Algone or other Nitrate removers

Algone is good stuff. Basically it is a root of some kind and it really does work. I've been using it on and off since 2000 and I couldn't be more pleased. Drops the nitrate to low low or undetectible levels in very little time.

I had no luck with Algone used it for months no difference. My nitrates were over 40 when I tried it so that may have been the issue. I used 3 boxes of it then opted for AZ NO3. It says it is all natural and reef safe but my leathers and anemone closed up, but opened up after a few days. If you use AZ NO3 follow directions to the "T" and each bottle is good for 55-60 gallons so if you have a 200 gallon tank that is 4 bottles at $20 a pop and takes a month to work with a really good skimmer and clean all pre-filters a few times a week since it binds the nitrates, which will enter back into the tank unless you clean them out.

I got an idea from www.petsolutions.com yesterday that I am gonna try and see how it works he said it worked great. Below is what he did!

"I have a sump style filter system so I can set up a "reactor" in the sump area. I simply took an old 2-liter pop bottle, ran a piece of rigid airline down the middle through a hole in the top and connected it to the output of a Mini Jet 404. I filled the 2 liter with DeNitrate and cut a small slot/hole near the top of the bottle. I sat it in my sump, started the pump to push water into the "reactor" at the bottom of the tube and the water rises up through the DeNitrate slowly and spills out the slot. Total flow was about 2 gallons an hour. Not an ideal set up (you really should have another pump circulating the water within the 2-liter so all the surface area is used, water might just channel up the middle in my set-up. In most cases, it is easier to do water changes than to try to use a denitrate system!!"

I use that stuff. It's very effective. Of course, I've only gotten a 55 gallon. My tank is a reef "only" tank with a few other inverts so I've very little to worry about. All readings are normal for me; come to think of it, I've never had a nitrate reading above detection level. Algon works...it really does.

One thing all these product fail to do... remove the DOC's. Nitrate alone is ot really harmfull, but it is normally a good indicator of dissolved organic compounds, wich is what does the harm. when you remove the nitrate and only the nitrate... you remove your indicator, meaning you have no idea of just how bad you water really is. The only way you can remove both the nitrates and DOC... water changes and a protein skimmer.

If you have a problem with high nitrates and having to do water changes, buying a decent protien skimmer... stop adding nitrogen in the first place; reduce bio-load, reduce feeding, don't let uneaten food rot in the tank and of course don't leave any dead critters you see in your tank.

Yay! someone else who likes algone!!! I posted somewhere that I liked it then I felt like a heel because I hadn't gotten rid of my algae 'natrually'