kent nitrate sponge?

[mwrmma]

has anyone used this before with good results? i just purchased a small container in hopes of taking my nitrates from 20 to 0-5. i do PWC weekly, but i just cant seem to get them below 15-20. any thoughts?

 

[melosu58]

IMO if you have them between 15-20 then that is not that bad. Usually a refugium is the next step to getting them closer to 0. Also denitrators can help. You can use it if you want but if you can get it to 10-15 to even 20 then I think you are OK. Check your source water to see if you are adding any nitrates. Good Luck.

 

[mwrmma]

checked that. no NO4 in my RO/DI water. only thing i can think of is maybe the sponge in the canister, but i try and rinse it once a month. you think i should just take it out? is there any beneficial bacteria that would be in the sponge? i put the nitrate media in a bag in the skimmer chamber. we'll see how it works.

 

[melosu58]

I`ve seen people wash them out real good and I`ve seen people get rid of them saying they are nitrate factories. I hope it works out but as I said I dont think you are far off.

 

[roka64]

I tossed my sponges. I had 4 of them in my fluvial. If you only have one, try rinsing it out in FW and see if that helps. As stated above, 15-20 is not too bad.

 

[mwrmma]

yeah, there are 4 in mine too. i have the flluval 404.

 

[roka64]

yeah, there are 4 in mine too. i have the flluval 404.

In that case, I removed two at a time, waited a week and tested. Once I knew the water was ok, I romved the other tow.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...but i try and rinse it once a month.

Hmmmm. Does that mean it often goes longer?

If you're doing weekly water changes, rinse the sponge out in your old saltwater each week. Maybe if you do that for a month or so, you'll see your nitrates go down as long as you keep up your weekly water changes?