosing, products like micro bacter7

Carbon dosing?! Fast growing bacteria use ammonia to grow, not nitrate.
All bacteria prefer ammonia as a nitrogen source for growth. How micro bacter does remove or reduce nitrate? What bacteria the product micro bacter may add which are not present already?

 

[cjtabares]

Aside from the fact that I like the drawing of the happy bacteria in the first slide, and a few debatable points about nutrients, I'm skeptical that it makes any sense to say that corals generally cause an increase in nitrate as the first slide seems to suggest.

That slide, if I remember correctly, is saying coral have a good method of intaking nitrates, and not a good method of intaking phosphates. So a beneficial effect of carbon dosing is that the bacteria intake the phosphates and then the coral can intake the bacteria, and in turn also get phosphate they need.