De-Nitrate
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seachem De nitrate sounds like seachems matrix & purigen i use purigen & that is great not sure about the other two but i`ve read about both & really all three seem to do the same thing probably De Nitrate hits Nitrate harder & is more affective & seen as purigen dose a great job against nitrate ammo nitrite etc i guess DE NITATE will soon clear any nitate with in the tank
Sure, all these products will take care of your nitrate, but they won't take care of the underlying cause(s). Nitrate in itself is relitively non-toxic, but it's a good indicator of dissolved organic coumpounds (DOC's), wich is really why you should be concerned about nitrate in the first place. All the nitrate removing flter media and chemicals only remove the nitrate - not the DOC's. So while you may end up with a low level of nitrate via using these products, you will still have the DOC's wich they shoul dbe indicating, but they aren't now that you removed the nitrate (so basically using nitrate removing products is more trouble than it's worth).
Nitrate is cuased by the creatures living in your system - fish, corals, shrimps, crabs, ect. Elevated levels of nitrate is cuased by imbalances within your system - too many fish or too small a tank for the given fish population, some filtration methods and a new(<3 months) tank are just some examples of the cuases for elevated nitrates (and DOC's).
If you want to lower your nitrate and the DOC's it indicates, you need to treat the imbalance(s). Removing fish(espescially fish wich are inapropriate for the tank) or upgrading to a larger volume of water, adding a skimmer or upgrading to a more effecient or effective skimmer (this removes the DOC's directly from the water coloum), increasing water changes or reconsidering/changing your filtration method are IMO the best ways to treat this problem (listed in no particular order). The addition of macro algaes, deep sand beds or more live/base rock can help, but I feel that that would be leaning more towards treating the syptoms and not the cause(s).
And no, I have never and will never use chemical filtration such as seachem's "de nitrate", becuase they merely treat the symptoms and not the cause.
Nitrate is cuased by the creatures living in your system - fish, corals, shrimps, crabs, ect. Elevated levels of nitrate is cuased by imbalances within your system - too many fish or too small a tank for the given fish population, some filtration methods and a new(<3 months) tank are just some examples of the cuases for elevated nitrates (and DOC's).
If you want to lower your nitrate and the DOC's it indicates, you need to treat the imbalance(s). Removing fish(espescially fish wich are inapropriate for the tank) or upgrading to a larger volume of water, adding a skimmer or upgrading to a more effecient or effective skimmer (this removes the DOC's directly from the water coloum), increasing water changes or reconsidering/changing your filtration method are IMO the best ways to treat this problem (listed in no particular order). The addition of macro algaes, deep sand beds or more live/base rock can help, but I feel that that would be leaning more towards treating the syptoms and not the cause(s).
And no, I have never and will never use chemical filtration such as seachem's "de nitrate", becuase they merely treat the symptoms and not the cause.
I inherited my nitrates when I bought a 75 gal tank from a client.....He had NEVER done water changes only top offs. He had 3 tiny peices of live rock (less than 5 lbs) & only 4 fish (3 damsels & the pride of the tank....a 5 inch Purple Tang....When we moved the tank in mid July we moved every drop of water so I wouldn't have to re-cycle the tank....Thats when my Tang got his case of ich that was cured by the "Stop Parasite" I posted on the "copper isn't working" thread. Before you tell me I should have started with brand new water, I'll tell you that I didn't have any place to put the fish. I haven't even had a FW tank in the past so I read everything I could get my hands (and computer) on to learn everything in the fast lane before the move...My learning curve was amazing....After adding over 80 lbs of cycled rock & a great protein skimmer my only issue now (after curing the Tang) are the high nitrates.....I have been doing 25% water changes about once a week.....Sue
Hi, Sue
How long have you had the live rock in the tank and what sort of substrate does it have? It takes the bacteria that deal with nitrates longer to develop than the others. Also what sort of filtration etc it might also be a case of nitrates leaching out .
I've never used the chemical you talked about but, if your bacterial population is still forming you don't want to remove their food source. You migh also consider adding a deep sand bed that will help out as well. You migh use a little if you water conditons are way out of whack but, I would as dorkfish suggested solve the underlying issue for the long term health or your tank.
hth and welcome to a.c.
Chris
How long have you had the live rock in the tank and what sort of substrate does it have? It takes the bacteria that deal with nitrates longer to develop than the others. Also what sort of filtration etc it might also be a case of nitrates leaching out .
I've never used the chemical you talked about but, if your bacterial population is still forming you don't want to remove their food source. You migh also consider adding a deep sand bed that will help out as well. You migh use a little if you water conditons are way out of whack but, I would as dorkfish suggested solve the underlying issue for the long term health or your tank.
hth and welcome to a.c.
Chris
Thanks for the welcome!!!!.....The rock has all been added (except for the first 5 lbs) since we got the tank on July 15th....Its funny you should mention about the rock because after my last post I did a water change today & as soon as I was done & the water settled out I rechecked the nitrates & I was really bummed to see they were still @ 100!!!....I got to thinking about it & told my husband that maybe the rock was cured but not completely & maybe this was the last stages (nitrates) of the rock curing....Every week since I got the tank I added another 6-8 lbs....So I can see why my nitrates haven't gone down....We've lost all of the cleaner shrimp & an emerald crab & a Sally Lightfoot crab....LFS told me they didn't care about nitrates but never asded how high mine were....My substrade is crushed coral not sand....It is over 6 inches in some spots....Early on we bought a Divided Leopard Wrasse & when we got him home I read that he sleeps in the substrade.....As night approached he seemed to be looking for a place to crash for the night & I was horrified to see him dive face first into the coral.... 
!!!!!!!....The very next day I went to the LFS & got a $40.00 bag of live sand (in water) & came home & hollowed out a big area in the middle front of the tank & fillde it with over 4 inches of sand....It has been his bed ever since!!!! I don't understand why there are no anerobic spots deep in coral same as sand....There are also some in the rock so I'm expecting to see results soon....My filters are 2 Aqua Clear 70's plus I have 2 Powersweeps to keep the flow going (they were for a 40 gal tank each) My Protein Skimmer is a Seaclone 150 so I figure it is twice what I need for the tank...I get 1/4 cup of :rant2: every day....I also have a fuge with copepods & calerpa for the Pipefish & the Mandarin.....Life is good.....Except for the nitrates!!!!!...Sue
!!!!!!!....The very next day I went to the LFS & got a $40.00 bag of live sand (in water) & came home & hollowed out a big area in the middle front of the tank & fillde it with over 4 inches of sand....It has been his bed ever since!!!! I don't understand why there are no anerobic spots deep in coral same as sand....There are also some in the rock so I'm expecting to see results soon....My filters are 2 Aqua Clear 70's plus I have 2 Powersweeps to keep the flow going (they were for a 40 gal tank each) My Protein Skimmer is a Seaclone 150 so I figure it is twice what I need for the tank...I get 1/4 cup of :rant2: every day....I also have a fuge with copepods & calerpa for the Pipefish & the Mandarin.....Life is good.....Except for the nitrates!!!!!...Sue
I'd say the problem is the crushed coral ,"if it came with the tank", or will be in the future if it didn't. It can't compact enough to allow an anoxic envrionment in your tank and as you wrass has already shown you is really hard for critters to burrow through. It catches all sorts of food that will just set there and rot and ruin your water quality. I know you don't want to hear that but, it would be better to get rid of it now than to wait until your tank is established.
I'd use anything I could to get my nitrates lower ,for instance a 25% or more water change on a daily basis. 100 ppm will be bad for the long term health of your fish and some s.w. fish are more tolerant than others. I'd say most of what you have would be ok for a while,"I don't know about the pipefish."
hth
Chris
p.s.
I hope you really do have a bunch of pods you're tank isn't very old and your mandarin is likely to eat you out of house and home. They usually need to get about 6 months to get established enough to support one . If it starts looking puny you can get cultures on line ,"or take one out of your tank and grow out in a 10 gal"
I'd use anything I could to get my nitrates lower ,for instance a 25% or more water change on a daily basis. 100 ppm will be bad for the long term health of your fish and some s.w. fish are more tolerant than others. I'd say most of what you have would be ok for a while,"I don't know about the pipefish."
hth
Chris
p.s.
I hope you really do have a bunch of pods you're tank isn't very old and your mandarin is likely to eat you out of house and home. They usually need to get about 6 months to get established enough to support one . If it starts looking puny you can get cultures on line ,"or take one out of your tank and grow out in a 10 gal"
Thanks for the fast reply, Chris!!! :bowing: You suggest 25%+ water changes daily....Can you really do water changes that often????....My cc did come with the tank....What if I added a thick layer of sand ON TOP of the coral???? Wouldn't that make all of the coral area anoxic if the idea is to have a non oxygenated area for the nitrates to go???? Any thoughts on this anyone????
As for the Mandarin, I bought 4 bottles of copepods for $60 & dumped them all in the fuge....Mandarin is ALWAYS roaming the rocks & I can see him chowing down on something every couple seconds...I figure it must be the pods....I think I'm going to buy 4 more bottles soon as I know he's not the only pod consumer in the tank!!!!! He seems VERY Fat & Happy!!!!
: ....Sue
As for the Mandarin, I bought 4 bottles of copepods for $60 & dumped them all in the fuge....Mandarin is ALWAYS roaming the rocks & I can see him chowing down on something every couple seconds...I figure it must be the pods....I think I'm going to buy 4 more bottles soon as I know he's not the only pod consumer in the tank!!!!! He seems VERY Fat & Happy!!!!
: ....Sue
You can do water changes more often than that even, provided that you can mix the salt that fast.
As for your mandrin, it was suggested on reef central that you count it's "hit per minute". "Hit per minute" means how many times he apears to be eating something every minute - as soon as that number starts to drop by a somewhat substantial number (I'd say by 25%), then you add more pods.
No, long term, adding sand over the crushed coral will not be so - the crushed coral will work it's way up through the sand, until it's on top and the sand is on the bottom.
As for your mandrin, it was suggested on reef central that you count it's "hit per minute". "Hit per minute" means how many times he apears to be eating something every minute - as soon as that number starts to drop by a somewhat substantial number (I'd say by 25%), then you add more pods.
No, long term, adding sand over the crushed coral will not be so - the crushed coral will work it's way up through the sand, until it's on top and the sand is on the bottom.
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