getting rid of nitrates and nitrites

[14cichlid]

besides daily or 3 times a week water changes, what other way can you lower nitrate and nitrite levals?

[Skip]

daily water change.. 50%.. maybe a HYDRO Sponge Filter will help too :)

[birtyboy10]

not an expert but i believe live plants absorb small amounts of nitrates, not sure about the nitrites tho but if you have a fully established filter system then ammonia and nitrite should stay at 0ppm or very close too

[14cichlid]

lol hydro sponge? how is that diff from a regular sponge filter?

[birtyboy10]

lol hydro sponge? how is that diff from a regular sponge filter?

They increase water flow to do with the circular shape, i think....................

[Skip]

http://www.jehmco.com/assets/images/auto_generated_images/a_HydroSponges0-5A.jpg

[ericatdallas]

I've read a few articles that plants use ammonia. Here's one I found: http://www.springerlink.com/content/j000gk612203k4vg/

[Knircky]

Aquaripure will eliminate no3, no2 will be removed by any normal filtration.

U can also google for nitrate filter and should find some solutions other than aquaripure. However I have to say I really love my aquaripure.

[14cichlid]

eh warlock this is not for discus just for general talk. i dont see how that would be any diffrent from a regular hand on back filter

btw how efficient are those sponge filters for larger tanks

[14cichlid]

knircky you "got money to blow" i looked up that aquaripure and its not cheap.

[Skip]

one hydro5 is rated for over 80 gallons.. they make GREAT BIO filters.. that give all the bacteria lots of room to live for the nitrogen cycle :)

[14cichlid]

it would seem to me, it would work just as well as the bio stage part of HOB filters

[jcardona1]

A tank with established bio filtration shouldn't have any nitrites. If you have nitrites, then you have bigger problems. To get rid of nitrates besides doing more water changes, you can run an algae scrubber or one of several denitrator filters available.

[Knircky]

Umm the filter is about the price of one or two discus. I have the biggest aquaripure out there and it was only 350 bucks. If u can't spend that type of money what are u doing with discus?

That 300 bucks save me from changing water every day.

[14cichlid]

i dont have a job and im not spoiled thats why i dont have the money

[thepup]

14cichlid, look up denitator filter on google, one of those aquaripure could be made for a lot less than $300. I looked into making one when I had a reef tank.

[Knircky]

Sorry for being such a dick. Yes it is expensive, to me it just did not seem that way in relation to what discus cost in general.

You can also build these yourself. You have to create an environment without oxygen for the right bacteria to develop.

[wheelsdeal]

Fast growing plants indeed consume no3 and ph4.There is also chemical filtration media like Purigen that claims to remove organics and therefore control no3 but never used it.Also never used denitrator filter but i've seen good reviews on the net.Still easiest and cheapest way to remove no3 are water changes.

[angel eyes]

Seachem Denitrate worked for me, however algone did not.

[Knircky]

So how is it going, what have u tried and how does it work?