nitrate problem? SUGAR WORKS! >75 to <2.5 ppm in a month!!!!

[supernareg]

OKAY! wow i'm sooooooo ASTONISHED!!!!!



i had been battling crazy high nitrates for over a year. i'm talking about over 50. but, everything was thriving in my tanks, no SPS / lps / zoos died, infact they were growing. i tested nitrates multiple times, and all the times it was high. and i know its not a bad kit, cause now they're LOW!

nothing could change it. upon building my new sump, i made room for fuge with cheato. it grows nicely with a normal 16watt compact flourescent (from home depot, for like 2 bux) the spiral kind.

after reading about the sugar treatment, i decided i'd try it. dosing 1/3 TEAspoon (for a 40gal system) every 3 days for a week, and then 1/2 TABLE spoon 2 times, in a matter of i'd say a month, my nitrates were down to LESS THAN 2.5 (showing 0 on the test kit)

i dont know if its the sugar or the cheato... but my skimmers been pulling out crazy thicker skimmate, so i'm SURE its the sugar and not the cheato.


SUGAR WORKS!!!!! BUT DO IT IN SMALL DOSAGE !!!!!!!!!!


for the record, i didnt experience the cloudy water for a couple days (bacterial bloom) but my nitrates gone. i tested 2 times, both 0 and under 2.5

SO HAPPY TRY IT PEOPLE!


no corals / fish harmed.

[Driftwood]

Amazing, thanks for the info. This is very similar to the other reports I'm seeing. Keep us posted on your nitrate level and how your tank is doing over time.

[danskim]

Hmm interesting...

[Angel*Fish]

Kind of reminds me of that Mel Gibson movie where the aliens were taking over the earth until they figured out simple tap water would kill them -

[thriceanangel]

I'm totally on this bandwagon. I went from 120-160ppm to about 10ppm in a month. And still going down. Only one coral is showing signs of stress, and its a candy not sps. I think that the stress is from the rapid change, so be careful. Also not too much at once. It causes a bacterial bloom which I have heard can steal your O2. But if you have a nitrate problem, this really works!!!

[zooty]

Do you add the sugar right to the tank? Plain table sugar?

[thriceanangel]

Yep! Grandmas old white granulated sugar! Same thing you put in your coffee ( if you do). I have heard that you can also use vodka because what you're doing is adding a carbon source for bacteria to bloom, and when the carbon runs out they eat up the NO3. Definately start small, and be ready to run venturis, bubblers etc if you start to see things get cloudy. Also I have heard that you need a good skimmer as well. I already have one, so I don't know what would happen without it. BUt mine goes NUTs every time I dose the tank.

[j2me5ku]

can you do this treatment even though you dont have a skimmer? i have the same problem as supernareg, but i dont have a fuge or skimmer? my nitrates read around 20-30 ppm with a Red Sea kit. nitrites 0 and ammonia 0.

also for how long do you keep up with this treatment? it seems like about a month and half; or when nitrates go down significantly?

[Duce]

I think I am going to give this a shot as well.....I guess I am going to try with 1 tbl spoon first...would that be OK?
Oh wait....1/3 of a tbl for a 40...mine is a 77G....I think I will try 1/4 of a tbl first....
Stupid question .... would it mess with your salanity....

[Roadtoad]

j2m
Dont do it without a skimmer! It works by causing rapid growth of bacteria which use nitrogen in the water as they grow. The skimmer then removes the bacteria (and therefore nitrate) from the water column and makes a smelly nog in the cup. I have used low doses of ethanol to do the same thing. The key is to use small doses and have an efficient skimmer.

[j2me5ku]

darn....i just sold mine cuz i was gonna downgrade my tank to a nano...hmm i guess i just gotta keep working on the water changes

[miska]

Y give you an exemple how can you realise the cheapest dosage of sugar or alcohol:take a plastic botle of 100-200 ml,conect a tube to the stopper ,make another hole of 1-2 mm, fuil with water ,sink into sump or is better in the anaerobe biological filter ,make a grape sugar solution and inject in the tube ,however the dosage rate is not uniform but the getting of the carbon sourse will delonging trough the small hole.this is demonstabil if you ad insted sugar litle ink into it and sink in a water and wait...(y use alcohol ,y think it's better than the grape sugar).

[SimilanRocks]

guys thanks for the info i will try some

[j2me5ku]

ok...so when i got home, i did my weekly water change. i checked my params and everything is fine except my nitrates. i seriously need help lowering it because it is out of control.

params:
nitrate - >40
ammonia - 0
ph - 8.2
alk - ~ 2.8 - 2.9
nitrites - 0

it never seems to go down...maybe its because it was a FOWLR tank for so long and now im trying to make it into a reef. (when it was a FOWLR i only did water changes once every 3 weeks, and i guess thats when the nitrates started building up)
whats methods will help lower my nitrates in the long run?

[Waxxiemann]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8703538#post8703538 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish
Kind of reminds me of that Mel Gibson movie where the aliens were taking over the earth until they figured out simple tap water would kill them -

LOL

[Roadtoad]

J2, just get another skimmer-buy it used, your tank doesnt need a huge one...or you could always DIY one.

[bguile]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8800532#post8800532 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roadtoad
It works by causing rapid growth of bacteria which use nitrogen in the water as they grow.
So is this saying that adding sugar during cycling could help shorten the cycling period by the increased bloom of bacteria??:hmm2:

[Cody Ray]

Just a word of caution from someone who has done this before. It can cause a VERY SERIOUS drop in dissolved oxygen levels. This will make short work of pretty much everything in ur system and cause a very nasty crash. IMO/IME this should only be done by people who have done a TON of research on proper dosing, have a larger system that can handle the situation better, and have a serious nitrate issue. I don't consider this a permenant solution as it is risky to continue this practice for an extended period of time due to the chance of a large system crash.

[MiddletonMark]

I would not use this during cycling, given the issues raised by Cody above ... and that there's more than just bacteria growth happening during cycling [as things die off, they release a lot of secondary metabolites/etc that you don't want your livestock exposed to IMO].

[thriceanangel]

In regards to the o2 level drop, I overdosed my tank initially. I should have used at MOST a teaspoon, but I used a HEAPING tablespoon instead. Had a BIG bacterial bloom, (almost couldn't see through the width of the tank 75 Gallon) but I lost nothing due to o2 starvation. I agree that it is possible, but with venturis, and a large bubble stone running, everything turned out fine. Everything did better actually almost immediately. Gorgs, and sps were loving it, feeding constantly, and it dropped the nitrated about 100ppm. THAT was what the coprals had a more difficult time adjusting to (actually just one candy coral that still hasn't opened fully since the initial drop) But I think that anyone with a nitrate problem should have little issue in doing this. IME just use about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon per 50 total system gallons depending on the nitratte problem and there should be no issues. Stand by with bubble stones, and powerhead venturis in case the water starts to get cloudy indicating a bacterial bloom that may deplete O2 levels. In the end your tank will be better off. And with regular water changes, I don't see any reason that this can't continue long term.

[nemodude]

What can I do about my nitrate problem in my 15 gallon FOWLR tank? The nitrates were well over 100ppm, so I did a 75 % water change to find out that it only brought it down to 30 ppm. I know thats acceptable for some hardy fish, but I'd like to get it lower so I can introduce some mushrooms and cleaner shrimp.

[Angel*Fish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8856386#post8856386 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nemodude
What can I do about my nitrate problem in my 15 gallon FOWLR tank? The nitrates were well over 100ppm, so I did a 75 % water change to find out that it only brought it down to 30 ppm. I know thats acceptable for some hardy fish, but I'd like to get it lower so I can introduce some mushrooms and cleaner shrimp. That's about what you'd expect. If you were to do another 75% water change you'd wind up with about 7 ppm - that is if you don't produce any more nitrates :)

[dibblm]

What about Nitrate sponges VS the sugar method. I have been fighting a Nitrate problem for some time now (3 months) with bi-weekly 30% water changes. Nothing.....

I just bought 2 bags of chemipure I think was the brand. for my 135 tank.

I will wait a week or so to see results. If not I will try the sugar as well as nothing ! is helping....