This is also true. But fishkeeping is situational. We can't all have sumps or pre-filters..
Are canisters nitrate factories?
- Thread starter soul_assassin
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This is also true. But fishkeeping is situational. We can't all have sumps or pre-filters..
There is a misunderstanding of what fish poop is made up of. Fish poop is not a huge source of nitrogen. Unlike birds and mammals, fish excrete nitrogeneous waste primarily through gill and secondarily through urination as ammonia. So even if you remove fish poop as fast as it is produced, the nitrate level will still go up. The only way to lower nitrate is WC and photosynthesis.
That said, it is still benefiticial to clean the substrate and canister filter media frequently. The gunk built up is not just fish poop, but also uneaten food, and a lot of dead micros. Even if you don't over feed, fish are messy eater that pulverize food waste that feed the micro food chain. You can tell how bad the gunk is by shutting off the canister and see how quick it turns anoxic generating sulfide and ammonia gases. In a power outage and subsequent return, those anoxic gases are dangerous as they can wipe out the fish. Many mysterious wipe out can be explained by dirty canister filters or undergravel filters as in the old day.
Personally, I don't use canister so there is no place to hide waste and no excuse to delay cleaning. My primary filtration is HOBs for mechanical and water movement. I do frequent WC including vacuuming thin substrate in all my tanks to reduce nitrate.
The most common and healthy filtration systems in commercial and private fish rooms are sponge filters without any fancy parts, bio media, bio wheel, blah, blah, blah!
That said, it is still benefiticial to clean the substrate and canister filter media frequently. The gunk built up is not just fish poop, but also uneaten food, and a lot of dead micros. Even if you don't over feed, fish are messy eater that pulverize food waste that feed the micro food chain. You can tell how bad the gunk is by shutting off the canister and see how quick it turns anoxic generating sulfide and ammonia gases. In a power outage and subsequent return, those anoxic gases are dangerous as they can wipe out the fish. Many mysterious wipe out can be explained by dirty canister filters or undergravel filters as in the old day.
Personally, I don't use canister so there is no place to hide waste and no excuse to delay cleaning. My primary filtration is HOBs for mechanical and water movement. I do frequent WC including vacuuming thin substrate in all my tanks to reduce nitrate.
The most common and healthy filtration systems in commercial and private fish rooms are sponge filters without any fancy parts, bio media, bio wheel, blah, blah, blah!
My canisters I clean every two weeks and my tank gets a gravel vac and water change weekly or if I'm stock heavy twice weekly and all my params stay extremely low and I never have a problem basically what it comes down to is do the maintenance required for your tank and don't be lazy about and you shouldn't have to worry
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This is a good topic. I only clean my fx5 twice a year and I really think I should do it more often. You never get the waste and byproducts out of your tank unless you clean out the filters too IMO.
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This comment does not make any sense to me. How are they suppose to be nitrate factories? And why/how would a canister become an ammo, nitrite factory? The point is to eliminate nitrate at all stages.
Thanks for all the input, I agree most with the members that keep their tanks as gunk free as possible. Nitrate is a toxic substance in any amount (from my knowledge) this being said the toxicity escalates with concentration, thus, you want 0 nitrate or as close as possible, IMHO.
that is what they are designed to do...convert ammonia and nitrites eventually into nitrate,,,so if they WEREN'T nitrate factories ,,,THAT would be a problem...maintain the filters ..and control nitrates ,,,it ain't rocket science...I like my 2217 and Emperor 280 combo on my 65G but every time I clean the canister (3 months) I find myself horrified at the amount of waste in there. Over that time span would the canister not significantly contribute to nitrates? Further, I know peeps that clean them once a yearAny thoughts?
To state the obvious, aquariums are closed systems. So everything you add (fish, who produce waste, and uneaten food) doesn't go anywhere unless you take it out by cleaning the mechanical (including vacuuming the gravel) or by changing the water (including drip systems). So canisters are not nitrate factories. They (usefully) accumulate waste so your water is clear and you can remove that waste which is why you clean your canister and vacuum your gravel and remove dead fish and net out extra food, etc.
you can't "eliminate" nitrate,, only control it ...it is an inevitable product of a cycled (healthy )tank..study up on the cycle...you imo ,,,,,think you know more about the nitrogen cycle than you actually understand.....don't take this as a slam it's not ,,,just part of the learning curve,,,,some of us are just further along the curve
