High Nitrates and Kordon Amquel Plus, can it help?

[Oscar Bravo]

Okay my nitrates are high 50ppm. Its a lot for my Acros. I found this product that say it helps. I am just thinking if it can mess with the rest of my chemistry. Has anyone used it? Its called Kordon Amquel Plus

https://www.marinedepot.com/Kordon_...rdon_Novalek_Oasis-NV33456-FIADWTTCDC-vi.html

 

[ndrwater]

From what I remember, Amquel is for the removal of Cholorine and Choliramine, not Nitrate. I would also think it would cause your skimmer to go bonkers.
IMO, the best way to lower nitrates is with regular small water changes.
There ARE other products like Bio Pellets out there, but personally I am not a fan of those methods.

 

[Oscar Bravo]

Why not Biopellets? Just bought one but it will take some time to take effect. This is why I am looking for a temporarily faster solution. Water changes, I have been doing every two weeks. Didn't work.

 

[ndrwater]

Why not Biopellets? Just bought one but it will take some time to take effect. This is why I am looking for a temporarily faster solution. Water changes, I have been doing every two weeks. Didn't work.

Okay... Couple of things. Make sure the source water you are using is as good as it can be. RODI is the standard most of us use. Bottled or "purified" isn't good enough. There was another thread going around today where the original poster was having hair algae problems and SWORE that his water was good because he was using bottled....

Then he tested it... And found the source of his problems..

As for Bio Pellets, they do indeed work, but.... Take this with a grain of salt, they promote a type of bacteria to grow in the tank to reduce nitrates through a different part of the nitrogen cycle that has been shown over time to be detrimental. That, and I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard of disasterus results when an established bio pellet reactor was neglected, taken off line, etc.
I am in no way saying they don't work, they do. Well... But IMO there is a larger issue with the potential side effects if not used properly and religiously.
I am just old school, and lazy, and they aren't for me..

 

[Gareth elliott]

What effects are you currently seeing with the acros?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

What effects are you currently seeing with the acros?

with that much nitrate I am guessing it is brown town in there!!

I would not do biopellets.. to many variables. you could however dose vodka or vinegar. should take it down very well.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Okay my nitrates are high 50ppm. Its a lot for my Acros. I found this product that say it helps. I am just thinking if it can mess with the rest of my chemistry. Has anyone used it? Its called Kordon Amquel Plus

https://www.marinedepot.com/Kordon_Amquel_Plus_+_Additive_16oz_Tap_Water_Chlorine_Chloramine_Removers-Kordon_Novalek_Oasis-NV33456-FIADWTTCDC-vi.html

I would be very, very surprised if this product actually does what it claims with regards to nitrates. There are no easy ways to remove nitrates from aquarium water. There are not really any good ways to remove nitrates from saltwater quickly. The only ways that work well are relatively slow.

What nitrate test kit are you using? Some are sort of hit-or-miss, and it's possible that your 50 ppm reading is not accurate. This would also explain why doing water changes would not lower your nitrates (unless you're using tap water or lower-quality bottled water, in which case, you could be adding nitrates with water changes).

Organic carbon, like bio pellets, vinegar or vodka might be helpful in reducing nitrates. Go slow though. These are not miracle cures. Bacterial colonies need to grow using these organic carbon sources for them to work, and this does not happen in a day (or even necessarily a week).

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

with that much nitrate I am guessing it is brown town in there!!

I would not do biopellets.. to many variables. you could however dose vodka or vinegar. should take it down very well.

Biopellets work the exact same way as vodka and vinegar. There is not a great reason, from an effectiveness standpoint, to use one over the other. If you wanted to use vodka/vinegar instead of biopellets because you don't want to install a reactor, that's a fair point. If you want to use vinegar because it contains less organic carbon than vodka and is easier to use with a dosing pump, that's a fair reason to do so. However, there is no difference between any of these products and the actual way that they reduce nitrates and phosphates.

 

[Oscar Bravo]

What effects are you currently seeing with the acros?

My acros are starting to look pale some have die.. Usually they start to loose color on the root and it goes on. I have a few that don't look happy. However they haven't die. Others have adapted and just look a little pale but growing.

 

[Oscar Bravo]

Biopellets work the exact same way as vodka and vinegar. There is not a great reason, from an effectiveness standpoint, to use one over the other. If you wanted to use vodka/vinegar instead of biopellets because you don't want to install a reactor, that's a fair point. If you want to use vinegar because it contains less organic carbon than vodka and is easier to use with a dosing pump, that's a fair reason to do so. However, there is no difference between any of these products and the actual way that they reduce nitrates and phosphates.

I just bought a large bio-pellet reactor. I will just need to know how to use it (maintain).

At first I thought it was low nutrients but turns out NOT. I have phosphates at .09, little bit on the high for acros but nitrates way off. It was always a little off at 25ppm but with recent testing was 50ppm. I have been testing with Salifer. Phos with Hanna ultra low.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Okay my nitrates are high 50ppm. Its a lot for my Acros. I found this product that say it helps. I am just thinking if it can mess with the rest of my chemistry. Has anyone used it? Its called Kordon Amquel Plus

https://www.marinedepot.com/Kordon_Amquel_Plus_+_Additive_16oz_Tap_Water_Chlorine_Chloramine_Removers-Kordon_Novalek_Oasis-NV33456-FIADWTTCDC-vi.html

Hi, have just used the kordon Amquel Plus this Wednesday according to the instruction on the bottle, using it to lower my Nitrates which have been reading 40ppm, always had problems with Nitrates from day one. Being in the hobby for nearly 3 years. I have never had any issues with ammonia or nitrite, I can honestly say I don’t have to test them regularly I know they are always 0ppm. Now going back to Nitrates and using Kordon Amquel Plus, I heard so much positive feed back that I would try it, Not Happy! I dosed the right amount for my Reef aquarium size 350 litre and you are suppose to make sure you oxygenate your water with your wave pump directed to the surface or add an air stone in your sump because this stuff takes your oxygen out. Now the results after 24hrs is that my pulsing Xenia was all shrivelled and not pulsing and my red montipora is turning white and the odd soft coral limp, as for the nitrates I tested them yesterday and today and were still reading 40ppm. I will in future avoid any dosing of substance in the tank that says it’s Reef safe until someone can give me a 100% that it does what it suppose to do. Just have look at the photo of my montipora plate and you can decide