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Nitrate Level


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  • SRC Member

I had just change my bio ceramic rings.... change the wool and clean my croal chips in my canister... and today i changed 30% of my water.... and in the nite i test the nitrate... it is still quite high.. around 55mg/l

How ###### ah??

Issit i use the wrong canister medium?

Plss help

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berrykin, you should not be changing your bio-rings - equivalent to removing the beneficial bacteria. IMO, canister is not capable of removing your nitrates. They serve more as medium to break down ammonia & nitrites, as most of the bacteria inside are mainly aerobic bacteria. Nitrates are mainly broken down by anaerobic bacteria, and this process takes place mainly in oxygen-poor zones, such as DSB & LR. Have you test the NO3 before the water change? It could be higher ... just my 2 cents ...

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good bio rings will last you a year...normal ones will need changing every 6 mths....then again.....one MArine Shop Boss told me when I was a newbie......

in the end....gave up abt all the confusion and trouble..go on sump.........next will be refugium....

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No, you should not touch your bio rings, don't even rinse them with tap water as it will kill off all your nitrifying bacteria. You should leave your bio rings at the bottom tray. Because you cannot really move the rings, it is vital that you have good mechanical filtration to remove all the big pieces of organic waste before they reach the rings. If you can keep the rings clean, then you won't have organic waste stuck in the rings decaying.

What brand of bio rings did you use? Like deep blue says, the good ones can last you a year to a year half. Even when you change, you should change part of them, and then change the other half when the new rings have establish bacteria culture.

And canister cannot reduce nitrates, contrary to what some bio rings packaging claims. The rings help to promote the nitrogen cycle which the end product is nitrates. To remove nitrates, ... well, I am looking in to many methods myself. Do take a look at some of the posts in the forums on DSB and refugiums ( as mentioned by Powder Blue).

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good bio rings will last you a year...normal ones will need changing every 6 mths....then again.....one MArine Shop Boss told me when I was a newbie......

in the end....gave up abt all the confusion and trouble..go on sump.........next will be refugium....

Oh YaH!!! can last 6mth... now u say then i rem.. shit manz.z.. now i get this for $5 onli.. and quite small pack..

Thinking of getting a sump but can u list down the things i need to activate a sump... and the water input from main tank to sump and back.....

thankzz..z. i not quite sure how a sump works... with the main tank,...

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:blink: Wah..so much nitrates...you can try goniopora maybe? :rolleyes:

Anyway...I have long threw away my ceramic rings in my canister and replaced them with 2 packets of Biohome.. somehow my water got much clearer. :rolleyes: ..just hope they can reduce nitrates. I have controlled the flow rate into the canister to be moderate. Can't tell how effective this is until I get my salifert nitrate test kit! My Sera one sux! It reads 0! :blink:

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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Hmmm..hard to say...I'm using 2 canisters..one for biological..the other for chemical filtration.

Anyway...if I were you I will place biofoam as the first layer...second layer BioHome...3rd layer...Rowaphos and ChemiPure..and probably some of Seachem's matrix.

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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Why is there a life span to bioballs???? They degenerate??!! Nah, bullshit talk to get you guys to buy more of their bioballs... heh heh.. bioball is a large surface area piece of plastic so that large amounts of bacteria can grow on them.

Its so call a nitrate factory cause if used without any pre-filtering, large pieces of detritus or food pieces will get caught in between these balls and rot away efficiently thereby creating lotsa nitrate.

If you think that your bioballs are too dirty, its alright to wash them BUT not under freshwater but your tank's old water. What i normally do, is during water changes for my tank, every abt 3 months, i will empty the canister's content into the old water. Swish and swash everything clean and place them back into the canister. This would not really harm the beneficial bacterias.

If you are using canister, you must have the discipline to at least wash them once every 3 months. Just my 2 cts.

:lol:

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