Help with nitrate removal!!!!!

[crister13]

Ok, 150g Niger trigger, orbiculate bat, honeycomb grouper, black edge Moray, yellow tang. I feed 3 shrimp and a few pinches of pellets and about 2 square inches of homemade food in total a week. Reef octopus nw200 protein skimmer rated 250g, ATS, Water changes 20% weekly.i just replaced Rodi filters because they were old, and I think I was pretty much using tap. I love DIY projects, and was wondering if there were any really easy ways to reduce nitrates with house materials. I was thinking I could make a denitrator coil without the PVC, so like 100' coiled tubing, siphon fed. Would that help? Or do you need it in PVC? Any other DIY?

 

[danbstrong]

Ok, 150g Niger trigger, orbiculate bat, honeycomb grouper, black edge Moray, yellow tang. I feed 3 shrimp and a few pinches of pellets and about 2 square inches of homemade food in total a week. Reef octopus nw200 protein skimmer rated 250g, ATS, Water changes 20% weekly.i just replaced Rodi filters because they were old, and I think I was pretty much using tap. I love DIY projects, and was wondering if there were any really easy ways to reduce nitrates with house materials. I was thinking I could make a denitrator coil without the PVC, so like 100' coiled tubing, siphon fed. Would that help? Or do you need it in PVC? Any other DIY?

Refugium?

 

[crister13]

Sorry, and I have caulerpa. Lol. I just started vinegar dosing but I did vodka before and it made no noticeable difference. Hopefully vinegar will do the trick. Any other ideas??? Things laying around the house would be great . Any ideas welcome.

 

[danbstrong]

Sorry, and I have caulerpa. Lol. I just started vinegar dosing but I did vodka before and it made no noticeable difference. Hopefully vinegar will do the trick. Any other ideas??? Things laying around the house would be great . Any ideas welcome.

I used to use calaurpa it will leach back into the tank if theres any dieoff i switched to chaeto also chaeto dont go assexual just a thought made a difference for me

 

[danbstrong]

I used to use calaurpa it will leach back into the tank if theres any dieoff i switched to chaeto also chaeto dont go assexual just a thought made a difference for me

Check your macro see if its turning yellow at all if so not a good sign

 

[danbstrong]

Check your macro see if its turning yellow at all if so not a good sign

Other than wc and macro i dont know of any other consitant way to remove nitrate

 

[crister13]

Its not... Would just the coil w/out the PVC housing work if I made it longer??

 

[danbstrong]

Its not... Would just the coil w/out the PVC housing work if I made it longer??

I dont have any experience in that what are your nitrates at? How old is the tank?

 

[crister13]

Tank is like 1.5 years old.... They're at 80-160... Ridiculous I know. Corals and fish are fine thank god. I did switch my sand out 2-3o this ago, could it be because my sandbed didn't establish????

 

[danbstrong]

Tank is like 1.5 years old.... They're at 80-160... Ridiculous I know. Corals and fish are fine thank god. I did switch my sand out 2-3o this ago, could it be because my sandbed didn't establish????[/QUOTE

Imo i would think that would be your cause the sandbed trappes the nutrients when disturbed it will release whatever nutrient it contains i made this mistake one time stirred my established sand and nitrates were out the roof i also got cyano as a result now i use tongan nassarius snails to stir the sand a lil at a time but ya i bet thats it you run your fuge light 24/7 im assuming

 

[danbstrong]

Imo id also swith out that macro for chaeto just my opinion ive heard bad things about caulerpa going assexual might wanna check it out but whatever works for you is all good dont fix whats not broken

 

[crister13]

Alright thanks. I want to add one more thing to the nitrate removing arsenal haha. Maybe I'll make a denitrator coil..... Hmm... Not sure

 

[crister13]

Anyone have experience with them????? Would it work with extra tubing and no chamber? Or is that useless? Can I siphon feed it???

 

[bavass]

bigger more frequent water changes will help to get it down

 

[Jlsardina]

Besides water changes- look into getting a denitrifier, a bigger Skmmier and maybe reducing bio load.

 

[Jlsardina]

You could pretty much make a denitrifier out of a reactor btw. That's all they are. Slow drip and gravity fed.

 

[crister13]

Can't do a bigger skimmer. You mean a denitrifying coil correct? My only concern with that is since they run so slowly wouldn't the nitrate be made faster than it is consumed?

 

[jsmith]

Can't do a bigger skimmer. You mean a denitrifying coil correct? My only concern with that is since they run so slowly wouldn't the nitrate be made faster than it is consumed?

Just putting it out there... that high of trates would make tge coral not look so well.. have you tried a new test kit i had one go bad on me.. they do expire... said i was having 60-80 trates bought new kit had 5...

 

[Jlsardina]

Can't do a bigger skimmer. You mean a denitrifying coil correct? My only concern with that is since they run so slowly wouldn't the nitrate be made faster than it is consumed?

I have a denitrifier in my 220 reef. It holds calcium carbonate and sulfur (pure grainular elemental). It looks like a big reactor. It is gravity fed from the DT and then a slow drip (2 drips per second) from 6" above the sump to allow for oxygenation. The sulfur has the nitrate eating bacteria in it. You want a slower flow so that the water has a greater change of being absorbed. If you can't do a bigger skimmer- try adding another. You've got a few fish in there that are nitrate factories themselves.

 

[crister13]

Lol I know my fish are pigs . I've heard really good things about the marinepure blocks acting as denitrifyers..... If you place them in a slow flow spot apparently the aerobic bacteria takes the oxygen out then once it gets to the center anaerobic bacteria thrive. I heard it dropped nitrates from 100 to 2 in a 4500 liter system with 3 blocks... Any experience? Should I get a block??