Nitrate filter

[Knircky]

Hi,

I've been tumbling over the webpage above, when looking for a nitrate filter for my discus tank.

I am new at the hobby and I have to travel quite a bit a bit due to my job. When im home I end up making almost daily water changes of ca. 50% due to the fact that when I feed well nitrates jump to 40 every day.

When I am away I feed a lot less but really would like find an automated solution to take care of the water changes.

Looking at the website above looks like a very easy solution, however since I have never Everett seen anybody here ref ere to nitrate filters I wanted to check if nitrate filteers are a good idea, work etc.

So in short:

1. Can we use nitrate filters to remove nitrate and thus reduce water changes, I.e. To once a week
2. Which is the best nitrate filter to use

Thanks, I am looking forward to ur input

[Knircky]

I am not allowed to post links but the product name was:

aquaripure

If u put 3 w in front and a dot com behind it u will find the website.

[Jennie]

hmmm, this is interesting..I wonder if this allows for a tank to be heavily stocked, while still keeping water pristine?

[Knircky]

My primary concern is to reduce WC, I'm assuming this could also mean more fish per gallon, as your water would have 0 nitrate all the time.

Question is does this thing work, and why have we never been told about it.

[uberdave]

hi, my system is hooked up to 1L of purigen in a reactor. what i use is a diy filter reactor , so far i haven't had any wc in a month with nitrate to 5 ppm. i got 5 discus in a 110g. i had tested in a smaller 50gal with 3 discus and got it to 0 ppm in nitrate. i also have a small very slow drip on it so its a constant flow of fresh water to keep the ph stable and hardness. all i do is vaccum the feces when i see it. this is my input and i am still experimenting with how many discus per gal of purigen.

[Knircky]

That sounds very promising. So the key question now would be, what is the best filter available on the market?

[uberdave]

for purigen and other nitrate resins, you need a reactor. the one from via aqua is what i am using atm and need to modify it for max flow rate. which i mean having the resins bouncing in the reactor and all. the one i diy was using a this,

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

cut a piece of 3/4" hose and stick that up the intake of the filter to have the flow directed downwards. this makes a better reactor imo. you need to also buy this,

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/s...k=P_PartNumber

which is filtering out the resins allowing the pure water going outwards. I have a high flow pump going through it and its keeping everything in constant motion. oh, you also need a 1" to 3/4" adapters if your pump only has 3/4" outake.

[Eddie]

My primary concern is to reduce WC, I'm assuming this could also mean more fish per gallon, as your water would have 0 nitrate all the time.

Question is does this thing work, and why have we never been told about it.

So your goal is to overcrowd your tank by reducing nitrates?

[Hogman]

So your goal is to overcrowd your tank by reducing nitrates?

Eddie brings up a good point. Depending on what your using as your initial and primary filtration system. Your only removing the final product of converting ammonia - nitrite - nitrate and can take quite awhile. In my opinion, after a day or two of feeding and the fish doing their stuff, the initial Biochemical Oxygen Demand or BOD loading to your filtration system could cause spikes in ammonia and nitrites. Your operating a closed wastewater treatment plant and thats how i approach aquariums. These fish demand water quality. Could you go a week without water changes? Probably. Will the chemical and biological makeup of your system change when you come home and do a whatever percentage water change? Yes. There really is no substitute for daily routine maintenance, no matter how much it hurts, with this species. Just my thoughts.

[uberdave]

yes your ph will eventually drop due to the wastes, thats why i have a drip to maintain that.

[Jennie]

you misunderstood Eddie, his post is referring to my post.. My tank is overstocked, not his.

So your goal is to overcrowd your tank by reducing nitrates?

[DiscusRob]

Water changes provide more than just clean water in the tank, they replenish minerals etc.

[Lukan]

Water changes provide more than just clean water in the tank, they replenish minerals etc.

I do agree with the above. In addition, you still have hormones and other organic by-product. AT THIS STAGE, I will still be doing water changes. I would use a nitrate filter however just reduce my water change instead of totally not changing at all.

I like ubedave idea as well. He is still applying water changes by dripping the new water.

[Jennie]

No way of measuring hormones in my tank but I have 17 discus in my 125..I'm doing over 100 gallon day water changes sometimes, if time I'll do a second to clean up waste only. After 24 hours, I measure 0 for ammo/nitrites and less than 5 for nitrates..2 sponge 5 pro's and 1 HOB currently on tank with another HOB coming. This setup seems to work in keeping the tank water clean and parameters correct.

[Knircky]

Well curiosity got the better of me: I ordered the thing.

Thanks by the way for the hints on how to build one myself, but I'm gonna try the product first and see how that goes.