Best nitrate remover

[amydaveg]

Does anyone know a good nitrate remover besides my weekly water changes?

Anyone try the cobolt resins or trying the ammonia reducers to slow the whole process?

This is one week after a 70% change.

Yes I am overstocked, but not that much

 

[SherLar]

You could try a nitrate reducing filter pad. However, I think the best thing to do at this time would be a large water change every other day until you get your nitrates under control. What do your ammonia and nitrites read?

 

[amydaveg]

I have a reducer pad in one of my filters, doesn't seem to do much. Looks like I have a little ammonia.

In the filters I list below I have a total of 2 liters of matrix and 1 gallon of Marine pure biomedia



I have a 125g tank, 2 x fluval 306, 1 x sunsun 402b, 2x sunsun 302b

Water is crystal clear

 

[Ashenwelt]

Um, there are only two things I would trust. Water changes and plants. Some fast growing plants can eat nitrates very, very fast if a fast grower. The fastest always have access to the air, but there are many options.

I just wouldn't focus on a resin that sooner or later fails and you don't notice it.

 

[coralbandit]

More water changes if it is not in your source..
Maybe purigen would help but it will not take up all that slack..
What ever you find will not last long if you don't help it with water changes..
If that was after a 70% wc I would do another one again..Same day..Until I got to 40ppm or lower...

 

[nirbhao]

Adjusted your white balance. You have ammonia.

 

[Ingy]

IMHO water changes are the most promoted, useless forms of nitrate control. Think about it. A 25% WC is more accurately known as leaving 75% of the nitrates in the tank. So each week your leaving most of the nitrates in the tank to accumulate. Eventually the levels of nitrate will rise until what you take out each week (25% of the total) matches what you put in each week (food).
In a heavily stocked tank, you can be adding 20ppm nitrates worth of food, so your total nitrates will climb until that 20 ppm represents 25% of the total, which would be 80ppm. Ouch.

Plants are the only easy way to truly control nitrates. The more nitrates you have, the better the plants will grow. It really is that simple.

I believe a lot of the myth of WC comes from out salt water aquariums. There, the WC are very important to REPLACE lost minerals that are absorbed by corals and other things.

 

[amydaveg]

Any plant recommended for American cichlids and Arowana?

 

[BabyJace2014]

Try Algone.....its a pad that goes in your filter box....it is 10 bucks for several pads it helped mine greatly

 

[BabyJace2014]

The Algone is specifically for removing nitrites

 

[blairgerman]

If you've got money and like funky equipment the korallin and aquamaxx denitrators are very effective. Otherwise, seachem matrix or denitrate media at a very very low flow, like 25 gph. Don't think you can easily keep plants with cichlids. Some folks build denitrators out of airline wound around a cylinder and drip flowrate... takes a while to get started. Also, maybe check out turf scrubbers. Measurable amounts of ammonia would worry me.

 

[Ashenwelt]

Any plant recommended for American cichlids and Arowana?

What cichlids?

 

[BBradbury]

Baby...

You can remove nitrates naturally, by adding some floating plants like Hornwort, Water weed (Anacharis) or Water sprite. Floating plants remove the nitrates by taking this nutrient in through the leaves, so they'll remove more than a plant that needs to go into the bottom material. Artificial products do a fair job, but the plants will do much better. Just keep the floaters trimmed regularly, so they don't take over the surface.

B

 

[BabyJace2014]

i will loom into getting some of those....thanks!

 

[flchamp89]

Plants are incredible. My motto is you can not have enough. Floaters, planted, attached...all the above. They will greatly aid in your success.

 

[rsprangers]

Baby...



You can remove nitrates naturally, by adding some floating plants like Hornwort, Water weed (Anacharis) or Water sprite. Floating plants remove the nitrates by taking this nutrient in through the leaves, so they'll remove more than a plant that needs to go into the bottom material. Artificial products do a fair job, but the plants will do much better. Just keep the floaters trimmed regularly, so they don't take over the surface.



B

Yep yep!! You can also add a bit of pothos (houseplant) coming out of the top of the tank. Once the roots get going it will eat up those nitrates fast. Not sure how that does with cichlids. Might wanna YouTube it to be sure.

 

[toolman]

Plants are incredible. My motto is you can not have enough. Floaters, planted, attached...all the above. They will greatly aid in your success.

Add me to the plant crowd, many easy plants allow you to start out slow and then advance to more demanding plants later if you wish....but they all greatly benefit an aquarium and it's inhabitants!

 

[BBradbury]

rs...

If you'd like to take the next step using house plants to purify the fish tank water, research Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema). This one will use the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste as fast as it becomes available. It will work around the clock, where as the bacteria colony slows its process a little during the night time hours.

B

 

[flpeterson4184]

rs...

If you'd like to take the next step using house plants to purify the fish tank water, research Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema). This one will use the dissolved nitrogen from the fish waste as fast as it becomes available. It will work around the clock, where as the bacteria colony slows its process a little during the night time hours.

B

Hi. I would like to know more on how this CE would be used in your tank. Such as planting etc to get the best result in its use. I have just done some minimum research and find many species of this plant and from what I have read, they require a lot of moisture but also say to much cause root rot. I am interested. Thus would be a great asset IMO.

Thanks Fred

 

[Laser]

This is what my 40b goldfish tank test looked like if I only did one water change a week. Couldn't keep plants because they ate them and never got around to trying purigen. I ended up doing 2 - 75% changes a week for 3 fancy goldfish.