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Post by Carl on Mar 27, 2015 11:35:35 GMT -5
Thanks for the video! This helps much. Your fluidation looks good. One though came to my mind that might be missing and that is the use of Purigen, as these BioPlasitics are designed to run with a Protein Skimmer (hence why it is not often mentioned for FW use), but use of Purigen takes the place in Freshwater. This also then means that many Redox reducers will be scavenged, so make sure to have Wonder Shells present, if only fractions of one Carl
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anti
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Post by anti on Mar 27, 2015 11:53:39 GMT -5
i am using purigen and wondershells but it seems like the denitrafication bacteria isnt growing as of yet. its been 19+ days. as a side note it took 21 days for the tank to cycle. i know denitrafication bacteria take longer so idk
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 28, 2015 9:53:18 GMT -5
actually i bumped it up to 300 ml two days ago. dont know why im not getting any results as of yet. what im concerned of is that i had to dump out the majority of the sand and pellets so i could put more pellets in. im wondering if that starts the whole denitrafication process all over again? I hope you have another filter helping while your getting this filter dialed in.
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anti
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Post by anti on Mar 28, 2015 21:26:13 GMT -5
yes; remember that this was into addition to my sump. I wanted to do this in the hopes of eliminating nitrates to a great degree. I just dont know what to do to "dial it in"....if anything. How long did it take for your nitrates to go down? A week, 3 weeks? Any tips would be appreciated
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Post by Carl on Mar 29, 2015 11:28:45 GMT -5
I am starting to question that maybe the test kit is not accurate? While anaerobic filtration takes many weeks to take effect, the NPX Bioplastics are generally much quicker
What test kit are you using and how long have you had it?
Have you tried testing the new water before adding it to the aquarium as a baseline?
Carl
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anti
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Post by anti on Mar 29, 2015 12:31:11 GMT -5
i have been using 2. api and seachem. i tested new water with 0 nitrates. tested tank water with both and same result with high nitrates. api doesnt expire till 2019. i use it weekly. does it matter if the water going in the fsb is oxygenated? not that it is in purpose but it is in the middle baffle in the sump. just wondering at at a loss. i see virtually no bacteria growth on the biopellets. the few discoloration and deformity are far and few inbetween that i see
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Post by Carl on Mar 29, 2015 15:32:09 GMT -5
The water should be reasonably oxygenated (5-7 ppm) I do have to wonder if how this is positioned ub the sump is the issue, as this has not been a problem that I know before. You really will not notice any bacterial activity in the NPX Bioplastic, these simply get consumed thus slowly get smaller until gone From the NPX Bioplastics Page: "These NPX Bioplastics polymers (developed by Julian Sprung) provide a time-released source of food for bacteria that can quickly assimilate nitrate and phosphate."Reference: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/TwoLittleFishies.htmlCarl
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anti
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Post by anti on Mar 29, 2015 16:19:34 GMT -5
now i have seen some get smaller. i stuck a flashlight through the back to see how much tumbling i had. i was able to decrease the flow somewhat and still get good tumbling action. well see what this brings. all trouble shooting reference i see has to do with it working too well over time. figures i would get the oppisite reaction! lol
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 30, 2015 9:03:29 GMT -5
yes; remember that this was into addition to my sump. I wanted to do this in the hopes of eliminating nitrates to a great degree. I just dont know what to do to "dial it in"....if anything. How long did it take for your nitrates to go down? A week, 3 weeks? Any tips would be appreciated It took only a couple weeks. The sand filter was the only thing I was working on at the time. I have a light bio-load too.
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anti
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Post by anti on Mar 31, 2015 10:20:07 GMT -5
I dont see how bio-load makes a difference since nitrates are still being produced. right now my nitrates are getting dangerously close to 50 ppm if not there already. I am wondering if I am feeding them too much. I started feeding them home-made food which they love. I feed them approx 6 grams twice a day, but they eat it all and looking for more. I'm also wondering if what people were saying are true about sumps being nitrate factories. I am noticing the purigen has barely has changed colors which makes me believe that maybe my DOC isnt that bad. The tank is around 230 and new water going in is 174. Irregardless of how high nitrates are, as of right now the biopellets do not seem to function as advertised. Guess I'll wait a couple of more weeks and bring the ml to the full 400 ml. maybe i should do further testing. maybe i should stop feeding for a couple of days to see if nitrates go up stay the same or go down
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Post by Carl on Mar 31, 2015 10:55:01 GMT -5
Bio load does make a difference since the larger the bio load the faster nitrates are produced Reference: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2013/03/bio-load-in-aquarium-or-pond.htmlIf your Bioplastics are getting smaller, they are in fact getting consumed by nitrate consuming bacteria which brings us back to bio load and the baseline nitrate levels. The color of the Purigen is not an indicator of Bioplastics function How well your FSB filter is "fluidizing" will make some difference on effectiveness too Maybe a video of this might help Carl
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Apr 1, 2015 16:12:44 GMT -5
I'm thinking there's something other than the filter going wrong. As far as I can tell, it's set up correctly and fluidizing correctly. I'm wondering what's going with other filtration or water change schedule. Over feeding only becomes a problem when there's not enough filtration.
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Post by Carl on Apr 1, 2015 16:35:39 GMT -5
How well your FSB filter is "fluidizing" will make some difference on effectiveness too Maybe a video of this might help Carl My bad, you did make a video a little while back, sorry, with all the work and emails I get, I sometime loose track of each persons issue I am trying to help with Anyway, in looking at the video, you clearly have mostly NPX Bioplastics which work best with the sand and no more than 50% Bioplastics to sand (generally less). You also might consider moving the return directly to the aquarium if possibe Carl
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Post by Carl on Apr 2, 2015 9:07:02 GMT -5
In going back and looking at your sump, especially since wet/dry filter are notorious "Nitrate Factories", I would suggest slowly changing out the bio media in the chanber above the water line with Volcanic rock.
This is only a partial solution, since this problem with Wet/dry filters can not be fully solved with changes in filter media.
From our Aquarium Filtration Article; Wet/Dry Section: "Popular with fish only marine aquariums in particular (although not so much with pure reef enthusiasts), these filters are great biological filters for control of ammonia and nitrites, but poor mechanical filters. They also can become “nitrate factories” like canister filters if not maintained properly. In fact while I have successfully set up canister filters in a way to cut down on nitrate production, this is nearly impossible with a true wet/dry filter. Generally, the common bio ball wet/dry such as in the picture, which also includes the popular eshopps wet/dry filters, while excellent for control of nitrites and ammonia, are also often VERY problematic for creating sometimes very difficult to control nitrate levels over 40 ppm! "
Carl
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anti
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Post by anti on Apr 5, 2015 20:42:30 GMT -5
i fook out fhe sand to make room for more npx in attempt to kickstart it. my wet/dry is well maintainted and very clean. i do see pellets getting smaller but i am wondering if my bio load is higher then i thought which is weird considering i only have 6 fish. im also starting to wonder if the home made food is the culprit for the nitrates. as of today nitrates still climb to 40 ppm within 3 days. this is after a 30 gallon water change Twice a week. im considering putting the Last 100 ml of npx in the bring it up to the full 400 ml. i think i made a mistake in buying the smallest reactor. i should have brought the nezt size up cause i dont think another 100 ml of npx will fit. its already fluidized to the top line as it is
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Apr 6, 2015 9:26:08 GMT -5
Well at least the Nitrates are not unbearable. I know my tank is only 1/2 the size of yours, but I didn't have to put that much to get my Nitrates down to zero. I put in like 5-7 tsp. and was set with a quick decrease. hmmm
Are we sure the water in the sump is getting recycled through the whole system? Could the sand filter intake be to close to the outtake?
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Post by Carl on Apr 6, 2015 11:30:03 GMT -5
i fook out fhe sand to make room for more npx in attempt to kickstart it. my wet/dry is well maintainted and very clean. The sand is important for the first part of bio filtration, but this can be made up elsewhere too. As for Wet/dry filters, I have used many of them extensively, and unless configured in a way that the media is totally submersed and then this media is highly porous such as volcanic rock, Matrix, live rock (marine aquariums), in 100% of the filters, the high oxygen levels in the media exposed to air produces copious amount of nitrates. Partial rinsing on a regular basic partly solves this problem, but the FACT remains that this is a known issue with true wet/dry filters as noted in my article. Carl
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anti
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Post by anti on Apr 7, 2015 14:07:02 GMT -5
see thats why i like you carl; bringing me back to basics so i dont forget. seems thT i have to refer back to your articles more often.
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