AZ-N03 Absolute 0 N03 Removal Project

[damsel-in-distress]

Hi,

Been reading and following the various discussions on the use of AZ-NO3 with regards to the chemical reduction of nitrates in aquarium tanks. I have battled with this problem for since Aug. last year and the several methods I have done to reduce N03 so far are:

1) reduce feeding of LS to 1/day, coral feeding to every other day

2) increase water changes to every 10 days instead of fortnightly

3) pumping water through 1kg of Seachem de-nitrate filter material

4) upgrading my protein skimmer to the AquaC EV400 model

5) using small amounts (undosing) Bio-Live, a bacteria agent which takes care of NH3, N02 and the end product of N03.

In 6mths, the above has shown a downward trend on the nitrate level (from >70mg/L to the present hovering around 30 mg/L). I now want to try AZ-N03 but am hesitating because of the fact that I am also currently using RowaPhos to battle a recent algae bloom caused by excessive phosphate levels (which I never measured b4 till 2 weeks ago!). In 2 wks, the P04 has dropped from 0.5mg/L - 0.1mg/L. I'm v.pleased but wonder if using using AZ-N03 will cause any problems when used simultaneously with phosphate removal filter media?

For background info., my tank vol. is 1000L, 13mths old and has I think, about 150kg of LR, no sandbed (I put a little on the bottom of the tank for decorative purposes). All water parameters are currently stable except for P04 and NO3.

Appreciate if any of the more experienced reefers can enlighten me with some constructive comments.

Many

[RAV-65]

Hey gal...

me no expert, but i tink the lack of sandbed is not allowing enough area for the bacterial to grow... you'll be surprised with the effect of having more sand in your reef tank... bear in mind that in the ocean, there is sand everywhere....

I have been battling no3 for months and it always hover around 40ppm, in the end i took out my bioballs and it dropped to almost 0ppm.... dat coincided with the fact that i stopped my feeding for 2 days... so i dunno which is the main course... u may wanna try to remove your bioballs if u have any...

Also, if there are any fatalities, make sure that it's removed, as they contribute to ammonia and so on...

During feeding time, try to switch off your pumps, so dat food has less chance of being blown into crevices where u fish cant reach, they might decompose there for a while until the hermit crab or shrimp come along to eat it... den switch on your pumps again so dat the uneaten food dat has settled on your sandbed will raise up again, giving the fishes another chance to eat them...

my 2 cts worth...

Vincent Ho

PS : sorry, haven't got time to call you regarding the DW... maybe next week k? this week too busy liao! Happy Valentines!

[damsel-in-distress]

Hey Vince,

Thanks for your 2cents worth, man!

I think my system is some kind of German-style setup where no sandbed is used. I am not sure what it is actually called. It utilises a trickle-filter flow with bio-balls underneath. I am in the process of slowly removing them (I was told to remove a quarter every week or so) so that the system doesn't go through a "shock", so to speak! I think the tank has a few hundred of these things!

As for fatalities, I've had 1 or 2 LS and 3 baby claims in the last month but am never able to retrieve the LS carcases as they just seem to die somewhere behind the rocks. Blast!

During feeding time, I always switch off pumps to the filter (1/2 hr)and the protein skimmer (1hr) but leave the circulatory pumps on.

[FuEl]

Sounds like berlin system?

[bawater]

i've tried AZ-NO3.

Its a temp solution.

Firstly - start using it once u have removed all the bio-balls

Follow the dosing instructions on the bottle and make sure you have enough water movement during treatment (oxygen levels will drop to almost half during the period) and you may loose some livestock during this time if not there's not enough water movement for oxygen exchange.

i think you will find that once the bio-balls are gone you will have plenty of space which you can utilise.

its an enzyme base product - won't affect PO4 media.

What you are feeding may relate to PO4.

what u feed the fishes?

what u feed the corals?

You shouldn't need to starve LS or corals to lower PO4, you just need to balance the input with ample output.

Once your PO4 levels start to rise - you need to change media.

Rowa is a good product and you should see a big drop within 7days.(if you have high levels)

PR has a new PO4 media called Biophos II(Fe based) , a 500ml bag just nice for 1000ltrs and 1ppm PO4 reading. i think you will find it cheaper.

[RAV-65]

Hallo Damsel-in Distress,

now dat you are removing your bioballs, maybe you would like to add in a little more sand... dat would provide n area for the bacterial to grow....

As for the missing carcasses, maybe you'll need a GPS system to track them... wahahaha... if you could, put a small powerhead behind the rocks, so dat any uneaten food, or carcasses will be "blown" out...

Actually, IMHO, maybe it's not neccessary to turn off the skimmer while feeding.... or maybe its something i dunno yet?

Vincent Ho

[damsel-in-distress]

i've tried AZ-NO3.

Its a temp solution.

Firstly - start using it once u have removed all the bio-balls

Follow the dosing instructions on the bottle and make sure you have enough water movement during treatment (oxygen levels will drop to almost half during the period) and you may loose some livestock during this time if not there's not enough water movement for oxygen exchange.

i think you will find that once the bio-balls are gone you will have plenty of space which you can utilise.

its an enzyme base product - won't affect PO4 media.

What you are feeding may relate to PO4.

what u feed the fishes?

what u feed the corals?

You shouldn't need to starve LS or corals to lower PO4, you just need to balance the input with ample output.

Once your PO4 levels start to rise - you need to change media.

Rowa is a good product and you should see a big drop within 7days.(if you have high levels)

PR has a new PO4 media called Biophos II(Fe based) , a 500ml bag just nice for 1000ltrs and 1ppm PO4 reading. i think you will find it cheaper.

Thanks guys for all your constructive comments.

Bawater, I will take your advice and start the program after I've removed all the bioballs. I read the manufacturer's update on the AZ-N03 product and understand that increased water movement is required during treatment to assist in upping the oxygen levels. They also recommend having BioOxygen tablets at hand to assist the ORP levels if there is a need. I will endeavour to do this with temporary powerhead and aerator ... but does anyone know where to source the BioOxygen additive?

Yes, I've already seen the prowess of the RowaPhos product. I used it first time 2 weeks ago and my tank's PO4 levels dipped from 0.5 to 0.1mg/L. I am testing for phosphate every week and will change when it becomes necessary. Yes, I saw the BioPhos II product that PR brings in. I'm planning to get some today to try out.

Wish me luck!

[Wei]

Hi damsel-in-distress,

can you post a pic of your system or even describe the bioload of yr tank, etc.

Just to double check with u & make things clear.

The filtration you are using is the Trickle filter/Wet-dry. It is your pillar for yr system filtration.

Berlin system is a different method when u are use liverock wif a powerful skimmer as yr main filtration only.

Without establishing a functioning DSB, removing yr bioballs will result in tank crash. Cos you will have no/min bacteria to breakdwn your NH4, NO2 to NO3. Ammonia & nitrite is alot more toxic then nitrate, a small amt can kill the livestock in tank. Thats why we have cycling period for the bacteria to establish to number enough to break them dwn. By removing yr bioballs now, u are doing the direct opposite.

What you can do is slowly increase the thickness of yr sandbed to 3-4" using no.0/1. Let it seed & establish. Once done, slowly remove yr bioballs at 10-20% wkly. This way, u will not stress or risk crashing yr system.

Wei

[damsel-in-distress]

Woah,

Thanks for that quick bit of advice. Glad I asked b4 I did anything drastic. I have already removed 20% of the bio-balls 2 days ago.

You're right in that my tank filtration system is the trickle filter/wet-dry. I will take your advice and start building on the sandbed. Slight problem in that I will have to put the sand AROUND the rocks. I don't think I wanna rescape the whole tank! BTW, how long will the "seeding" of bateria process take - about a month??

Details on the bioload of my tank:

- 17 fish: all not > 2" in length as they are juveniles - 5damsels, 1tang, 2percula, 1tomato, 2dottyback, 3yellow wrasse, 2angels, 1 lawnmower blenny

- invertebrate: 6cleaner shrimps, 2emerald crabs

- coral: polyps, fans, clam, 3 leathers, bubbles, 4 brains, 2 pratas, cocoworm & 3-5 SPS.

- feed LS once a day (pellets, spirulina flakes), DT every other day, zooplankton/mysis/BS - 3x/wk.

I hope this is sufficient info. to ascertain my tank's bioload.

[Wei]

Hi D-I-D,

Have u ever consider a denitrator? It will be a better choice for u.

With only the sandbed at the side of yr tank, it is not sufficient to breakdwn the NO2.

Not worth the effort to add sand in my opinion.

Wei

[mhermie]

hi,

just wish to share with you. last time, i get my nitrate abt 100mg/l and few of my fishes died. most of my corals RIP. try using the AZNO3 due to recommendations and so far, it works well for me after 1 mth. using filtration eg: jebao 618 with bio-balls and de-nitration rocks. so far, maintaining abt 0 mg/l for the past 1 week.

[damsel-in-distress]

Thanks all for your feedback. I have still not started on the AZ-N03 project .. need to set up my aeration devices in place b4 I start.

Anyone else wanna share their experience with the use of the AZ-N03 product?

[pospeh]

Hi Damsel, I also have the same type of system as you (if I recall correctly, you have a Aq..tec sytem?)

Before I even started my system, I asked Alice not to add give me a trickle filter, as I wanted to run a Berlin system.

My NO2 hovered around 20 ppm for several years. About 6 months ago, when I started getting more sps in my system, I wanted to try to get the levels down to 5ppm or below, so I used AZNO3.

Well, the levels did go down, but in the process three of my sps colonies died . I think it is due to the drop in ORP levels.

Now I just leave my system alone.

BTW, if I had more room in my sump cabinet, I would also get a denitrator.

[marcvelous]

Hi Damsel-In-Distress,

I am currently using AZ-NO3 and would like to share my experience.

My NO3 levels were off the chart, i.e. way above 40ppm (I didn't bother to measure/dilute using distilled water) but once I added the final reagent, the water changed colour instanteously! That too, when I had 45kg of LR and average 5 inch DSB in my approx 200l tank.

I started using AZ-NO3 as I don't have space in my sump nor the money to invest in a (good) denitrator. At first, things didn't improve much. Then after about 3 weeks, I registered my NO3 levels at 10ppm!!!

I am currently continuing the use of the product to maintain the NO3 levels but the dosage is very much less than the recommended maximum. FYI, I do not have any special arrangements for water aretion when using the product but then again, I do not have much fishes to begin with. Also, I only feed my tank every other day.

One downside of using AZ-NO3 is that you have to continue using it unless you have a denitrator or a really good natural NO3 remover (matured DSB, etc) in place. Once you stop dosing, the NO3 levels will climb again.

Hope this helps!

[Achilles Tang]

I like to point out that AZNO3 is a good product to reduce NO3 drastically in a hurry BUT must be used in conjunction with a protein skimmer which is supposed to EXPORT out the bad stuff.

Due to the bacterial bloom, more oxygen will be utilized, so dropping an airtstone to buffer the ORP may be necessary.

You should look into a NNR (natural nitrate reduction) system like a DSB, plenum or lots of LR (with low livestocking) to reduce nitrates naturally for long term efficiency.

AZ-NO3 will be expensive to use long term, IMO.

[damsel-in-distress]

It is not practical at this stage of the tank setup to look into NNR method like a DSB as that would mean basically removing everything and starting from scratch, something I am not prepared to do. I have got at least 150kg of LR and my LS level is way under, for the size of my tank, so I am alright in those areas.

After 3-4wks of using AZ-N03, I WILL consider investing in a denitrator for the long term reduction of nitrates, the problem is figuring out which brand, capacity and what would fit into the v. limited space in the sump cabinet!! ... and I would need someone to set it up for me as I am not good at DIY stuff! ha,ha is this a typical lady reefer or what! Can anyone shed light on their experience with denitrators?

[patrick123]

Anyone knows what is a denitrator and how does it work? Where can buy it and how much?