ok i give up.. i have to start over..

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

..... The end of the nitrogen cycle is Nitrate. You rock is not expected to convert Nirtate to anything. ....

If I'm not mistaken, Nitrate is converted to Nitrogen (Denitrification). My understanding is that LR plays a role in this. There are certain bacteria in LR that support denitrification. The nitrogen is gassed off with good circulation and surface agitation. Not sure if this is relevant to your issues. Just 2 cents for the record.

Cheers,

[Jason McK]

Yes the theory is that with in the LR there will be anaerobic bacteria that converts Nitrate to Nitrogen. This is not always possible, with high bioloads and rock too dense or too porous.
that is why 'we' have added DSB, Refugiums, and Coil denitrators.
But having Rock that can not convert Nitrate to Nitrogen does not render it useless

J

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

....But having Rock that can not convert Nitrate to Nitrogen does not render it useless....

Sorry. I'm confused. I'm not suggesting the LR is useless. To the contrary, I'm suggesting that the LR should be doing more than just nitrification. I must have misinterpreted your other post. I thought you were speaking of all LR as not being expected to convert Nitrates to anything. Didn't realize you were specifically addressing asherah's LR.
This is why I hardly post on here anymore. Always misinterpreting.

[Jason McK]

Mark, I think I'm confused now.

I'm sugesting that any LR will not elliminate 100% of Nirtate do to the fact that anarobic zones in the LR will not be enough to handle most closed systems.
This is why so many other methods are developed to handle excess Nitrates.

Now I should preface myself by saying I'm hypothesizing via what i have read and the what seems to be a common theme, having to rid Nitrates for a tank

J

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

..... You rock is not expected to convert Nirtate to anything. ....

Not sure if you were speaking of LR generally or asherah's specifically here. I initially thought generally. My intent was to point out that generally LR is expected to convert Nitrate to anything....namely Nitrogen. The rest of my post was vaguely alluding to the notion that poor circulation and poor surface agitation could result in a build up of nitrogen.

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Yes the theory is that with in the LR there will be anaerobic bacteria that converts Nitrate to Nitrogen. This is not always possible, with high bioloads and rock too dense or too porous.
that is why 'we' have added DSB, Refugiums, and Coil denitrators.
But having Rock that can not convert Nitrate to Nitrogen does not render it useless

J

Agreed. But again, I'm not suggesting that LR that can't convert Nitrates to Nitrogen is useless, so I'm not sure what that part of your post is in reference to.

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Mark, I think I'm confused now.

I'm sugesting that any LR will not elliminate 100% of Nirtate do to the fact that anarobic zones in the LR will not be enough to handle most closed systems.
This is why so many other methods are developed to handle excess Nitrates.

Now I should preface myself by saying I'm hypothesizing via what i have read and the what seems to be a common theme, having to rid Nitrates for a tank

J

100% agreed.

Cheers,

[Jason McK]

I confused a few people, Sorry.

It started with asherah thinking the LR was bad or no longer good and got off on a tangent.

Again Sorry

J

[asherah]

lol

anyway, i'm done another water change and gave about 1/2 or so of the rocks a good scrub in a bucket of salt water i siphoned off...
i also realized.. there is alot of detrius in my tank! yikes..

so at the end of the month i'm going to buy
carbon,
new nitrate/phosphate tests
new bulbs
and possiably even a diatom filter..

i think that adding something with higher flow couldn't hurt either..i think the rocks need more flow.

asherah