This page
has been developed to give you a lot of valuable technical
information about nitrates and the nitrogen cycle. You do not
have to read this information to use the denitrator but it
is given to show the reader why frequent water changes are not
always needed.
Lets start with some basic facts. Every
living thing is composed of only a few
primary elements. Other elements are only
present in minute trace amounts. The most
common organic elements are oxygen, carbon,
hydrogen and nitrogen. Together, these atoms
form 96.3% of the Human body by weight.
There are a handful of other elements that
are commonly found in living animals such as
sulfur, phosphorus, calcium, sodium,
magnesium, and potassium.
These elements compose the building blocks
for our organic molecules, like proteins,
sugars, fats, and genetic material. These
elements also consist of ions needed for
common organic processes, like nerve cells
communicating with each other or moving
muscles.
Bacteria eventually break all of the complex
proteins and molecules in a living organism
down back to its basic elements. This is
part of the cycle of life. Most of the
decomposition is done by aerobic (with
oxygen) bacteria. The most abundant end
products of aerobic bacteria are
carbon dioxide, water, nitrates and
nitrites, sulfates, and phosphates.
In nature, plants will use up all or most of
the nitrates and phosphates available and
then animals eat the plants and the cycle
begins again. However, an aquarium is an
artificial system and it usually does not
have enough plants, if any, to use up the
available nitrates and phosphates. Most
aquariums also have a higher concentration
of fish than is found in nature.
Phosphates are not toxic to fish and other
aquarium inhabitants and thus are far less
of a problem than nitrates. They also
accumulate much more slowly than nitrates
and are less abundant. However, phosphates
can contribute to algae growth. Most algae
need both nitrates and phosphates to grow.
The only exception is cyanobacteria (red
slime algae) which does not need nitrate
although its growth is severely limited
without nitrates. In other words,
eliminating nitrates will eliminate almost
all algae problems but you will still want
to use some type of chemical phosphate
removal system and/or do occasional water
changes to keep phosphates under control.
Nitrates are less toxic than ammonia or
nitrites, but they are still toxic to
humans, animals and fish.
The EPA maximum allowable
nitrates in tap water is under 10 ppm. In
humans it causes a condition called blue
baby syndrome which is a very serious
condition that develops in infants exposed
to nitrates. It causes a similar condition
in livestock and fish. The condition is
caused because organisms tend to convert
some of the nitrates back into nitrite which
is extremely toxic. For example
check out
The EPA Consumer Factsheet on Nitrates.
Fish will definitely feel adverse effects
and become more stressed above 40 ppm which
is very easy to reach in your average fish
tank. Nitrates are also the primary
contributor to unwanted algae growth.
Fortunately there is now a natural, cost
effective way to remove the nitrates from
your tank using anaerobic (without oxygen)
bacteria which breaks down the nitrates into
nitrogen gas. Nitrates are much more of a
problem than phosphates due to their
toxicity and much greater abundance.
Remember, it is the fourth most common
element in the body.
The most common end products from anaerobic
decomposition are carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide, which are
all gases. They will be present in the
effluent in small amounts. The methane,
nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide are not very
soluble in water, much less so than oxygen
and carbon dioxide. Therefore when the
effluent is aerated, all of the methane, nitrogen,
and hydrogen sulfide will be released into
the atmosphere and replaced with oxygen.
None of these gases are toxic to humans or
fish until they are present in very large
quantities or in such large quantities as to
cause asphyxiation (no oxygen).
All aquariums inherently have enough water
flow to aerate the water as the fish
constantly use up oxygen in the water. If
there were not adequate water flow the fish
would suffocate. When the denitrator is
used, the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the
tank will balance each other out and the
methane, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide will
escape into the atmosphere. They will
not build up or remain in the aquarium.
The nitrates are simply converted to gases
that are released into the atmosphere.
The fundamental principles that apply to a
denitrator are the exact same principles
used by the "Jaubert" or "plenum" filtration
method. These have been successfully used
by aquarist for decades to
minimize tank maintenance. The downside to
these methods is that they are less
effective than a denitrator, complicated to
set up and require a very thick substrate
which can itself be very costly.
As you can clearly see, there really aren't
any mysterious substances lurking in your
fish tank just waiting to kill your fish if
you don't change water. Nitrates are the
primary reason to change the water in your
aquarium. Everyone has known about the
harmful effects of nitrates for years. Now,
you can do something about it. An
Aquaripure denitrator is an economical
and effective way to rid your tank of
nitrates. It will be much cheaper and
easier to maintain than using chemicals,
doing frequent water changes, or setting up
a plenum.
This is why you really can greatly reduce
water changes. Make sure you have strong
water flow and that you use enough
filtration. Unless it is a reef tank, use a
little activated carbon or a synthetic
adsorbent. Use a little phosphate remover
and do an occasional partial water change to
control phosphates and keep other trace
elements in balance. These tips are also
found in
Tips to a Successful Aquarium. Then all
you have to do is replace the water that is
lost by evaporation which should simply be
treated with a little water conditioner
before being added to the tank.
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2003-2008, Aquaripure, LLC,
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