Nitrate filter

[aguest]

Let see. According to their website, their biggest filter (899$) is equivalent about 200-400g WC every week. I do more than 200g WC every week for my little 45G tank. Even if (BIG IF) it works as advertised, not worth it IMO.

[tonytheboss1]

I do more than 200g WC every week for my little 45G tank. Even if (BIG IF) it works as advertised, not worth it IMO.

For those of us w/ slightly larger tanks (125g, 240g, 350g etc) where those totals easily range between 500 / 1000g of W/C's it does pose an interesting alternative & thus warrants further investigation. It could very well be worth it depending on your needs. "T"

[Zarasa]

I think Aquaripure could be useful for helping maintain a large tank of adults which is what I can realistically commit to. No disrespect to @aguest, but the cost of the unit is not a hurdle for those whose time is very expensive. My time is worth at least $50/hour after tax (actually much more, but I don't want to be on the receiving end of any jokes about "the 1%"). If the $400 Aquaripure that I would use on the 150g set up I'm think about will save me eight hours of WC time, well then I'm already at break even. All of this only works out if there is no adverse impact on the health of the discus as a result of extending the WC interval.

One more interesting thing I plan to research is exactly what is the chemistry of the water that has been treated by an Aquaripure? I know three things about it so far:

1 - It is eliminating nitrates (my experience is 20 ppm nitrates water goes in, and 0ppm nitrates water comes out though not consistently yet for me)
2 - There is no disolved oxygen in the water (read in manual or online)
3 - There is a slight sulfurous smell to the processed water that you can only smell if you put your nose within a few inches of the dripping processed water. The aquarium water does not smell so the gas (whatever it is) that is a by product of the process is dissipating quickly.

There's a lot of biology and chemistry here that I don't understand at all. For me it is a challenge to learn more and maybe the final answer will be that for discus I just need to pass (or wait until retirement or set up some kind of automated WC system) because they need the WC's, and I should just stick with hardier fish when I set up my 150g tank. Either way it will be interesting to learn more about the Aquaripure (and any other similar product) and I'll post more as I learn more assuming anyone is interested.

[Zarasa]

Update: So far so good. The nitrates in my overstocked goldfish tank are holding around 20ppm (test strip) and outflow from Aquaripure is 0ppm nitrates and 0ppm nitrites (test strip). It is running at ~4 drops/second so it's "cleaning" 4-6 gallons of water a day, or about 30g a week or about a 100% WC every week if you buy into the idea that what it's doing is the equivalent of a WC.

I sent John at Aquaripure a rather long note asking about the biochemistry of what is actually occurring inside the Aquaripure, but haven't heard back yet. Really interested to find out.

Busy with work, travel and kids so did not shift to weekly water changes yet. I need to do that and see if I can maintain 10ppm or lower nitrates. Looked at prices for adult discus...wow...I better have this down to a science before getting into Discus. The last thing I need is $1000 worth of sick fish on my hands.

[aguest]

None taken. But for your 150g I think you will need three or four not one, ASSUMING it works.

[tonytheboss1]

I sent John at Aquaripure a rather long note asking about the biochemistry of what is actually occurring inside the Aquaripure, but haven't heard back yet. Really interested to find out.

Glad to hear it's working. Still on the fence about springing for one.
As for the inner workings of the product, he'll probably give you some broad based info but doubt if he'll share patented info. After all he's tryin to make a buck. Will keep chkng updates. "T"

[nc0gnet0]

This is the only nitrate remover that I beleive has any real potenial. It is a long read, but the OP is now making some pretty nice self contained inline units.

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/...verything.html

[Orange Crush]

For those of us w/ slightly larger tanks (125g, 240g, 350g etc) where those totals easily range between 500 / 1000g of W/C's it does pose an interesting alternative & thus warrants further investigation. It could very well be worth it depending on your needs. "T"

Just remember filters never can replace water changes. There is a lot more to water quality than nitrItes, nitrAtes, ammonia etc. There are DOCs, leftover food, waste, bad bacteria, and parasites that filtration does not remove nearly enough of.
Good filtration is important but so are large, frequent water changes.

[T_om]

Build a turf algae scrubber (Google it), save yourself a bunch of money.

Tom

[eaglesfan3000]

Man these things are EXPENSIVE!!! I might look into one a bit down the road being my nitrates are usually around 20ppm when it's time for a water change.

[roundfishross]

Build a turf algae scrubber (Google it), save yourself a bunch of money.

Tom

plus 1 solid!

[Joester]

Has anyone tried "Nitrate Reductor 400"? Much cheaper.

[Poco]

I am setting up a 90g tank, should i go with medium aquaripure (50-130g) or large (120-260g). Price is not much different. I have read that people have fried fish using bigger filters with small tanks.

Thanks

[Zarasa]

I think you should double check with Aquaripure. I think he will tell you you can use a large, but dial back the drip rate. I remember when I bought one that there as not much of a price difference and John at Aquaripure said it was okay to use one size larger than your current tank in order to accomodate for a larger tank it the future. Seems there is a larger tank in everyones future at all times...:-) Good luck.

[eaglesfan3000]

I just inquired on one, sent an email with tons of questions before I drop $300. Are these stand alone or do you connect them to your canister filter? I guess if you never have to replace the filtration in these things I guess it would be worth the money. I would love to only do a 25% daily WC compared to 50% in a 120.