MISSION ANTI-NITRATE FACTORY

[Flame-Tail]

Just removed all my bio-balls from the top right compartment of my sump. Did a 30% water change. Will be removing the ceremic rings abt a week later tog with another water change.

Hope my parameters don't fluctuate too much..Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of my nitrate factory as my nitrate has been on the rise lately.

[framerunner]

Keep us updated

[cityofangels]

Let me know when you want to borrow my nitrate tester.

[gerald28]

good lk on the mission bro hahah as this is what i wanted to achieve also

[Dazza]

Gd man , i did the same for my 5 ft tank 2-3 yrs ago. Got rid of my bio-balls as well & replaced them with liverocks... Added a cannister for chemical filtration. I did it all at on go becos my tank was already very seasoned & there shd be plenty of bacteria in the main tank itself as well. Nitrate was reduced frm over 60 to ard 10-20 lvl. But main thing to note after the "conversion" is still to maintain gd husbandry. I hv lots of cleaning crew to make sure no leftovers etc , chg 15-20% water whenever the nitrate gets towards 20 area or once every 1 mth. etc .

Keep us informed of yr process .. cheers...

[zeotz]

bros,

may i know what type of bioballs did you guys use. were these the ones that are supposed to be able to host anerobic/dentrifying bacteria?

I am still trying to find out if quality/type of bioballs makes a difference in contribution as nitrate factory.

[wil_lee76]

well, let me share my experiences. When started reefing, i consult a senior here (*dun wanna mentioned name) , he told me "are you keeping freshwater fish? how come u need bioballs and coral chips?" I'm shocked from the way he responded me. When he clearly explained the logic and how the system runs, I'm convinced! He also told me different pple have diff ways of running their system. So it's up to me to think and choose!

Anyway, after his conversation. I started to remove everything. Cos i believe his saying! Cleans up all my sump dertius etc etc. After that, i introduce "live rocks" after reading reading reading...few months later. i realised that NO3 doesn't drop....I'm piss off!

Anway, started to control feeding....numerous of water change....and finally from 80ppm, it drops to 40ppm and finally drops to 20ppm. (damnz tiring!!)

When i got my new skimmer (beckett, previously using macroASP300) i started to remove my "live rocks" and now my sump runnning pratically nothing! As i believe that let my skimmer do the job!!

Rem, control feeding...and as what dazza mentioned.....good husbandry!

[dleecool]

Oh Yes, I agree, all those r nitrate factory and I removed everything in my sump except the pumps!!!!

[Flame-Tail]

thanks guys for all your inputs. will definately keep u guys updated.

My sump looks so clean and empty now.

Stage 2 would be my ceremic rings.

Regarding water changes .I normally do abt 10% weekly but as I removed the balls I decided to do 30%..

[ryanteo]

I don't understand why the removal of the bio rings and ceremic rings will cause a drop in the nitrate level. Y will they be nitrate factories?

From what I understand, these things contain the bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrate. High nitrate level will be due to high ammonia. As such, by removing these bacteria, aren't you trying to reduce the amount of ammonia to be converted? By removing bio rings and ceremic rings, won't this increase the ammonia level?

[hondaker]

my guess is, bio rings and bio balls' bacteria are smaller in number as compared to liverocks, somemore bio balls tends to trap detrius, hence making it a nitrate factory

by removing these balls, you effectively eliminated a source of nitrate, and by reducing feeding, less ammonia will be introduced to be converted into nitrites/nitrates.

2 cents

[leochngyh]

just to share my small experience. I got sky high no3 in my first tank but some tragedy happenned and i have change my tank. double size. i dont use any bio-ring, bio-ball or LR in sump (LR only in main tank).

The only different is the lighting, previous I have 12hrs light in sump and not I have 7/24 light (those power saving florousant) on the macro algar and feeding once 2/3 days.

Now no3 is at undetectable stage.. no algae.. only little portion of the hair algar on my LR.

[Flame-Tail]

my guess is, bio rings and bio balls' bacteria are smaller in number as compared to liverocks, somemore bio balls tends to trap detrius, hence making it a nitrate factory

by removing these balls, you effectively eliminated a source of nitrate, and by reducing feeding, less ammonia will be introduced to be converted into nitrites/nitrates.

2 cents

I agree... Having a good skimmer helps in removing the ammonia before it can be converted as well.