Nitrates

[Jivenjune]

I've been given various information on the topic of nitrates; however, much of it seems inconsistent at best. I've heard that there is, in existence, a type of bacteria which can consume or decrease nitrates within an aquarium. Again, however, this seems to under somewhat rigid circumstances. If this bacteria exists, does it exist only in nature? If no bacteria exists to reduce nitrates, how are nitrates removed naturally in nature?

[Dadof4]

If no bacteria exists to reduce nitrates, how are nitrates removed naturally in nature?

In nature nitrates are consumed by plant life.

[Jivenjune]

If no bacteria exists to reduce nitrates, how are nitrates removed naturally in nature?

In nature nitrates are consumed by plant life.

So does algae just take care of that in salt water?

[Pufferpunk]

Exactly. That is the purpose of a refugium.

[Myaj]

Part of what might be confusing you is there are nitrItes and nitrAtes.. there is a bacteria that "eats" nitrItes, and in fact, changes them to nitrAtes.

In the wild, a combination of many things removes/reduces nitrates. Wild stocking levels will simply never reach the amounts we stuff into our home tanks, for one thing. Nature knows best, and when populations get too high, things adjust.

But keep in mind, in the wild, there are CONSTANT water changes going on. Run off, rainfall, underground springs, merging rivers, etc etc. So the main way we get rid of nitrates in the home aquarium, via water changes, is also going on in nature on a much larger scale.

Plant life does help as well of course, as well as other biological processes involving deep, deep substrate. But overall, its simply a matter of nature being way less overstocked than a "pet fish tank" and being able to compensate by fully natural ways.

[Jivenjune]

Part of what might be confusing you is there are nitrItes and nitrAtes.. there is a bacteria that "eats" nitrItes, and in fact, changes them to nitrAtes.

In the wild, a combination of many things removes/reduces nitrates. Wild stocking levels will simply never reach the amounts we stuff into our home tanks, for one thing. Nature knows best, and when populations get too high, things adjust.

But keep in mind, in the wild, there are CONSTANT water changes going on. Run off, rainfall, underground springs, merging rivers, etc etc. So the main way we get rid of nitrates in the home aquarium, via water changes, is also going on in nature on a much larger scale.

Plant life does help as well of course, as well as other biological processes involving deep, deep substrate. But overall, its simply a matter of nature being way less overstocked than a "pet fish tank" and being able to compensate by fully natural ways.

This makes sense. My nitrates aren't high by any means. They are well below 20; however, it bothers me a little that they are the only thing I can't remove without rigorous efforts on my part. I've gotten a lot of advice on how to reduce them, but I was just curious if there was actually a bacteria that could consume nitrates. I heard anaerobic bacteria could do it, but to grow it requires specific requirements. I'll likely just go with a refugium at some point and let my chaeto grow wild.

[Myaj]

Yeah, the anaerobic bacteria is the whole deep sand bed thing.

If we stocked our tanks the way nature stocks the ocean, we'd have nice little ecosystems that wouldn't need us to intervene at all.. but that's just not feasable.

[Jivenjune]

Yeah, the anaerobic bacteria is the whole deep sand bed thing.

If we stocked our tanks the way nature stocks the ocean, we'd have nice little ecosystems that wouldn't need us to intervene at all.. but that's just not feasable.

Do fluidized bed reactors do this?

[Myaj]

I have no idea, I never read up on them.

[Pufferpunk]

You could add a veggie filter to your system:
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article69.html

[Dadof4]

Yeah, the anaerobic bacteria is the whole deep sand bed thing.

If we stocked our tanks the way nature stocks the ocean, we'd have nice little ecosystems that wouldn't need us to intervene at all.. but that's just not feasable.

Do fluidized bed reactors do this?

Actually, no. Fluidized Sand Filters work like normal bacterial filters. What makes them work so well is the sand provides huge surface area for nitrifying bacteria to grow. You have a pump pushing water through sand and an adjustment knob to control the flow going through the sand. The object of a FBF is to keep the sand in a quicksand like state.

[beano_baby]

Yes there are anaerobic bacteria that do. The only options to efficiently culture it is through a deep sand bed or a denitrator.

Seep sand beds will only work in salt water and are very experimental with freshwater with most tests killing off the entire tank. Denitrators are also finicky and many people who have used them have had no effect of have killed there entire tank off. They can be used effectively but I will never risk it. It takes less than 30 min for one mistake to kill every member of the tank.

The best way to keep nitrates low is to keep a low bio load in the tank and use plants. The best plants are those that can take CO2 from the air. Also Algae scrubbers are extremely efficient. With my small one it takes a month to get my nitrates above 5 then with a 80% water change they are low again. This week I plan on moving my 4 inch Fahaka out of his 30 gallon and into a 100 gallon with a 30 gallon sump and a larger algae scrubber. The goal is to keep the nitrates un-readable between water changes.