Biocube 29 Nitrate Reduction!

[katys410]

Hello! In a previous thread I had asked about the reduction of nitrates in my tank. I had since followed the advice and removed the bioballs and converted it into a DIY media basket/refugium using egg crate (two shelves; the first holds several media bags, being chemipure elite, purigen, and a de-phosphate media by Seachem and the second shelve holding chaeto with a fuge light). Above it is my biocube cartridge, as well as some filter padding to catch excess debris. I dosed Microbacter Complete Bioculture daily for two weeks and used Prime by Seachem whenever levels got too high or doing a major water change. Speaking of them, I did water changes rather frequently. I added more dry rock on top of my live, bringing my total around 15#.
Now here is the question. I performed my filter mod (removal of bioballs and installing DIY media basket with media and chaeto) yesterday, and I have not seen a reduction in nitrates since then of 20 ppm (they were that high prior). How long will it take for them to go down, and by how much so should they?
Thank you!


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[katys410]

Also! Will that be toxic to a CUC?


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[54seaweed]

nitrates will attract algae , bigger water changes will bring that down ,

if you see 20ppm 50% water change will drop you to 10ppm

reef 0ppm to 20ppm the closer to 0ppm the better

fowlr 0ppm to 40ppm closer to 20 ppm the better lower if you can get lower even better

20 ppm is the highest you want to see with inverts
sudden changes are what affects inverts the most

[PB_Smith]

to get more efficient filtering by the bacteria you should put the bio-block at the end of the filter.
the best order for the water to flow;
1st-filter pad, to trap debris
2nd-chemical media, to remove as much dissolved organics as possible
so there is less for the bacteria to convert to nitrate
3rd- the bio-block or whatever you use for biological bacteria media
4th- the refugium


It may not be ideally practical for you to set it up that way, but in terms of getting the most efficiency out of it, that is the best way to configure the media.

[katys410]

thank you for the responses! I checked my nitrates today, and they have gone down quite a bit. my pulsing Xenia is also thriving! I'll tell everyone how things go from there.


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