Reducing Nitrates

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by fishytime

I agree with Denny, more and larger water changes.......the solution doesnt lie in a bottle.....also 1/2 cup a week is diddly squat for skimmate, what kind of skimmer is it?.....my BK will produce that much in a day!

</ego-stroke-a-thon>

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by lastlight

</ego-stroke-a-thon>

oh, your just bitter you sold yours

[lastlight]

Originally Posted by fishytime

oh, your just bitter you sold yours

Well no kidding =)

[martinmcnally]

I battled with Nitrates for a LONG time. Tried everything from lights to sand to rock to skimmer etc. I was recommended bio-pellets. Tried one brand and it didnt make any difference then i tried Vertex Bio-Pellets, after about 3-4 months my Nirtates fell to zero and have never risen since. I think a good skimmer is a big part of the equation too though.

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by martinmcnally

I battled with Nitrates for a LONG time. Tried everything from lights to sand to rock to skimmer etc. I was recommended bio-pellets. Tried one brand and it didnt make any difference then i tried Vertex Bio-Pellets, after about 3-4 months my Nirtates fell to zero and have never risen since. I think a good skimmer is a big part of the equation too though.

Good to hear, and that is what I have heard from a few others. I just bought a Vertex reactor,and the Vertex Pro-bio pellets. I haven't set it up yet, and still doing research before I start. Seems like the most important thing is to start up slow, so that is what I am planning.

Have had more than one person tell me though, to start with slow vodka dosing first, and then the bio pellets with the reactor. So might try that too.

I don't think my skimmer is working right though, judging by what little skimmate I get, and from what I have heard from others. Will see what it does once I start the carbon dosing.

[Reef Pilot]

I've been running the Vertex bio pellets for about 5 months now, and have seen my nitrates gradually go down from a high of 100 to 20 with my latest test just today. My tank looks much better now, with rocks and sand bed surfaces fairly clean, and hair algae has completely disappeared.

I have a very old mature 100g tank (10 years running), which I inherited when we bought the house about a year and a half ago. The tank was a real mess, overgrown with soft corals, lots of detritus everywhere, and full of all kinds of algae. I was scrubbing the rocks with a toothbrush and vacuuming the sand every 2nd week at least. It helped a bit, but my nitrates stayed consistently high, usually at least 80. I was changing 20% water monthly, and still do the same. I have quite a few fish (always hungry) and I feed them quite a bit, probably about 4 times a day, although small amounts at a time.

Amazingly, my fish and the corals didn't seem to mind the high nitrates, and always seemed quite happy. I had to do some major trimming of my corals, as they took over my whole tank right to the surface water. Now my fish have more room to swim, too. I dose a lot of calcium and alk buffer, too, to keep those parameters up.

My plan going forward is actually to reset this tank, and I am in the process of setting up a new 135g downstairs so I can transfer the fish and corals during. I am planning to go either bare bottom, or a very thin sand bed. Then I want to try my hand with more fancy corals like SPS and Zoas.

But I wanted to see if these bio pellets work, and would have to say they definitely do, judging from the results. I should mention that I also used MB7, and started off very gradually with the amount of bio pellets in my media reactor. That kept me from having any cyano or other undesirable effects from the bio pellets.

Anyway, just a FYI, in case anyone else is thinking of going this route.

[daniella3d]

I had to stop using Brightwell MB7 and biofuel because of cyano outbreak. Do you think that it's the pellets that made a difference in your case? Before I was dosing with vitamin C and had no cyano, one week after starting MB7 and biofuel I had cyano growing everywhere. I stopped and the cyano is almost gone now.

As for the chemiclean, I used it and it worked well, but the cyano will return of the conditions are right so this is not a definitive solution.

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

But I wanted to see if these bio pellets work, and would have to say they definitely do, judging from the results. I should mention that I also used MB7, and started off very gradually with the amount of bio pellets in my media reactor. That kept me from having any cyano or other undesirable effects from the bio pellets.

Anyway, just a FYI, in case anyone else is thinking of going this route.