jazzyz
Member
found this while researching, its old but what do u guys think.??
Denitrification Explained- Don't Bother
by cheroske-at-ocf.berkeley.edu (Jay Cheroske)
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 1994
It's really sad that such a simple issue has become so tangled and
convoluted, but I'll admit right off that it's easy to become confused when
the industry makes money off of people's confusion. In a nutshell,
DENIRIFICATION IS BU-at-%#*IT. It's not worth the trouble or the money to try
and set up a denit filter. Many people would have you believe there is no
way to remove NO3 from a tank without resorting to biological reduction.
This of course is totally wrong.
There are three ways to remove nitrate from a tank: 1) Use denitrification
to reduce NO3 to N2 gas, via anarobic bacteria, which then bubbles out of
your tank, or 2) Place some higher plants or macroalgae in your tank, which
will take up the NO3 and sequester it (it can then be harvested), or 3) Set
up an algal scrubber, which will remove NO3 from the water more effectivly
than the previous two.
The problem with denitrification is that it's a pain to set up, you're not
really sure it's doing anything, strange stuff can come out of your denit
filter if something goes wrong, and finally, the water that comes out of
the filter is almost totally depleted in O2. Just think what the RedOx
level of that stuff must be!!!
Higher plants and macroalgae work good except that they have a tendency to
take over your entire tank. I would recomend placing your plants on a rock
that is easially removed so that when you harvest the stuff you can see if
it's starting to spread. Remove the rock and pull off any strands that have
attached themselves to other rocks. This method is very effective at
removing NO3 and has the added benefit of adding O2 to your tank, which
raises RedOx levels.
Lastly we come to the mighty algal scrubber, the most effective filter in
the world. I'm not going to describe a scrubber--there are plenty of good
books with lots of info, but I will say that no filter offers the benefits
of a scrubber with the ease of use. During they day the scrubber lights can
be turned off because RedOx levels are higher during the day.
Photosynthesis by plants (and in the case of a reef tank, corals and other
symbionts) raises RedOx levels. At night, RedOx levels typically fall
significantly because there is no photosynthesis taking place. This where
the scrubber really shows its beauty--the scrubber is turned on opposite
the tank lights so that there is no drop in RedOx levels overnight. Your
stuff never has to deal with a period where conditions are
less-than-optimum.
In my opinion there are two types of aquarists out there-- those that
prefer to set up a balanced system that basically takes care of itself
without the use of such things as ozone, strange filter medias, CO2
injectors, controllers, etc., and those that feel that in order to maintain
an aquarium, every factor that can be controled externally should be
controlled externally. Just check out the "high-tech reef system" in Moe
for an example. The industry loves this second type because they can sell
him/her all these useless gadgets and charge an arm and a leg for them. The
downside of this is that a) many people spend money on things they do not
need, and b) it makes people outside the hobby view it as an expensive and
complicated pursuit, and scares them away. As for which method works
better, a look at our dying planet should tell you-- whenever mankind tries
to improve on mother nature he always screws things up.
I've bought lots of stuff that I wish I'd never purshased (XNitrate for
one) and don't want other hobbists to waste their money on things they do
not need. Reading a FAMA usually provides me with a small amount of useful
info and a lot of frustration because I see so many ads for products that
are basically useless.
<flame on>
The following is not need in a reef tank:
trickle filter, carbon, poly filter, ozone, any other filter media,
controller, reactor, denit filter.
<flame off>
what is needed:
bright light, algal scrubber, protein skimmer (maybe), good live rock, good
tank plant growth, high flow rate, some type of sediment trap (could be 100
micron filter bag, sponge in overflow, gravel on bottom, etc.)
Now I just sit back and wait...
Jay
Denitrification Explained- Don't Bother
by cheroske-at-ocf.berkeley.edu (Jay Cheroske)
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 1994
It's really sad that such a simple issue has become so tangled and
convoluted, but I'll admit right off that it's easy to become confused when
the industry makes money off of people's confusion. In a nutshell,
DENIRIFICATION IS BU-at-%#*IT. It's not worth the trouble or the money to try
and set up a denit filter. Many people would have you believe there is no
way to remove NO3 from a tank without resorting to biological reduction.
This of course is totally wrong.
There are three ways to remove nitrate from a tank: 1) Use denitrification
to reduce NO3 to N2 gas, via anarobic bacteria, which then bubbles out of
your tank, or 2) Place some higher plants or macroalgae in your tank, which
will take up the NO3 and sequester it (it can then be harvested), or 3) Set
up an algal scrubber, which will remove NO3 from the water more effectivly
than the previous two.
The problem with denitrification is that it's a pain to set up, you're not
really sure it's doing anything, strange stuff can come out of your denit
filter if something goes wrong, and finally, the water that comes out of
the filter is almost totally depleted in O2. Just think what the RedOx
level of that stuff must be!!!
Higher plants and macroalgae work good except that they have a tendency to
take over your entire tank. I would recomend placing your plants on a rock
that is easially removed so that when you harvest the stuff you can see if
it's starting to spread. Remove the rock and pull off any strands that have
attached themselves to other rocks. This method is very effective at
removing NO3 and has the added benefit of adding O2 to your tank, which
raises RedOx levels.
Lastly we come to the mighty algal scrubber, the most effective filter in
the world. I'm not going to describe a scrubber--there are plenty of good
books with lots of info, but I will say that no filter offers the benefits
of a scrubber with the ease of use. During they day the scrubber lights can
be turned off because RedOx levels are higher during the day.
Photosynthesis by plants (and in the case of a reef tank, corals and other
symbionts) raises RedOx levels. At night, RedOx levels typically fall
significantly because there is no photosynthesis taking place. This where
the scrubber really shows its beauty--the scrubber is turned on opposite
the tank lights so that there is no drop in RedOx levels overnight. Your
stuff never has to deal with a period where conditions are
less-than-optimum.
In my opinion there are two types of aquarists out there-- those that
prefer to set up a balanced system that basically takes care of itself
without the use of such things as ozone, strange filter medias, CO2
injectors, controllers, etc., and those that feel that in order to maintain
an aquarium, every factor that can be controled externally should be
controlled externally. Just check out the "high-tech reef system" in Moe
for an example. The industry loves this second type because they can sell
him/her all these useless gadgets and charge an arm and a leg for them. The
downside of this is that a) many people spend money on things they do not
need, and b) it makes people outside the hobby view it as an expensive and
complicated pursuit, and scares them away. As for which method works
better, a look at our dying planet should tell you-- whenever mankind tries
to improve on mother nature he always screws things up.
I've bought lots of stuff that I wish I'd never purshased (XNitrate for
one) and don't want other hobbists to waste their money on things they do
not need. Reading a FAMA usually provides me with a small amount of useful
info and a lot of frustration because I see so many ads for products that
are basically useless.
<flame on>
The following is not need in a reef tank:
trickle filter, carbon, poly filter, ozone, any other filter media,
controller, reactor, denit filter.
<flame off>
what is needed:
bright light, algal scrubber, protein skimmer (maybe), good live rock, good
tank plant growth, high flow rate, some type of sediment trap (could be 100
micron filter bag, sponge in overflow, gravel on bottom, etc.)
Now I just sit back and wait...
Jay
