New plan to remove nitrates.

[Camogirl28]

Okay I know thus sounds like a lot of work but, what if I caught all the fish in the tank, put them in to a really big bucket, then removed all the water, decor, and cleaned the tank and gravel. Then added NOT TAP WATER ( because mine is high on nitrates) but water that has been boiled then cooled. Next reintroducing the fish with some stress coat and adding some new plants. Dose this sound good is any of this harmful? Opinions needed please.

 

[Brookster123]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Tank swap? Decor swap? Substrate swap?

 

[JRT83]

Okay I know thus sounds like a lot of work but, what if I caught all the fish in the tank, put them in to a really big bucket, then removed all the water, decor, and cleaned the tank and gravel. Then added NOT TAP WATER ( because mine is high on nitrates) but water that has been boiled then cooled. Next reintroducing the fish with some stress coat and adding some new plants. Dose this sound good is any of this harmful? Opinions needed please.

Sounds fun, gonna have to try this on my 125.....

 

[molliwopp]

Boiling water wont remove nitrates though?

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/ you can even use your browser!

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Cactuspixie]

Boiling won't remove nitrates. If you are keeping your filters clean (not sterile) and changing a substantial % of water each week, but are still having trouble with nitrates, I would recommend more thorough gravel vacuuming, and using purigen in your filter.

 

[Ian086]

Okay I know thus sounds like a lot of work but, what if I caught all the fish in the tank, put them in to a really big bucket, then removed all the water, decor, and cleaned the tank and gravel. Then added NOT TAP WATER ( because mine is high on nitrates) but water that has been boiled then cooled. Next reintroducing the fish with some stress coat and adding some new plants. Dose this sound good is any of this harmful? Opinions needed please.

Do a bit of research into Seachem De-Nitrate but you will need a very low flow filter <50gph or a DIY one. A lot less hassle imo......

 

[Cactuspixie]

Are all the fish listed in your profile in one tank?

 

[Camogirl28]

Are all the fish listed in your profile in one tank?

No my profile is outdated . How do I change it ?

 

[Jmunroe]

Okay I know thus sounds like a lot of work but, what if I caught all the fish in the tank, put them in to a really big bucket, then removed all the water, decor, and cleaned the tank and gravel. Then added NOT TAP WATER ( because mine is high on nitrates) but water that has been boiled then cooled. Next reintroducing the fish with some stress coat and adding some new plants. Dose this sound good is any of this harmful? Opinions needed please.[/

Boiling your tap water that has high nitrates will only increase your nitrates. As water evaporates through the boiling process, and nothing happens to the nitrates, the concentration will continue to increase. Don't remove fish. Do a good gravel vac'ing when doing a large water change and use some bottled or RO water when replacing mixed with your tap water.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

You could always do it the all natural way...

 

[Cactuspixie]

No my profile is outdated . How do I change it ?

You have to do it on the website. I need to update mine also, but I only use the app, so it's a bit of a hassle to do.

 

[gilpi]

You could always do it the all natural way...

I like this! Tell us how it works?

 

[Mebbid]

I am assuming that the water she is referring to is an outside source such as a river or stream. In which case, I'm not sure what the water quality is from the collection site but I know around my area it's fairly contaminated. I would be worried about putting that in my tanks but it's a possibility. Try to find some water quality reports on it.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I like this! Tell us how it works?

Aquaponics. You grow plants hydroponically using water from tanks of growing fish. With the correct growbed/tank ratio you can raise fish without all those pesky filters that we use, the media in the grow bed will take care of sediment and the bacteria take care of the toxins. In turn, the plants are dosed with nitrates every fifteen minutes, causing them to grow extremely fast. I'm considering doing something like what is in the picture, using a small grow bed for nitrate removal to reduce water changes.

In a balanced, well established aquaponics system, you have the same gallons of grow media as you have water in the system. So 50g tank= 50g of media beds. The beds are constandtly filled and emptied by way of automatic "bell" syphon. Usually you're growing food fish, but fish like goldies also work because they don't require tropical water temperatures like tilapia.

I'm not sure how well it would work with a tank setup though, seeing as how we use chemicals to help with water quality and such.

 

[gilpi]

Cool! I have been remotely thinking of doing something like this and trying with a smaller tank using simple to grow plants like Philodendrons and letting the roots grow into the tank itself.. I have so many questions...
What plants do you use?
And do you use a pump to bring the water into the plant tray?
The grow bed... is it gravel and does it have to be cycled as any other filter?

 

[threnjen]

OP has problems because her nitrates are 40-80ppm from the tap, so water changes will not help her keep nitrates down.
I think you'll end up having to go the routes of mega plants, and some of the nitrate absorbing stuff

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Cool! I have been remotely thinking of doing something like this and trying with a smaller tank using simple to grow plants like Philodendrons and letting the roots grow into the tank itself.. I have so many questions...
What plants do you use?
And do you use a pump to bring the water into the plant tray?
The grow bed... is it gravel and does it have to be cycled as any other filter?

The plants I've mainly seen used are vegetable plants, tomatoes (I know they're a fruit), corn, lettuce, cabbage, etc. The grow bed can be generally any type of loose media that will allow water to flow easily through it. Gravel works and is cheap, but it is heavy. Your grow beds have to have a good amount of depth to them. The beds are pumped full of water slowly, but the siphon that drains them sucks the water out much much faster than the pump. It's called a bell siphon and it operates automatically without any moving parts. You have to have a sump or the grow bed above your tank to drain back down via gravity.

The grow beds DO have to be cycled. If you were hooking one up to a cycle aquarium it would probably be alright. Other things to consider are that you have to supplement minerals such as iron (chelated) for healthy, green plants. Calcium is another one to supplement, but if you buffer with coral it should be no issue.

I've not had a system like that, but I plan on it when I get my greenhouse built.

 

[fishboy87]

If you have a system
Like that??? (Stab in the dark) can have two fluval filters, fluval one has the input nozzle in the tank and the output Nozzle in the plant bed.. And then have fluval two take water from the plant bed and output into the tank??? Does that make any sense????doesnt have to be fluval(just said that bc that's what I use)

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I like this! Tell us how it works?

The picture is one from google, not any set up I own.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

If you have a system
Like that??? (Stab in the dark) can have two fluval filters, fluval one has the input nozzle in the tank and the output Nozzle in the plant bed.. And then have fluval two take water from the plant bed and output into the tank??? Does that make any sense????doesnt have to be fluval(just said that bc that's what I use)

Unless you're growing plants that are adapted to having their roots submerged, your plants will rot/drown. The plant bed gets filled, then drains empty, then gets filled, then drains empty. This is accomplished by using a bell siphon, which will evacuate the water MUCH faster than the pump supplies it.

This video has a great explanation of how this works:
OSPE: Sustainable Food - Building an aquaponics Automated Bell Siphon - YouTube
This video has a nice example of it in action in the first few minutes:
Affnan's Aquaponics - Siphon Water Test - YouTube

If you were going to use the filter as the pump, you would do better to put a "T" in the line, run one connection to the grow bed and the other to the tank. Put valves on the ends of both and adjust the flow rate accordingly.