PO4 and nitrate removing pads
- Thread starter jft
- Start date
I'll hold my hands up and embarrassingly admit that I've tried these type of products in the past. In my experience, and many others no doubt, they simply just don't cut it.
If you want to reduce nitrate in your tank there are other far more successful methods.
The best method by far are water changes. Not only do they reduce nitrate but they also take out any other unwanted build up of chemicals, and whilst doing so the clean water you put in is full of other essential elements which replenish your system. Water changes really are king. The absolute number one.
Also to a lesser extent, dependant on stocking levels, you can add plants. Plants absorb the ammonia in the tank so nitrite and nitrate can't even form! However, like I said, the success of this method is stock dependant. Plants alone may struggle to keep up in a tank with a high bioload, you'd need a proper jungle going on in your tank, not to everyone's liking, especially if you have fish that eat plants to!!
I was looking at some products recently and was aghast at the claims. Basic filter pads were claimed to extract nitrate by way of taking out all the fine particulate of crud in your tank. Yes, this is correct. They will take out the particulate, which is what mechanical filtration is intended to do at the end of the day. But that crud is still in your filter, in those pads, slowly producing toxins which end up as nitrate!!
And of course you can have a drip system too, which helps keep nitrates constantly very low. But what is a drip system other than.........a continuous water change!
Agree with esoxolucius, water changes are the healthiest option.
I also use heavily planted sump/refugiumss, o reduce nuisance nutrients, but understand they are not for everyone.
The plant to fish ratio, needs to weigh heavily on the plant side to even make a dent in nitrate and phosphate.
Algae scrubbers might help on the phosphate side.
In my 180 tank, with only about a dozen medium size fish, I use a 125 gal planted sump (the one below)
The plants are Vallisneria, water lilies, mangrove trees, and floaters like Salvinia, and water lettuce.
WIth this technique, and regular large water changes, my nitrates remain undetectable,
I also employ tropical terrestrial plants, like dieffenbachia and others dangling their roots in the sump, and main tank to help suck nutrients like nitrate, and phosphate directly from the water column.
I find at these densities, compared to fish stocking, plants use nitrate almost as fast as it is produced by the fish.
I also use heavily planted sump/refugiumss, o reduce nuisance nutrients, but understand they are not for everyone.
The plant to fish ratio, needs to weigh heavily on the plant side to even make a dent in nitrate and phosphate.
Algae scrubbers might help on the phosphate side.
In my 180 tank, with only about a dozen medium size fish, I use a 125 gal planted sump (the one below)
The plants are Vallisneria, water lilies, mangrove trees, and floaters like Salvinia, and water lettuce.
WIth this technique, and regular large water changes, my nitrates remain undetectable,
I also employ tropical terrestrial plants, like dieffenbachia and others dangling their roots in the sump, and main tank to help suck nutrients like nitrate, and phosphate directly from the water column.
I find at these densities, compared to fish stocking, plants use nitrate almost as fast as it is produced by the fish.