Nitrate export/media options (does not reduce phosphates)?

[living_tribunal]

What are some types of media or other methods to only reduce nitrate in your system without affecting phosphates?

I’m currently looking at purigen but am interested in hearing about other methods.

 

[lkriley]

I have the opposite problem, my nitrates are too low.

 

[living_tribunal]

I have the opposite problem, my nitrates are too low.

I'm really trying to get N/P to about 5x and keep it there.

Having N/P anything higher than 20x is bad for your corals health. I would never try to lower phosphates if I'm above that 20x. High nitrates are very harmful to corals while high phosphates are not and potentially even beneficial.

Checking your browser - reCAPTCHA

 

[living_tribunal]

I think I'm going to give this product a shot, not sure how viable it is for long term though. So if anyone has any type of media I can add to my media section, I'd really appreciate it.

AZ-NO3 Nitrate Eliminator 240mL - Marine Depot

AZ-NO3 Nitrate Eliminator 240mL Fourth Generation Formula:The NEW AZ-NO3 with it`s new "Cold" filtering and processing techniques reduces the clouding effect in even poorly-maintained (ionically-imbalanced) marineaquariums. Its nitrate-removal ability has sped up 2x as fast as before. In addition, i

www.marinedepot.com

 

[gotmesalty77]

First of thanks for posting this, we don't see enough scholarly articles. That being said I've let my po⁴ levels climb quite high before and haven't seen much in terms of negative impact. The same cannot be said of high no³. Slow growth and dulling of colors.

 

[living_tribunal]

First of thanks for posting this, we don't see enough scholarly articles. That being said I've let my po⁴ levels climb quite high before and haven't seen much in terms of negative impact. The same cannot be said of high no³. Slow growth and dulling of colors.

High nitrate levels do two things to inhibit coral growth: 1.) Grow algae which soaks up phosphates leading to phosphate deficiency 2.) Interferes with the symbiotic relationship where the coral passes nitrate to zooxanthelle and the zoox in turn gives the coral sugars to grow.

There are hundreds of white papers on this subject, phosphate deficiency is even the cause for many coral reefs dying out. In one experiment, coral growth was examined at a range of phosphate levels. Coral & polyp growth was the strongest in the largest phosphate level of .5ppm.

Moral of the story, watch your nitrates, not phosphates. Algae can only grow up to the nitrate level in the tank, but then can't consume more phosphates.

You of course need trace levels of nitrate for the coral to pass it to the zooxanthelle but that is a very very small amount.

 

[gotmesalty77]

My po⁴ snuck up to .32 and I usually keep my no³ around 20ppm because that's what the local places seem to have there's at (WWC, TSA) of course I freaked out a bit and was already planning large water changes.

 

[gotmesalty77]

High nitrate levels do two things to inhibit coral growth: 1.) Grow algae which soaks up phosphates leading to phosphate deficiency 2.) Interferes with the symbiotic relationship where the coral passes nitrate to zooxanthelle and the zoox in turn gives the coral sugars to grow.

There are hundreds of white papers on this subject, phosphate deficiency is even the cause for many coral reefs dying out. In one experiment, coral growth was examined at a range of phosphate levels. Coral & polyp growth was the strongest in the largest phosphate level of .5ppm.

Moral of the story, watch your nitrates, not phosphates. Algae can only grow up to the nitrate level in the tank, but then can't consume more phosphates.

You of course need trace levels of nitrate for the coral to pass it to the zooxanthelle but that is a very very small amount.

How does this correlate with my refugium and chaeto and dragons breath growth? Is my fuge taking to much away from my corals?

 

[living_tribunal]

How does this correlate with my refugium and chaeto and dragons breath growth? Is my fuge taking to much away from my corals?

Not at the levels you have them at! But maybe get both nitrate and phosphate levels down. Then focus on keeping nitrate reduced and phosphate staying elevated. It won't hurt your coral much. It's more so about the N/P balance than their absolute levels. Keeping nitrate very low helps you keep the ratio lower.

 

[lkriley]

I think I'm going to give this product a shot, not sure how viable it is for long term though. So if anyone has any type of media I can add to my media section, I'd really appreciate it.

AZ-NO3 Nitrate Eliminator 240mL - Marine Depot

AZ-NO3 Nitrate Eliminator 240mL Fourth Generation Formula:The NEW AZ-NO3 with it`s new "Cold" filtering and processing techniques reduces the clouding effect in even poorly-maintained (ionically-imbalanced) marineaquariums. Its nitrate-removal ability has sped up 2x as fast as before. In addition, i

www.marinedepot.com

i would welcome suggestions to increase my nitrates. They are consistently at zero. Everything I have read says they should be a bit higher.

 

[jurgenph]

try some seachem matrix or pond matrix.

J.

 

[jurgenph]

i would welcome suggestions to increase my nitrates. They are consistently at zero. Everything I have read says they should be a bit higher.

i'm about to throw some bio balls into my overflow.
people have been calling them nitrate factories for years, time to put them to the test.

J.

 

[living_tribunal]

try some seachem matrix or pond matrix.

J.

Neither reduces phosphate?

I ordered purigen and az-no3 nitrate eliminator. I will update things to a sulfur denitrator or a blue life resin nitrate media system if I don't get the outcome I want.

 

[lkriley]

i'm about to throw some bio balls into my overflow.
people have been calling them nitrate factories for years, time to put them to the test.

J.

Please let me know how it goes. I could easily incorporate them as well.

 

[lkriley]

I was just reading an article that says Xenia use up a lot of nitrates. Maybe that is why my nitrates are always zero (or less?). I do have a decent amount of Xenia. I don't know! My tank seems very healthy so I am not overly worried.

 

[living_tribunal]

I was just reading an article that says Xenia use up a lot of nitrates. Maybe that is why my nitrates are always zero (or less?). I do have a decent amount of Xenia. I don't know! My tank seems very healthy so I am not overly worried.

Corals don’t use up a lot of nitrate. They just need a very small amount to pass over to the zooxanthelle.

xenia will grow very fast under most reasonable conditions regardless.

 

[lkriley]

Corals don’t use up a lot of nitrate. They just need a very small amount to pass over to the zooxanthelle.

xenia will grow very fast under most reasonable conditions regardless.

It was from 2006...lol. Thanks for your input!!

 

[ReefHomieJon]

i would welcome suggestions to increase my nitrates. They are consistently at zero. Everything I have read says they should be a bit higher.

The simple one is do less frequent water changes. People be like “I can’t seem to get any nutrients in my tank” and then someone says “what’s your sump look like?” And then they say “I have filter floss, an oversized protein skimmer, run activated carbon, GFO reactor, a large refugium, chemi pure blue, and do a 50% water change every week”
Lol CUT back on nutrient export and once you find your balanced level of NO3/PO4 then keep your system there. And stop removing water before your test kit tells you too

 

[living_tribunal]

Bump

 

[ScottB]

Curious to learn if/how you managed to lower nitrates without lowering PO4. Having a similar issue, e.g. 20 / .04