Making a nitrate filter!!

[Wyomingite]

My question is, just how high is the nitrate outta the tap? What kind of a test kit are ya usin'? The EPA has a 10ppm (10 mg/ltr) limit on nitrates in water to be used for drinking, cooking, etc. If yer gettin' higher than that, ya need to be contacting the agency that supplies yer water and file a formal complaint.

WYite

 

[Miyavp]

My question is, just how high is the nitrate outta the tap? What kind of a test kit are ya usin'? The EPA has a 10ppm (10 mg/ltr) limit on nitrates in water to be used for drinking, cooking, etc. If yer gettin' higher than that, ya need to be contacting the agency that supplies yer water and file a formal complaint.

WYite

We have a well at my house. And while I've told my parents over and over again we need to do something we have no money. If we file a complaint they'll make us switch to city water. They've been trying for ten years to now. We've never once had a problem with our well till this summer when we went two months without rain. Thats ALOT where I'm from. Anyway ever since then the nitrates are out of control. Its at 40ppms. Maybe a little lower due to its lighter red color. Its a freshand salt water master test kit. We were hoping once the rain came back they would go back down but its been about a month now and no change.

 

[phishfriend]

i'v heard nothing but good things about this product.

here's a link
https://www.petsolutions.com/C/Aquarium-Carbon-Resin-Filter-Media/I/Purigen.aspx

 

[Wyomingite]

The well explains it. I'm on a well and my lot sits on old farm land. Every now and then my nitrates pop up to 15-20 ppm after a heavy rain drains into the aquifer.

Purigen is commonly used to help with nitrate control in SW set-ups, but it's sposed to be good for fresh water as well. It can also be regenerated. Like Phishfriend, I've heard nothing but good things 'bout it.

WYite

 

[Miyavp]

The well explains it. I'm on a well and my lot sits on old farm land. Every now and then my nitrates pop up to 15-20 ppm after a heavy rain drains into the aquifer.

Purigen is commonly used to help with nitrate control in SW set-ups, but it's sposed to be good for fresh water as well. It can also be regenerated. Like Phishfriend, I've heard nothing but good things 'bout it.

WYite

I hadnt seen that one. I know they had denitrate which is for nitrate removeal but it takes a few months to work. Does this as well? I ordered a submersible filter. If I bought this stuff how would I put it in?

 

[Wyomingite]

You'd wanna use one of the nylon "socks"/pouches/bags that ya can buy for aquarium use. I've never used Purigen, though I've been researching it 'cuz I wanna set up a nano reef. My understanding is it works immediately, but don't quote me on it. Ya might search some of the posts in the SW section to get more experienced people' opinions on it.

WYite

 

[Miyavp]

You'd wanna use one of the nylon "socks"/pouches/bags that ya can buy for aquarium use. I've never used Purigen, though I've been researching it 'cuz I wanna set up a nano reef. My understanding is it works immediately, but don't quote me on it. Ya might search some of the posts in the SW section to get more experienced people' opinions on it.

WYite

I might look into that. If it keeps them under control longer thad'd work great

 

[Miyavp]

So I was looking at my filter and it was full of muck so I took and rubbed off all the muck with my fingers in some tank water i'd pulled out and put it back in along with I hooked up my 5gal tank filter and a new filter pad in it. I know it wont do much good but my tank looks gross.... it used to be like spotless and now you can barely see through the algae...

 

[Miyavp]

As you can see my tank has changed ALOT in the last two to three months.

 

[phishfriend]

I would also search YouTube. For it. I'v seen a few. One from a guy that walks you thru the recharge process step by step. He uses it in a canister. I know it's also been on the market for some time now. With as many people that I know use it with success. If I felt I needed something like it for one of my tanks. It would be one of the first things I would try.

 

[Miyavp]

I would also search YouTube. For it. I'v seen a few. One from a guy that walks you thru the recharge process step by step. He uses it in a canister. I know it's also been on the market for some time now. With as many people that I know use it with success. If I felt I needed something like it for one of my tanks. It would be one of the first things I would try.

Alright i'll look into that. I took and rubbed my filter off in some tank water last night and the water looks alot clearer now. Maybe that could help with the nitrates? Its a carbon filter but if the muck had suffocated the colonies of bacteria living in them might that be a possible cause of the severity of my problem? Cause it was gross....I doubt anything was getting through that it looked like the water was just flowing over it.

 

[Miyavp]

What do you guys think about this?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=408839
Its a basic homemade nitrate filter. Ideas of on how it'd work?

 

[blert]

It looks like he was trying to build a phosphate reactor for his saltwater tank.

There are three ways to remove nitrate:
Heavy planting
Water changes
Anaerobic denitrifying bacteria

I don't think the reactor is going to work very well for removing nitrate. At least not much better than using Purigen in your filter.
You could do a carbon tube but they are a pain to maintain and cost a fortune in carbon.
There are also nitrate reactors on the market but they are expensive and the media and supplemental food source is expensive too.

 

[Miyavp]

It looks like he was trying to build a phosphate reactor for his saltwater tank.

There are three ways to remove nitrate:
Heavy planting
Water changes
Anaerobic denitrifying bacteria

I don't think the reactor is going to work very well for removing nitrate. At least not much better than using Purigen in your filter.
You could do a carbon tube but they are a pain to maintain and cost a fortune in carbon.
There are also nitrate reactors on the market but they are expensive and the media and supplemental food source is expensive too.

Would there be a easy way to grow the bacteria? I know it needs like no oxygen so a filter with very little flow would do well for growing it.

 

[blert]

Would there be a easy way to grow the bacteria? I know it needs like no oxygen so a filter with very little flow would do well for growing it.

That is the basic idea of the nitrate reactors and carbon tubes.
The nitrate reactors use a special media to grow the needed bacteria. The hardware is expensive and so is the media (which needs to be replaced and fed every so often).
Carbon tubes can be made for cheap but they are a pain to keep clean and you have to replace a lot of carbon every so often. You basically get yourself a three foot (or more) length of PVC pipe and pack it with carbon. By the time the water gets about halfway through the tube the nitrifying bacteria has depleted the O2 and the rest of the tube becomes anaerobic. You need very low flow for this and every time you clean it you start all over with needing to "cycle" it.
Another route is a deep sand bed but in freshwater this can be very dangerous as the anaerobic bacteria also produce a deadly chemical that can kill your live stock. Plus it stinks real bad!

 

[Coco1019]

The bacteria need oxygen to denitrify, right?

 

[blert]

The bacteria need oxygen to denitrify, right?

The bacteria the handle the nitrate->nitrogen step are anaerobic (lack of oxygen).

 

[Coco1019]

So much to learn...

 

[Oceangirl]

Do you live near a walmart or a grocery store? They have that big water dispener, you can use that water. Where you bring your own jugs. I think its a 25 cents for like 3-5 gallons. Its filters and tastes pretty good, you should try that. Until it rains or you figure out a more permanent solution. That way you get your groceries and then later change your tank water. I don't know how much those larger water jugs like that kind you have on a water cooler, but you could get those and fill up once every 2 weeks and store it sealed. then you have water when you need it.

it looks like this

 

[jetajockey]

Google freshwater deep sand bed, some people do them. I'd use plants to reduce nitrates, my goldfish eat many plants but seem to also leave many alone. They love duckweed but don't touch salvinia, they also don't hurt the anacharis. The 40ppm nitrate reading and fish lethargy is likely coincidental, that level really isn't extreme at all.