jaguilar Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 has anyone ever used this stuff to lower their nitates?.?.... i first saw it in the catalogue i got from marinedepot. and then i saw it at one of our lfs the other day. of course the guy at the lfs swore by the stuff, but i've asked about nitrates here before and i have never heard anyone even mention this stuff.. i'v had high nitrates(10-20+/-) for the last couple of months and the weekly 15%w/c isn't doing the job. i'm almost desperate enough to try it, but i'd appreciate some feedback before i do anything. thanx in advance... j.... Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 I have heard bad things about the nitrate sponges and that Nitrex stuff. To keep from spewing misinformation, head over to ReefCentral and do a search from the last year. MOst of the "testimonials" i read over there. Link to comment
Yves Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 I've used it with good success it takes a while for it to really start working (a month or so)...what kind of filter are you running...also could try some of that marineland salt water bio spira. HTH-Yves Link to comment
jaguilar Posted December 13, 2003 Author Share Posted December 13, 2003 i am running an aquaclear 200 HOB filter w/surface skimmer attachment. i have the filter media that came with the it, which consists of a foam filter and the bag of carbon that i run 24/7 replacing every month or so. also, what is that marineland saltwater bio spira?.?.?.... never heard of the stuff. thanks in advance.... j. Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 another thing is to figure out WHY you have high nitrates. Something die recently? How many fish in the what size tank? Link to comment
Yves Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 http://marineland.com/science/nspira.asp bio spira is bacteria it can completly cycle a fish only tank in 24 hours its not recomended to be used with uncured life rock cause the die-off will keep levels up...Id add some bio-chem stars to your filter...sounds like it might be underfiltered or overfed...good luck-Yves Link to comment
MrConclusion Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Aerobic bacteria will not remove nitrates. You need either: (a)anaerobic bacteria (in the deeper parts of a UNDISTURBED sandbed, or a thinner sandbed if fine particla size) (b)macroalgae growth and removal. Aquaclear 150-200-300 filters with a clip-on Azoo "Palm" or "Galaxy" light work WONDERFULLY for this. ©Nitrate sponge does work if used exactly as per the instructions. You will notice that it is not cheap and you will go through a lot of it. I would go for "B" because macroalgae growth has other health benefits to the tank. Link to comment
onthefly Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Yup! The biggest misconception is that this stuff "removes" 'trates. All it does is provides surface area for the proper bacteria.....they do all the work! The nitrate sponge will only "moderately" work in a AQ200, the flow is too high for their to develop a good anoxic zone. That's why they say, it "works best" in a denitrifier (i.e. very slow flow!) FWIW, this stuff can also clog easily and only has a finite lifespan. I agree with Krispy....why do you have high trates? Find that answer and you'll solve your problem. Link to comment
jaguilar Posted December 15, 2003 Author Share Posted December 15, 2003 why do i have high nitrates?.?.?. that's the million dollar question.. i have been trying to figure that out for the past couple of weeks. i haven't had anything die in my tank recently. and as far as my bioload is concerned, i have one small percula clownfish(1.5"), a yellow firefish(2.5"), a skunk cleaner shrimp, and a few hermits and snails. oh yeah, i forgot to mention that i have an eclipse 12 with about 18lbs of live rock and 20lbs of "live sand"(caribsea arag-alive). the only changes that have occured recently was that i upgraded my lighting from the stock 13w to the 2x32w retro. but my nitrates were already high prior to changing the lights. they usually register about 10-20, and this is with weekly 25% water changes. i know my nitrates aren't in the 'deadly' toxic zone, and my fish & stuff are all doing fine. but i wanted to start adding corals and i realize that they are more sensitive to nitrates then the rest of my livestock. i don't overfeed, i now feed them once a day and only what they can eat in about 2 minutes. so i am stumped. i was willing to try the 'kent nitrate sponge', but i wanted to hear what people here have to say about it first. thanks... Link to comment
leslr Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 Originally posted by jaguilar i am running an aquaclear 200 HOB filter w/surface skimmer attachment. i have the filter media that came with the it, which consists of a foam filter and the bag of carbon that i run 24/7 replacing every month or so. also, what is that marineland saltwater bio spira?.?.?.... never heard of the stuff. thanks in advance.... j. Maybe I just read it wrong. But you are saying that you are only changing out/cleaning /replacing your filter material "EVERY MONTH or SO". If thats the case and you can't get your problem fixed then I'd strongly suggest that you clean out the sponge every few days as well as put a bit of floss in for a few days at a time, because thats probably where the problem is coming from. Basically you have on super dirty type ofBio-Wheel. leslr Link to comment
jaguilar Posted December 16, 2003 Author Share Posted December 16, 2003 that makes a lot of sense. i just tried to follow the instructions that came w/the filter as to replacing or cleaning the media. they specify 'never' to replace or clean both the foam insert and carbon insert at the same time. this is so that the bacteria that have established themselves aren't disturbed. but the whole purpose of this filter for me was for mechanical filtration, not biofiltration. that's what the 18 pounds of live rock is supposed to be for. so it makes sense for me to clean the media every couple of days or so, just to prevent a nitrate factory from reopening in my filter. really appreciate the advice. j.. Link to comment
onthefly Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 Yup! When I run the sponge filter (every once and a while) I religiously wash and rinse it out w/ tap water atleast once a week. Also, if you run carbon , that can also give the mechanical filtration, plus the added bennys of carbon. However, carbon can also get plugged with crap if left long enough. Link to comment
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