Nitrate Reduction.

[clothahump]

Any one know of a DIY Denitrator that works, I am having serious problems reducing Nitrates in my 75 gallon. 8)

 

[dattack]

The best nitrate reducer is a water change.

Then you got too figure out why you have so much nitrate?  Is it too much feeding?  Too much feeding?

 

[clothahump]

Water changes do help slightly but not to any great effect.
Feeding is, as and when and then never too much, I sometimes do not feed for 2 - 3 days.

 

[dattack]

Well that is weird if water changes don't effect your nitrate.  You have a nitrate factory coming from somewhere.  You got to be the detective and figure out if it is coming from your filter/fish/feeding or some jealous aquariust who dumps nitrate into your tank. ;D

 

[Matt Nace]

I wish i could comment on the DIY nitrate reducer. My friend has a highly technical book which may have something like that in it.

Do you have nitrates in your tap?

Shows your wet / dry is working(I think you have a sump with one right?) or you would have a nitrIte / ammonia problem instead. There has to be a source that is producing the ammonia fueling it.

P.S.  You going to the bathroom in your tank again?

 

[clothahump]

No I am not
Nitrates from the tap are about 20ppm.
Total fish population of about half I could have, Not too much excess decaying material, unless the bogwood is doing it I do not know. 8)

 

[Somonas]

What exactly are your nitrate levels?  20ppm in the tap is a tad high.  What you -could- do is try replacing some of the water in the tank with reverse osmosis or bottled water. they have zero nitrates.

In my 80 gallon my nitrates are well over 200ppm.  well, as far as I can tell on the Aquarium Pharm test kit anyway.  

I am in the process of doing a series of consecutive water changes - yesterday I did 20 gallons, waited a half an hour and doing another 20 gallons.  I am going to do the same thing again today.  Gotta love the python.

 

[Matt Nace]

Cloth,

I found a DIY project in the book I have.

I will email it to you as soon as my wife types it up...it is a lot more than I should/could type. It also has two diagrams which I will send in an attachment.  8)

 

[clothahump]

Thanks Matt, I am going to start a major change with a hose pipe in one end and a syphon in the other and give it a two hour flush.
I have complained to the water authority but providing the Nitrates are below 50ppm then they are within European Directives.(Bet they dont drink the Sh!t.) 8)

 

[ronrca]

Scary stuff! I wonder where the nitrates come from in tap water. Seems kinda of strange. My tap  water as 0 nitrates. What about getting plants? (or maybe you do already).

 

[clothahump]

Most of the Nitrates in tap water come from modern farming methods, the excess nitrates seep into the water table and are then pumped into resevoirs for human use.
The only place I ever had no nitrates was when I lived half way up a hill that had a well in the garden, and there were no farms above me using man made chemical fertilisers. 8)

 

[ronrca]

Here in Canada, I have no nitrates in my tap water. Maybe it is also because I live in the city! Not sure though.