The Puffer Forum

See my sig for the best solution to lowering nitrate. Remove the canister. I'd forget about the rubble. I prefer Purigen--it's recharagable & not messy like carbon. You can buy them already bagged at DFS (see the sitcky on rebates for them). How did you cure the rock? If it was totally uncurred, everything in that tank would be dead from the ammonia given off from die-off in the rock.

Where would I put the purigen bags if I removed the canister? Couldn't I just remove the media, leave the foam filter (but clean it obviously), and put purigen in the compartments? I might as well keep it there for water circulation as well.

As for the LR, it must be cured then, because I haven't had any ammonia problems. I called the lfs to ask, but the guy was one of the less knowledgeable ones. He said he didn't know, they don't do anything to it once they get it.

I can fit 2 bags of Purigen in the intake side of my AC filter. Again--not necessary for a non-reef tank.

Good news... my puffer is now eating shrimp, squid, and clam meat.

So I am going to be making some changes to my filtration this week. I ordered some purigen (the reviews looked promising for helping keep nitrates low). I'm going to put that and I'm going to try putting rubble rock in my canister filter (I read where someone else did that). Thanks for all the advice. It has definately been helpful. I guess I shouldn't have relied on my lfs for all my needs.

Just keep an eye on the flow of the canister, it will clog quickly.

What about those Aquapure nitrate filters? Are they worth it? They are quite pricey.

I wouldn't bother.