Nitrate Reduction using Dr. Tim's NP Active Pearls in Freshwater

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
A small update. Last week the process finally exhausted phosphate and stopped, allowing Nitrate to start creeping back up. I began dosing with SeaChem Flourish Phosphorous, which is the only phosphate product I could find that did not also add nitrate or nitrogen of some form, and nitrates dropped again. I dosed according to the exact instructions on the bottle (1 cap per 40 gallons).

The "lesson learned".... have a phosphate test kit. You need to test phosphate several times per week and if running low, add phosphate.

Once the process gets cranked up, looks like you'll need to add 1/4 cup of Pearls every week to 2 weeks. I'm still trying to finalize this number.
 
I discontinued the process. While I was able to maintain zero (or near zero) nitrates, the effort was substantial, requiring basically daily cleaning of the "flowerbox" mechanical filter. Absent the frequent cleaning, the bacterial biomass breaks down in the filter, re-releasing nitrates. Do not underestimate the amount of bacterial slime created by this process.

So it's all a matter of how much time you want to spend maintaining the tank, not to mention the bacterial biomass has a distinctive (and not pleasant) odor. But it absolutely works in freshwater. Friends of mine with saltwater are having equal success with much less effort, using Protein Skimmers. But protein skimming a 120 gallon freshwater tank is not feasible. However, some of these monster tanks with Clarity (or DIY) Skimmers may find the process very helpful.
 
thanks for the update. I was thinking about giving this a try but guess not. Back to the drawing board
 
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