D.i.y nitrate reactor. Ideas. (Without being too technical)

[ginty]

I have a nitrate problem in my tank. Its always 50ppm or above. All other parimetres are fine. I have 4 plants in my 110litre tank and it hasnt done much.
My nitrate is 40ppm straight out my tap. So by the end of the week it obviously goes up. I do water changes every sunday and deep clean every 2nd sunday. I take out 50%some weeks and 35% others. I just cant get it down. Ive also tried tetras minus nitrates.
Ive been looking at nitrate reactors for awhile. They seem pretty expenive. I ve seen people have made them for alot cheaper.
My question is. Are they worth the effort?

Also if anyonr can assist me in my design for it if they are good, that would be a great help. Ie.
What size cannister and pump i would need for my 110litre tank.

Also if people have pictures of theres that would be a great help also.

Thanks for reading my story guys. Sorry its sooooooooooo long.

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[cfosgate]

Personally I would go with a DIY alge scrubber rather than an expensive reactor. You can find examples on youtube and the can be made for less than $10.

 

[ginty]

Personally I would go with a DIY alge scrubber rather than an expensive reactor. You can find examples on youtube and the can be made for less than $10.

Will this sort my nitrate battle?

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[ginty]

Do you mean them magnetic algae scrubbers? If so i already have one of them.

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[rafity]

just google "algae scrubber"

 

[icydeath]

Algae Scrubber Example

You can do it better ways but this is a simple one and you can take inspiration on this. (like maybe pairing it with a sump..?)

Algae absolutely kills nitrates. Another thing you could do is you could precondition water (like in a 32 gallon trash can) and let it run through an algae scrubber or a large amount of plants for a week before the water change and you could keep a heater in there with some agitation and you should be good.

 

[ginty]

Algae Scrubber Example

You can do it better ways but this is a simple one and you can take inspiration on this. (like maybe pairing it with a sump..?)

Algae absolutely kills nitrates. Another thing you could do is you could precondition water (like in a 32 gallon trash can) and let it run through an algae scrubber or a large amount of plants for a week before the water change and you could keep a heater in there with some agitation and you should be good.

That link isnt working for some reason

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[ginty]

Personally I would go with a DIY alge scrubber rather than an expensive reactor. You can find examples on youtube and the can be made for less than $10.

Ive had a thought. I dont really want one inside my tank if my idea works.

Do you guys think i could put a water pump in my tank, pump water into a container outside my tank. Divide the container in 2 with a roughed up piece of sewing mesh. Put another pump inside the container on the opposite side of the sewing mesh of where the tank water is flowing in to, and put the outlet pipe back into the tank? On the side of the sewing mesh where the tank water is first entering i will have lighting so that algae grows.

What do you think? Are standard cheap water pumps powerful enough for this?

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[cfosgate]

This could definitely work and any small pump should work. You could also do it as an overhead sump setup. Check out "overhead sump" on youtube for a video. It could easily be turned into an alge scrubber housing.

 

[Sharkman1]

Have you considered getting a ro/di unit?

 

[ginty]

Have you considered getting a ro/di unit?

Sorry if this is a stupid question. But what is this?
I havent been this long and im learning new things all the time.

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[Sharkman1]

It hooks up to your sink to remove all contaminates in tap water. You would also need a new empty trash can for water storage. You will also need to add water conditioners into the ro water.

Aquarium Water Quality: Pure-Flo II RO Units

I have the 50 gpd 4 stage unit.

 

[cfosgate]

A Reverse Osmosis De-Ionization (RODI) unit runs water through a set of filters creating nearly pure water. Many freshwater keepers and almost all saltwater keepers use these systems. Once you have pure water (no chemicals or minerals) you may then add minerals or salt to it bringing the water quality up to a level your fish are comfortable with. They can be expensive and you will need to be prepared to store water as it's being made. There are upsides and downsides to RODI water. Worth checking out though to see if it's for you.

 

[cfosgate]

Oh, and the only stupid questions are the ones not asked. We have all been new at some point and there is a lot of new information coming out all the time. Please ask as many questions as you need answers to. That's the primary purpose of these forums.

 

[ginty]

Oh, and the only stupid questions are the ones not asked. We have all been new at some point and there is a lot of new information coming out all the time. Please ask as many questions as you need answers to. That's the primary purpose of these forums.

Thankyou very much for all your help. I love this hobby and the fact i learn new stuff everyday. Thanks for everything.

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[cfosgate]

You're welcome. We all learn something new every day. That's the beauty of this hobby. Forever changing.