I have a 29G Nano Cube and currently run Zeolite in my filter. I was wondering how many of you run Zeolite in your filters? Also is there something better on the market to use instead of Zeolite? Such as Seachem Purigen, or Chemi-Pure (<---Is this just carbon?) I also run RowaPhos which I love and will use until I upgrade and start using a sump. My LFS owner swears by Zeolite. He runs it in all his Frag tanks which are all beautiful and also his massive display tank full of flawless SPS corals. It seems to work great for him and also has worked well for me, so far. I tested my Nitrates last night and they were a bit high, so I changed out the Zeolite in my filter because it has been awhile since I replaced it. I do about a 33% water change every two weeks. I'm going to test my Nitrates in a few days to see if the new Zeolite I put in has helped lower them at all. In the meantime I was wondering what you guys use and what you swear by. I know frequent water changes are the best way to lower Nitrates, but it's always nice to have some backup in assisting the process.
FILTER MEDIA??
- Thread starter Addikted2Cichlids
- Start date
One thing I would Make sure you are doing is changing out only 85 percent of the media at a time. The new stones cycle faster with old to seed them. The next question I wool pose is how are you agitating them. They will get clogged up with mulm and need to be shaken up 3-4x a week. Sgitating them will keep them running at peak efficiency.
By cycle you mean with BB or something else? If you mean BB I have lots of liverock and also Bio balls in the filter to seed it with BB. I'm not sure what mulm is, can you please explain. I have the Zeolite in the bottom chamber of the filter inside of a media bag.
From everything I've heard zeolite is kinda redundant in saltwater, it will absorb more dissolved salt (sodium chloride) than anything else as sodium chloride is the "re-activator" of zeolite.
Chem pure is non- reactive
Chem-Pure elite is non- reactive and claims to absorb p04 and silicates aswell
Purigen would be my choice if had to choose between the 3 as it is 100% re-activatable w/ bleach.
That being said I've never used a single product that controls nitrates better than Vodka (dissolved organic carbon dosing), this method doesn't trap anything - it stimulates growth and reproduction of de-nitrifying bacteria within the tank. It brought my Nitrates down from 80ppm to a stable and managable 20ppm within 6 weeks. That was with 6 fish - it's still 20 ppm or lower with 13 fish and daily coral feedings several months later. I use a maintence dose of 2.5 mil.
Chem pure is non- reactive
Chem-Pure elite is non- reactive and claims to absorb p04 and silicates aswell
Purigen would be my choice if had to choose between the 3 as it is 100% re-activatable w/ bleach.
That being said I've never used a single product that controls nitrates better than Vodka (dissolved organic carbon dosing), this method doesn't trap anything - it stimulates growth and reproduction of de-nitrifying bacteria within the tank. It brought my Nitrates down from 80ppm to a stable and managable 20ppm within 6 weeks. That was with 6 fish - it's still 20 ppm or lower with 13 fish and daily coral feedings several months later. I use a maintence dose of 2.5 mil.
Any kind of vodka will work? Also is there a specific formula you used to get your nitrates down before your at the point of dosing 2.5mil for up keep? Also I don't feed my corals and they seem to do fine. Would dosing with Vodka create a need to have to feed them? If so what do you feed yours I mainly have LPS and I have thought about buying food for them in the past, but there is so many different kinds out there it's hard to know which ones are best.
Only use vodka with no additives for flavor must be str8 up vodka, any brand.. As for coral foods I'm probably not the one to help you there as most of the corals I keep are large non-photosynthetic softies which like a diet high in dissolved vegitation and bacterias like photoplankton (photoplex) and bacterioplankton (Reef Snow).
I use the methodology of the RC website that was published at Reefkeeping online mag. Link at the bottom. Only things I can add would be it's great at reducing nitrate but don't go chasing PO4 with vodka, it will drop it by 2 ppm but if your still reading more than .05 go with GFO.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php
Chemi pure is great stuff. Cheap ( I know it doesnt seem like it, but so far my experiences with gfo have been TERRIBLE, and my experience with chemi pure have been awesome)
1 unit kept my 125 free of diatoms (my tap water I use for my tank has silicates) for almost two months. Keep in mind I am adding almost 2g a day in top off, and 25g every other week in the form of h2o changes, so there is a lot of silicates being pulled!
I am also a heavy vodka doser, so if you want to talk about that we can do that as well.
1 unit kept my 125 free of diatoms (my tap water I use for my tank has silicates) for almost two months. Keep in mind I am adding almost 2g a day in top off, and 25g every other week in the form of h2o changes, so there is a lot of silicates being pulled!
I am also a heavy vodka doser, so if you want to talk about that we can do that as well.
I would definetely like to know more about vodka dosing. I'm having a hard time finding what I need to be dosing in my tank for all my corals. Every thing I read is telling me somthing different things. I guess it's a lot of trial and error. I just bought Iodine to start dosing that every couple of weeks. I wish they could make one bottle of all the stuff you need and you could just dose that one solution. Haha to good to be true I guess. I'll look into picking up some chemi pure as well in the near future.
Bio balls capture to much. Found this site for my 14 biocube there 3 tier works great instead of bioball chamber http://mediabaskets.com/. Search biocube 29 I have liverock in one chamber cheating with ten watt submersible light in second chamber and pyrogens in top chamber it's like a built in sump worth the price