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Thread: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

  1. #616
    Registered Member zhuls1's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Does your kitty litter say it's 100% zeolite or natural volcanic rock or something along those lines? Just wondering whether some people have success with this filtration and others do not is due to the products they are using, the water parameters, how their sump is set up or a combination of these things. Also, when you test the BCB in a bucket, try a bucket using zeolite from a pet store or something to check whether it is the product or something else.

  2. #617
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tindomul View Post
    Hi all,

    I have been waiting for a while to present my results. I wanted to do a few rounds of testing to be sure of the results. I setup my 75 gallon aquarium with a sump giving me a 95gallon system. I set it up as a fully planted tank with a plenum, a layer of laterite, a layer of cat litter and topped it off with a thick layer of ADA aqua soil. I placed 5 brand new baskets of the BCB's built following Dr. Novak's directions from his youtube channel. This was on March 9th of 2018. On March 20th, I kicked started the aquarium cycle by adding a fully mature BCB from another tank. In the sump I have two mats from swiss tropicals to act as polishers for the water. I understand that some beneficial bacteria may be working there. This aquarium might turn into a Discus tank one day, but for now it is a fully planted, small fish tank. I currently am only stocking the tank with 5 Otocinclus, 5 Cardinal Tetras (I have an additional 40 in quarantine). I have two Nannacara anomala and a few amano shrimp. I plan to add 4 Bolivian Rams who are now in quarantine as well. For the last several months my water conditions have been exceptionally stable. I really wanted to test out the effectiveness of the BCB's and decided against any water changes. I have done 0 water changes since March 17th. I add approximately 4 gallons per week due to evaporation. My API testing results have been consistent for several months. My Ammonia levels are 0ppm. My Nitrite levels read at 0ppm. My Nitrate levels also read at 0ppm. See the attached picture, with Ammonia test on the left and Nitrate test on the right.
    What I feed. I feed freeze dried shrimp, Cichlid bug bites, and flakes. I feed a combination of any two per night and usually feed the fish twice.

    The picture of the tank was taken 3 days ago. I did a major trim and as you might be able to see, I have hair algae and a bit of Cyanobacteria which I have attributed to the very strong morning sunshine and the 8 hours of lighting from the aqua-illumination lights. I cut the artificial lighting time to just 5 1/2 hours.
    I have not tested for phosphates, and I imagine a good regimen of water changes would go a long way with the algae, but I have essentially been conducting a long term experiment to try to replicate Dr. Novack's results.

    Other parameters also show as
    pH of 6.6,
    Gh and Kh of 1. Basically my test-tube turns a pale green on the first drop for the GH and a pale yellow on the first drop on the KH.

    In conclusion, I am a believer. As I increase my bioload, I have the ability to increase the number of BCB's to a max of 15 baskets if I feel I need to, since I have a 30 gallon tank as a sump. I hope to one day keep a few Discus in the tank so long as doing water changes does not mess up the water parameters.

    Thanks all for keeping such a great thread, it was so very instrumental to the success I have experienced.

    César
    Hi all,

    I added 4 bolivian Rams and enough Cardinal tetras to get around 40 or so. That was done on the 2 of August. Today I did a test on the parameters and found my Nitrates have climbed.

    I have 0ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, and 5 ppm Nitrate. Gh, Kh and pH are all steady. I have been feeding extra because I have had a hard time feeding the Rams. I feel that they don't eat so I throw in extra cichlid bug bites. They all just sink and most of the fish don't get them. I find no evidence of them the next day so I assume someone is eating them.

    I wonder if it will take the system 60 days to adjust to the added fish and increased feeding. Or should I add more baskets?

    César

  3. #618
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    Cesar A. Castillo

    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Quote Originally Posted by shime View Post
    Pretty sure since Cesar is from NYC that he uses the same water i do from tap. It comes from the Catskills where there is no filtration and only chlorine and UV is used. Its basically rainwater. Our tds is 40 at the moment and GH and KH is 1.http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/wsstate17.pdf

    Hi,

    I tested my GH and KH from the tap. I find I only need 2 drops to get the green color and yellow color in the test tubes. It is probably just 1 drop each because there is no color change when I put in the first drops into the water. By the way, the TDS in my tank is 77, and 49 out of the tap.

  4. #619
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Good day.

    Anyone have problems with diatoms using BCBs???

    I'm using Cat's Pride Natural (Clay) and is a Betonita Clay but as a clay it have silicates... But I don't know if my BCB is the source of my diatoms!!!!

    Anyone???

  5. #620
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    I used bentonite clay and it became mushy and a soft solid lump. I then changed to kitty litter which says on the bag " made of zeolite " and i am very happy with it.

  6. #621
    Registered Member farebox's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Hello people, everyone using the Anoxic Filtration System, could you all give an update of your tanks and discus on how things are coming along? Nice to hear from you all like Salty
    Sphynx, Shaun's Fish Tanks, etc. Thanks....

  7. #622
    Registered Member lastflea's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Had to deep clean my tank due to a rapid outbreak of green hair three weeks ago. Since then I haven't changed the water. API kit reads 0ppm nitrate, but NTLabs reads 20ppm. So which to believe? There must be some in there for the NT kit to show up, but is it 20ppm? Who knows. The NT kit has much bigger test tubes so tried the API test in one of those, due to API requiring vigorous shaking for it to be accurate. More space, more vigour. Still came out 0ppm. One thing I did do a while back was turn up the return pump, so I've turned that down to 1/3. Will see if nitrate increases/decreases.

    Stock wise I have 9 rummies, 3 SAE's and 4 rams. Two of the rams have spawned 4 times, so the water must be in good condition. I have eggs at the moment, but they keep eating them on the second night. All 4 of them are displaying bright colours. No discus yet. I want to get to grips with the BCB's before putting them in, but they'll be growing on separately anyway.

  8. #623
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Just built 2 today for my 200 got all supplies at Walmart and Lowe’s .. We shall see how this goes in a few months

  9. #624
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    I'm at the 6-7 month mark on my tanks with BCB. So far its holding up very well.
    My ph is 7.4
    nitrates range from 2-5 on the seachem nitrate test and i still do 1 water change per week.
    gh and kh are at 1 from nyc tap.
    tds is about 47-50

    below are 3 growth pics of the same fish.
    First is when i received it in Aug 2017 @ 3". Used regular hob aquaclear filtration for 5 months with water changes every 2 days.
    Second pic is from 2/18/2018 and is when i switched over to full anoxic bcb - 1 water change a week.
    Third shot was taken a few weeks ago and size is about 6.5".
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #625
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Quote Originally Posted by shime View Post
    I'm at the 6-7 month mark on my tanks with BCB. So far its holding up very well.
    My ph is 7.4
    nitrates range from 2-5 on the seachem nitrate test and i still do 1 water change per week.
    gh and kh are at 1 from nyc tap.
    tds is about 47-50

    below are 3 growth pics of the same fish.
    First is when i received it in Aug 2017 @ 3". Used regular hob aquaclear filtration for 5 months with water changes every 2 days.
    Second pic is from 2/18/2018 and is when i switched over to full anoxic bcb - 1 water change a week.
    Third shot was taken a few weeks ago and size is about 6.5".
    Hi Eddie, Do you mind telling us the size of your tank ,% water change ,the number of fish .
    BTW lovely looking fish .
    Did you have any problem using beef heart ?
    Thanks

  11. #626
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Quote Originally Posted by sayid View Post
    Hi Eddie, Do you mind telling us the size of your tank ,% water change ,the number of fish .
    BTW lovely looking fish .
    Did you have any problem using beef heart ?
    Thanks
    40 gallon breeder
    90-100% water changes
    as of today 7 adult discus in that tank. There is a divider separating the pair.
    That tank was started with 9 3-5" discus in August 2017. Had 2 losses during the year. 1 was a runt and the other jumped out.
    So far I had no problems with beefheart. May get bloat here and there but nothing major. No bacterial problems.
    They are fed 5-6 times a day and I also fast them 1 day out of the week.
    Water change is done before fast day.

    Thanks

  12. #627
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Quote Originally Posted by shime View Post
    40 gallon breeder
    90-100% water changes
    as of today 7 adult discus in that tank. There is a divider separating the pair.
    That tank was started with 9 3-5" discus in August 2017. Had 2 losses during the year. 1 was a runt and the other jumped out.
    So far I had no problems with beefheart. May get bloat here and there but nothing major. No bacterial problems.
    They are fed 5-6 times a day and I also fast them 1 day out of the week.
    Water change is done before fast day.

    Thanks
    Add-
    That tank also has 5 5" bcb baskets (flourite red and that walmart brand special kitty)
    running a 550 gph pump through the overhead sump.

  13. #628
    Registered Member farebox's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    I'm also using flourite red and the walmart special kitty litter in my bcb baskets. So far all is good since re-started the Anoxic Filtration System again on 5/18/18. Doing an 50% water change weekly or when needed. All NO3 test stay around 10ppm constantly. So you all getting zero, I applaude you, because what I do can't get there. Bottom line is that all my fish seem to be doing great and the tank looks just amazing, very clear water: https://youtu.be/4yqCdAHFLCU

  14. #629
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    Found these hob breeder boxes that can hold about 3 4" baskets. Just add a decent powerhead and probably good to go.
    https://www.bigalspets.com/ista-hang...html?sku=80096
    Attached Images Attached Images

  15. #630
    Registered Member Tshethar's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY "Anoxic Filtration System" eliminates nitrates? Anyone tried this?

    wow I actually have one of those laying around... think I got it with a powerhead included... can't remember from where. I'll have to look back in this thread for a link to the 4" baskets. Honestly I was thinking of much larger baskets when I imagined how this system was working, and had given up on the idea of trying something given that I won't have a sump on the tank to which I plan to move my discus.... hmm. Will think at least about breaking this out for supplemental filtration...

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