Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tanks and Equipment => Topic started by: Littlefish on July 13, 2018, 07:44:07 AM

Title: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Littlefish on July 13, 2018, 07:44:07 AM
Nitrates in my tap water are 40ppm.  :o
According to my water company website they have seen a steady increase in nitrates over the past 30 years, and "detailed analysis of data taken from  routine samples has given us a  clear indication that chemical quality and an ability to comply with the water quality nitrate standard is likely to fail during the next five years, as nitrate levels continue to increase."
They currently blend the water with that from a lower nitrate source, but are at their limit for blending, so have put an alternative plan in place. "In delivering our plan we have now commissioned our first nitrate removal plant, with a second currently under construction and due for completion this year.  We have also built a number of booster stations in our distribution network to ensure the treated water can get to where it is needed.  We plan to construct third nitrate removal plant before 2015."
As we are now in 2018, and still have nitrate levels of 40ppm, I'm looking for alternatives to reduce the amounts of nitrates in the water going into my tanks.
Does anyone have any experience with nitrate removal filter media? Does it work? Does it have any other impact on the water?
Has anyone used anything other products to reduce nitrate?
Has anyone used hydra stream filters?
I can't really use a tap water/RO water mix for my axolotl tank because I don't really want to reduce the hardness of the water too much, although I can reduce it a little. Those guys are also not too good with floating plants because it's quite a low light tank, and the axolotls would probably eat the plants by mistake when going to the surface for air.
I'm also a tad reluctant to add chemicals to the water with any of my tanks, but especially for the axolotls - they may be built like tanks, and be quite cumbersome, but they do have very sensitive skin.
I'm in the process of reworking a lot of my tanks, and most of them will end up with more plants, but that doesn't seem to be enough to have any sort of significant impact on my nitrates.
Any suggestions, or information based on personal experience, would be much appreciated.  :)
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: daveyng on July 13, 2018, 08:50:41 AM
I have a Pozzani nitrate removal filter which I used at every water change until I went to 50/50 RO. it’s one of “10” big blue” range of filters. It is really effective at removing nitrate. I purchased one of the larger models as I used it on a daily basis. The filters lasted about 3 months as my tap water is very hard.
Don’t know what the current cost is I paid about £50 for it. Replacement filters are about £27.00 a pop.
Have a look for Pozzani in your web browser.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Littlefish on July 13, 2018, 09:35:03 AM
Thanks for the information @daveyng
The Pozzani filters look as if they could be a good answer to my nitrate problem, and very reasonably priced.
I also see that they do a filter for reducing water hardness as well....I may have a look into this to see if I could do away with purchasing RO water from the LFS for the river tank.
Very interesting.  ;D
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Matt on July 13, 2018, 06:20:06 PM
I'm going to look this up too... but one thought before I do... could you store freshwater in a tub with floating plants for a week prior to putting it in the aquarium? Not sure how effective this would be...
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Matt on July 13, 2018, 06:22:49 PM
Be interested to hear @Sue s thoughts on the water hardness reducing filter which appears to work on an ion exchange basis... I seem to recall something that this isn't great for fish?
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Sue on July 13, 2018, 07:32:40 PM
The problem with ion exchange resins is what they exchange calcium and magnesium for.

A lot of water softeners exchange them for sodium, and this is not good for fish. It increases the total dissolved solids, something you don't want to do if you are trying to make water less hard, and with the possible exception of Rift Lake cichlids no fresh water fish have evolved to cope with a lot of sodium in the water.

Filters like Brita exchange calcium and magnesium ions for hydrogen ions. pH is the measure of hydrogen ions in water - the more there are, the lower the pH. Adding more via the Brita filter lowers the pH. I used to have a Brita jug so I tested the pH of filtered water and it was off the bottom of the scale - ie below 6.0, though I have no idea how low it actually was. I know I have low KH but the filter dropped my pH from 7.6 for freshly run tap water to less than 6.0

I've just looked at Pozzani's website, and I can't find out what exactly their hardness reducing filter does, other than the simple statement that it is an ion exchange resin :-\
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: daveyng on July 14, 2018, 11:14:15 AM
I did think about purchasing the Hardness reducing filter when I got the Nitrate one. I didn’t go through with it as I too was unsure what they used to reduce hardness.
@Littlefish have you considered an RO system yourself. Or is the wastage of water a concern through these units.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Littlefish on July 14, 2018, 01:27:36 PM
There are a few reasons that I wasn't sure about getting an RO system @daveyng
The water wastage, the fact that the kitchen is quite small, and I live in a rented property.
I've been to the LFS this morning and purchases more RO, mainly for the river tank, but might also look into how much I would need to do everything I want to do.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Sue on July 18, 2018, 02:01:31 PM
By sheer co-incidence the subject of Pozzani filters came up on another forum at the same time. The person asking about hardness filters contacted the company and he's just reported what they said.

The resin in the Pozzani hardness filter is a cationic resin which swaps calcium and magnesium ions for hydrogen ions.

In other words, it works the same way as a Brita filter., and the water coming out of the filter will be softer but more acidic. Though where KH is very high, it may not alter the pH much at all. It's just water like mine with KH 3 that there is a significant effect
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Littlefish on July 18, 2018, 02:37:05 PM
Thanks for the accurate information @Sue
I'll spend a bit of time having a think about this, and the pros/cons of both the nitrate and hardness filters, and how it could impact my systems.
Ages ago I did some testing on a glass to tap water that was left for several days, which ended up with a pH of around 8.2-8.4, so a drop in pH may not be such a huge issue for me, but it may be down to logisitics - how I hold large quantities of water for treatment with filters for several days so I know exactly what the parameters are prior to adding it to my tank.
At this point perhaps just a tap/RO water mix is just easier.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Marcus_F on March 02, 2020, 11:44:00 AM
Thread resurrection :)

How do people find the Pozzani Nitrate Removal Filter?  Finding ways to get away from nearly 40ppm in tap water.  Rainwater has helped a little but i'm not getting nearly enough to cope with even 20% changes and it's rainy season haha.

Not sure a RO system is the way to go for me with a water meter and unsure on pressure.  Seems an expensive way to do things unless I start buying it from a shop.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Hampalong on March 02, 2020, 03:14:40 PM
If it was me I’d make a nitrate filter... a water container with (quite a lot of) porous media, which the water passes through very slowly. I set one up using 3 litres of Siporax on a 150 gallon tank. I didn’t have a constant flow so it kept producing nitrite (I used a t-piece off a canister return so the flow rate was never going to be constant), but if you used a small dedicated pump you should be able to get zero nitrate pretty easily.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Littlefish on March 02, 2020, 06:12:58 PM
I have been using the Pozzani nitrate removal filters for quite a while now.
After my recent relocation I've ended up moving to an area where the tap water is also around 40ppm, so I use the filters for most of my water, but still use an RO mix for the tanks where I also want to reduce hardness.
I have several large tanks, so am getting back into the routine of maintenance & water change on one tank per evening, which gives me time to run water into several 20L containers to use the following night.
The water flow rate has to be quite slow to get 0 nitrates from the filter, so I'm trying to be more disciplined about not getting bored and wandering off, getting distracted, and ending up with containers overflowing & water on the floor.  ::)
I do buy RO from MA on a regular basis as well, and with the amount of tanks I have I use around 1 Pozzani nitrate filter cartridge a month.
Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Marcus_F on March 02, 2020, 06:16:56 PM
Thank you, just ordered.  How easy is the setup? Thinking of running off one of our outside taps or the utility room mixer tap.  I drop a second I hear, how long would it take to produce 50litres?

Title: Re: Nitrate removal products
Post by: Littlefish on March 02, 2020, 08:53:20 PM
Set up is very easy. At my last place I used hose & a screw fixing to connect to the mixer tap. It will work with garden hose & those connectors as it's that snap on connector that you use to attach the hose to the filter housing.
Off the top of my head I think it suggests a flow rate of 5-10 litres a minute for water with high nitrates, so it would only take you around 10 minutes. It doesn't seem long, but it's slow enough to get a bit bored & distracted just watching running water, but that might just be me. Then again, it does take a while to run off >200L.  :)