Thoughts on Vodka dosing for Nitrates..

That reactor with the nitrate sponge is a cause for concern I see. I used to use that stuff too, and only got negative results. Do you clean it regularly. I noticed all that stuff did was trap detritus, and didn't help with nitrates. I use that Matrix media in Fluval canister, which is pretty much a reactor, but I make sure I rinse the detritus off the media about once a month. I also have the media in my overflow section of my DT and do the same maintanence.

The main difference between nitrate sponge media and the Matrix is that that material that the Matrix is made out of is much more porous, so bateria has more surface area to cling onto. You would be surprised at the difference in densities when you see them side by side..

 

Chuckdee, I'm not sure I understand your argument. I am very familiar with Matrix, but the bacteria that colonize Matrix will only carry the nitrogen cycle so far. They will convert ammonia to nitrite, and then nitrite to nitrate. But they will not convert nitrate to free nitrogen gas for removal. That is done under anaerobic conditions, in such environments as deep sand beds, plenums, or live rock. So as far as my understanding goes, a product such as Matrix should not help with nitrates, only with ammonia and nitrites.

Please correct me if my understanding is flawed, though.

 

Yeh i clean it.. guess maybe i'll buy some matrix and see it that helps...im just at my whits ends with these nitrates!

 

I bought amedical dosing machine to dose vodka. It was another thing I was going to try if my algae turf scrubber didn't work... But the algae got my nitrates to zero in two months. PM me for links to good scrubber info if you want. Btw my nitrates were 40-80 two months ago and I haven't done a water change in a month. I'm a guilty overfeeder too.

 

Kevin, I have also used that Nitrate sponge and it didnt do what it claimed to do. I think that you need a bigger refugium. I agree with Chuckdee when he said that your filtration system cant handle the bio-load that you have. Whether or not you think that you dont have a big bio-load.
How many BB(bio-balls) do you have?


Luna

 

I removed all my bioballs but I have a ton of clean ones sitting under the tank not being used...do you think i should put some back in? I always heard they werent good for reefs...

 

No. Bioballs would help you if your problem was ammonia or nitrites. They will not help with excess nitrates (similar to my argument about Matrix). In fact, bioballs will end up creating more nitrates for you.

Ways of getting rid of nitrates:
1) DSB (deep sand bed)
2) Plenum
3) refugium with macroalgae (includes a turf scrubber)
4) Chemical filtration
5) Adding more live rock

 

Kevin,

I'm going to suggest something that is completely counter-intuitive. Increase your mechanical filtration. Nope, I'm not kidding but only for several hours every other week. I used model FB1 Aquatic Eco-Systems: Aquaculture Supplies - Filter Bags With Poly Ring Mouth but you have to stay home. Because it filters down to 1 micron, it can overflow in your sump. Depending on how your sump is designed, you might not be able to use this method because it might not fit on your drain hose where it dumps into the sump. After you blow off your rocks really well a couple of times over the course of a couple of hours, you're going to be shocked at how much detritus just resettles somewhere else in your system. The filter bag will be gross but all you have to do is turn it inside out and hit it with a garden hose. (You can also pop it in the washer inside out).

After doing this real well once, don't continue with the every other day cleaning of your rocks. Doing this too often will disturb the biofilms made of your bacteria and your rock won't get a chance to de-nitrify.

 

Each liter of Matrix™ provides as much surface (>~700 m2) as 170 liters of plastic balls! Plastic bio-materials provide only external surface area, whereas Matrix™ provides both external and internal macroporous surface area. These macropores are ideally sized for the support of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. This allows Matrix™, unlike other forms of biomedia, to remove nitrate along with ammonia and nitrite, simultaneously and in the same filter.

The above is a quote from the Seachem product discription on their website. Simply put, they state the pours in this type of media support both nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. That's the reason I believe this product works.

It takes care of the nitrates, not just nitrite and ammonia like other products..

 

Seachem claims the media supports both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria by having both external and internal macroporous surface area. The aerobic bacteria live externally whereas the anaerobic bacteria live internally.

My reef and the experience I had speaks for itself. I just wish some of the people who have read my thread and gave the stuff a try would comment on my thread about their experience. I've only gotten PM's about their successes..