Lower nitrates in your reef tank with sugar?.. Zero nitrates with no water changes? DAY 1 OF TEST

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for Lower nitrates in your reef tank with sugar?.. Zero nitrates with no water changes? DAY 1 OF TEST

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TheFishTank Doc. - 9 years ago

Anaerobic bacteria are different from the bacteria that eat the sugar. Anaerobic bacteria live in oxygen free areas of the sand bed, and eat nitrates as part of the nitrogen cycle, turning it into nitrogen gas. The sugar eating bacteria are the same as the ones that eat vodka, or east biopellits. They get removed by skimming along with the nitrates.

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

Thanks a lot for all the info... :-)... truly appreciate all your kind and free help... have a lovely weekend.
s

TheFishTank Doc. - 8 years ago

Hope things work out. In this video and the next, the bacteria seem to appear with in four days. This should normally take a few weeks. Maybe his test kits were out.

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

Agree... It was a big mistake and have made a couple others in the past too. Gosh.... !!!

The video doesn't mention to add the sugar bit by bit and I completely did not check out the comments below. I originally added 1 kg... saw no difference in reading the next day so, i added additional kg again.
Anyway, Fish are alright... I just need to be a bit more patient and hope for the best.

really appreciate your response.

Have a lovely day.
s

TheFishTank Doc. - 8 years ago

+Saru Nakarmi Sorry for your problems, but you should think more before you act. And do more research.
I have to admit I have made silly mistakes to!!!!!.
You need a pond expert. Not a salt water tank expert.

TheFishTank Doc. - 8 years ago

+Saru Nakarmi looks like you have added far to much sugar. I would add 1 quarter tea spoon for 400 liters in a Reef tank every day. The bacteria will take time build up. Maybe weeks. you then need a way of removing the bacteria as they start to die.
in a Reef tank we use a protein skimmer. This only works in salt water.
Who told you to add that much, and that it would work in a pond. I don't do ponds so I don't know if it would work.

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

+TheFishTank Doc. Hi there, I have the sent message to another fellow too. I just need am immediate help as I watched this video and without studying this properly I went to add sugar in my 4000lts pond. in my calculation according to this video, I needed about 1100 table spoons so I added about 1kg to start with but I saw nothing changed even after over 15 hrs so i added about similar amount the next day. all of sudden the whole pond went disaster. i saw the black bacteria that stick on filter are dead. I have changed the water about 75% although i know i shouldn't do that but it was better in my knowledge than keeping that water, because it was just horrible i could see. after changing the water i could see the fish were very happy and looked normal but soon after the water went into the same circle again and they all were trying to get oxygen from the water fall or from wherever they could.... I was able to move most of the fish into another pond but I am wondering what is the solution now? if you can suggest me..... ? would the fish left in the pond survive. I could not catch them as the water is absolutely blur.... The pond is only about 40cm deep with 3 large plants with 2 x 200Lts filter (waterfall) and 3 quite powerful oxygen. I would absolutely appreciate your best suggestion..... I am so absolutely heart broken..... I need your help....

Rotter Tube Reef - 9 years ago

nice! cool vid man! i'm going to try this. subscribed

Anupam Immortal - 9 years ago

How much sugar you said? 1/8th or 8 Tspoon?

Anupam Immortal - 9 years ago

Or Did you say 4 Tspoon?

Chris stoni - 10 years ago

Pretty tank. I know this is old now, but thought I would try to toss something your way. Yes, the anaerobic bacteria (denitrifying bacteria) consumes nitrates. You will want to be sure you have very good water circulation with this method because of the release of gasses.
Another way of doing this is to have a couple of spots where the substrate is deep enough to make spots where oxygen cannot get or can be consumed by the aerobic bacteria. A couple small tubes with 5 inch deep sand will grow anaerobic bacteria, but you do not want a lot of anaerobic bacteria or it will make the water toxic. It is a delicate balance.
It can take up to 3 months to build up the anaerobic bacteria. It is a final step in the nitrogen cycle and it works with the aerobic bacteria, plants and rainfall in nature to maintain water health. :)
Something crazy to think about with this however.
Anaerobic bacteria is also responsible for entire villages being wiped out by the build up of gas under the bottom of a lake. This gas is heavier then oxygen and once released can fill up an entire valley (provided the lake is large enough) and remove (displace) all of the oxygen.
Another thing to think about is anaerobic bacteria is also used in methane biofuel generators (5 gallon/~20l filled with plant and/or animal waste).
Old tanks used to use only an air stone in them for water circulation. No special filters or any of the cool stuff we have now.
If aquariums were sterile instead of feeding bacteria sugar would feed the plants. :)

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

wow.... is that right??? it is shaking me.... however, the pond is all new now as all bacteria died. I added new bacteria which I can see slowly building.... my calculation is definitely wrong and loads of Thanks again for this info. I will be super careful next time.

Max Gainsbrah - 8 years ago

+Saru Nakarmi he said they recomend an 8th of a tea spoon per 25 gallons which would work out at about 6 full teaspoons for 4000 liters, not sure how you you came to 1kg, I do hope all is well though

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

Yeah, I have been adding baking soda for a while in a small qty. The fish have learnt to live around 6.4 however, I want that to come to normal. It seems if I change the food everything would come back to normal. I truly appreciate your free advice.
Please take care for now
best regards

Chris stoni - 8 years ago

High protein foods will also put a layer of stuff on the top. You might want to concider getting a protein skimmer.
I add 1.53grams of baking soda to every 5 gallons of pure reverse osmosis water. It helps to keep the Ph around 7. If you add about 1 gram per day to the pond until it reaches 7 the fish will be fine. Dont add more then 1.53 grams for every 5 gallons (18.9ltr) and not all at once. Too drastic at once of a Ph change can shock the fish.

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

Hi Chris, appreciate your response. :-)

The little bacteria that sticks on the filter are dark grey or black have definitely died as well as the algae. The water become like milky white after changing. Have moved most of the fish into another pond however the ones that left behind in the old pond ding fine. They seem normal.

The pond is under cover with good air flow and loads of plants. The reason of the high Nitrate I assume now is the food I have been feeding as well, which is Barmandi protein. I have been noticing that the Ph is always low as 6 and nitrate is always 160.

Anyway, I really hope to come everything back to normal. Will definitely keep an eye on your suggestion. Its freaked me out. I will definitely contact you if anything...

Loads of thanks again and have lovely day.

with regards

s

Chris stoni - 8 years ago

Use a large cup (a new one that has been washed in hot water only) to skim the top of the pond. Using sugar to remove nitrates will put a film on the top of the water. Water changes are still the best option for removing nitrates. If you have access to pure Reverse Osmosis water I recommend using it. Add the little bit of micronutrients your plants need yourself using seachem flourish. Also, be sure to keep your plants trimmed and the take the dead plant stuff out of the tank. That can cause a large buildup of nitrates as well.
I am assuming this pond is outside and exposed to the weather. The warmer months are more difficult to maintain a pond in. Adding some shade (like a garden shade that doesnt block all of the light) from the afternoon sun might help quite a bit.
Also, the buildup on the filter should be brown, not black. It is likely that it was algae that died from the sugar.
As for the water being cloudy. With that large of a water change, it is probably just the bacteria establishing itself in the water. Give it a little over a day and it should show improvement on how clear it is.
Some fish are more sensitive to big changes. If they are goldfish, they should be fine. Goldfish are extremely hardy fish.

Saru Nakarmi - 8 years ago

+Chris stoni Hi Chris, I watched this video and without studying this properly I went to add sugar in my 4000lts pond. in my calculation according to this video, I needed about 1100 table spoons so I added about 1kg to start with but I saw nothing changed even after over 15 hrs so i added about similar amount the next day. all of sudden the whole pond went disaster. i saw the black bacteria that stick on filter are dead. I have changed the water about 75% although i know i shouldn't do that but it was better in my knowledge than keeping that water, because it was just horrible i could see. after changing the water i could see the fish were very happy and looked normal but soon after the water went into the same circle again and they all were trying to get oxygen from the water fall or from wherever they could.... I was able to move most of the fish into another pond but I am wondering what is the solution now? if you can suggest me..... ? would the fish left in the pond survive. I could not catch them as the water is absolutely blur.... The pond is only about 40cm deep with 3 large plants with 2 x 200Lts filter (waterfall) and 3 quite powerful oxygen. I would absolutely appreciate your best suggestion..... I am so absolutely heart broken..... I need your help....

tom ussery - 10 years ago

yes you are correct.. that is why I said i over skim I have all the pumps at full circulation.

Leo03 - 10 years ago

im looking for a update video and cant find one. is there a link?

tom ussery - 10 years ago

i did an update,, but seems it was deleted for some reason. ,,, after doing this it works perfect. If you do this just after you get it going you just continue with a small dose every other day, or you can just after a couple weeks at zero slowly dose with less and less then stop after a while and keep an eye if they start to go back up slowly go back to dosing. Works perfectly.

MorpheousLA - 10 years ago

Have you tried taking your water to a fish store for a test? You could just be getting a false read on your test kit. Good luck!

tom ussery - 10 years ago

not yet, i will do that after new years is over,,, just to be safe but im pretty sure my test kit is ok, it is new and got a few years before it expires

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