NitrAte removing sponge

[stephend]

I have a Jewel Trigon 190 tank that has an in-tank corner filter. One of the sponges I got with it is a green "Nitrate Removal Sponge".

The leaflet that comes with it says the sponge contains 'high efficient biological substances' that consume nutrients. It claoms it will reduce nitrates to zero.

I thought that only ammonia and nitrItes could be consumed by bacteria, and nitrAtes had to be kept in check with water changes. Is this not the case?

I am asking because I am trying to do a fishless cycle, and I am not certain my tank is sufficiently seeded with bacteria to start consuming the ammonia. If this sponge contains bacteria, then I could use it to help out, but I'm not sure I believe what it says on the packet.

Can bacteria consume nitrAtes? Do you think I should put it in at this early stage of my fishless cycle (I'm about 5 days into it, and no nitrIte spike yet).

Cheers,

Stephen.

 

[Def]

You don;t want to put it in during your cycle - you need to monitor nitrates (as well as ammonia and nitrite) to check your cycles progress. You're also better off doing a 90%+ water change at the end of the cycle to get rid of the nitrate.

As far as I know, there are no bacteria that consume nitrate. I'm not 100% sure on this. These nitrate "eating" products are just chemicals that convert their designated target (ammonia, nitrate for eg) into a non-toxic version. You can get ammolock for ammonia etc...

Water changes are a good idea. You're doing them a) to remove toxins in the water and B) to clean the tank of detritus. These products are quick fixes for emergencies, not long term replacements.

I didn't explain that very well...

 

[Tolak]

There is a way of removing nitrite with bacteria, though from what I've heard it can be touchy, and if the flow rate screws up it can release toxins into the tank. Using an extremly low flow rate, a half gallon per hour or so, on a larger, sealed filter to create an anaerobic condition, the bacteria turn nitrites into nitrogen gas. Other than this, water changes are your best bet.

Tolak

 

[WILDER]

Whats your tap nitrates, best way to fetch nitrates down is water changes.

 

[CFC]

The green sponges in the juwel filters are supposed to work by creating a enviroment in which anerobic bacteria can establish colonies without the risk of exposing the fish to the harmfull bi-product of sulphur dioxide gas, these bacteria survive in low oxygen enviroments and live by scavenging oxygen from the N03 leaving it as relatively harmless nitrogen gas which escapes into the atmosphere. However the high flow rates of the juwel filtration system dont make for the best habbitat for these bacteria and unless you seriously under maintain your filter you are unlikely to see much effect on your nitrate levels.
To get functional nitrate filtration really you need to set up a seperate low flow sealed canister with a media designed to promote the survival of anerobic bacteria, but unless you have a very large system or are keeping fish which are not appreciative of water changes (fish that require aged water) then these are unnessesary as water changes do the same job as well as removing other hamfull substances from the tank.

 

[stephend]

Thanks for your advice folks. I will leave the green sponge out for now. I started my fishless cycle a week ago, but from reading elsewhere here, it can take quite a few weeks to go through the various parts of the cycle.

Time to be patient!

Thanks again,


Stephen.