Getting Rid Of Nitrate Options

[HappyBuddha]

And what's the reason for max airflow ? I thou BB cannot withstand too high water current ?

I'm quite sure BB can withstand the current generated by a sponge filter. Afterall, the current is relatively weak compared to that inside a typical OHF where many owners often proudly brag about flow rate of thousands of litres per hour!

By over-stocking, maybe we are putting in 2-3 GFs per 100 litres, therefore we would need a higher amount of BB to break down all the waste generated but does this perception/assumption really works ?

You assumed correctly; just cultivate more BB to accomodate an overstocked tank. It implies as you add more fish, all you need to do is add more filters.

Unfortunately, this view is seriously flawed.

You overlooked one fact about the nitrogen cycle. Although you can convert more ammonia (produced by higher fish load) by adding more filtration, the end result is you get more nitrate. Although relatively harmless compared to ammonia, long term exposure to high nitrate concentration (in excess of 10-25 [some say 50] ppm) is said to stunt your fish.

So now with high stock level and more filtration, you need a way to get rid of nitrate. Although you can add plants which takes in nitrate as nutrients, the best way is to change water to discard the nitrate laiden water.

So your answer as to how do hdb dwellers keep overstocked goldfish tank can be sum up as "change water frequently".

You can read up about the accumulative nature of nitrate in the excellent article, My Journey with Nitrates. I hope you will comprehen it fully and come to the conclusion that the way things go, sparsely stocked tank filtered by sponge filters accompanied by diligent water change is the only way to go if you don't just want to keep your goldfish alive but to groom and let it grow to its maximum potential.

And finally I want to add one thing about the need to keep lots of goldfish...

Do ask yourself why is there a need to keep so many goldfish to the extend you know you're overstocking your tank? Wouldn't keeping an amount that you can manage (50-100 litres per fish) be better? I'm quite sure it's fun and exciting to have 45 dogs and puppies in your living room. But I hope you'll have enough time to bath them, feed them, walk them etc. In any case, your 45 pets will probably not be healthy or at their best form becoz you only have that much time and money to spend on your pet.

But of course, I know you'll have better sense and max out at maybe 2 doggies if you live in a flat. Thank goodness for common sense.

So why not apply the same thot when you keep goldfish in your 4 feet tank?

[mountain]

Hi HB. I have a 3 inches thick coral hip as my undergravel filter that is being operated by a powerhead. The water is being pump to an overhead filter and let to flow back to the tank. I feed my goldfish twice a day with Hikari. I am still very baffle at the reading.

Yesterday I put coral chip in my cannister filter for the tub with poor NO3 reading, and change 20% of the water. Last night when I return home, I did a check again and the NO3 reading was 2.5 ppm.

I have also noticed that the water in my tank turning slightly brown, which I think must be caused by using Hikari. I have still not change the water in my tank. Continue to check it for a little while more.

Has anyone tried using caral chip in their filter?

coral chips have NO effect on Nitrate/Nitrite. The only purpose of coral chips is to buffer the PH levels. Your tank would have suffer a super Low PH/PH crash anytime since 4 weeks with no water change. But u probably prevented it from happening with out 3 inch think coral chips. But most of us seldom use coral chips. instead we use baking soda. you can do a search and read up on this topic. It has been extensively discussed by the brothers here. Part of the Reason being, we change our water frequently and in large percentages.

Your brown water observance is from Hikari pellets. You can try shaking up the pellets in a seperate container with fresh tap water and then tell us if the water turn as brown as your tank water.

Would you mind if you take a photo of your 2 ft tank with 2 orandas about 6 inches and 5 around 4 inches?? I wanna take a look at your undergravel filter.. i presume there is really gravel?? by the way, ammonia alerts are good for a few month in a heavy tank and by then it should be replaced. how old is your ammonia alert? You should have also bought a ammonia test kit to double check your ammonia readings. The low nitrite/nitrate readings could be becaz there is high ammonia and no BB at all.. <-- errr .. sorrie.. brothers here can help me correct this statement if i am wrong hor..