Jbl Clearmec Plus

[Scatta]

Has anyone used JBL Clearmec Plus filter media before? If so, is it any good? I'm having trouble keeping my nitrates down in my brackish tank and wondered if this stuff was any good. It claims to remove nitrites, nitrates and phosphates for up to 3 months.

I'm aware that I can control nitrates with water changes, but I was wanting to know if this filter media was any good. Also, can anyone suggest any other nitrate / nitrite removal media that is good?

Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

What your tap nitrate reading, and what your tank nitrate reading.
the best method is water changes.

 

[Scatta]

Not sure of tap nitrate reading, have done one before and can't remember the value. Will do one at some point soon. Nitrate reading was 100+ mg/l and my nitrite was around 0.5mg/l. I know these readings are awful, but this is less than 48 hours since I performed a 25% water change. I'm baffled as to why these readings are so bad as I have a Juwel internal and an Eheim 2026 external running on my system, both fully cycled. The only thing I did recently was buffer my pH with Waterlife 8.3 Buffer. Could the change in pH effect the bacteria colonies in any way?

The fish are fine, by the way. All feeding, all active and all breathing normally. I have added 250g of New Era CarbonActive tonight to help things along. Also, the water in the tank has a yellow tint to it (this isn't tannins from bogwood). Could it be a phosphate problem?

Sorry about all the questions!

EDIT: Should've mentioned, this is a brackish set-up, so I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Do you have oraments in the tank, when did you last take them out to do a gravel vac.
How long has the tank been set up.
Yellow water can be a sign of a high ammonia reading

 

[Scatta]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.

Juwel Rio 240l. Not sure of exact dimensions, but it is 121cm in length.

How many fish and which type.

Mono x 2
Mono Sebae x 2
Knight Goby x 1
Purple Spotted Goby x 1
Archer Fish (Toxotes Jac.) x 1
Orange Chromide Cichlid x 1

Do you have oraments in the tank, when did you last take them out to do a gravel vac.

Ocean rock and Mopani wood. I use silver sand and siphon waste away from under rocks / wood with every water change.

How long has the tank been set up.

This tank has been running for around 2-3 months, but I used filter media from my old tank that had been matured for around a year. Not had any problems until now.

 

[WILDER]

With the nitrate being a high reading one of the sponges might want a slight rinse in tank water in a bucket.

 

[Scatta]

Yeah, I was thinking the same. Not cleaned my external at all since I installed it (2-3 months ago). I was informed that it only needed cleaning every 4 months or so.

Has anyone tried JBL Clearmec Plus at all (thought I'd best get back on track!)?