(apologies for the long comment) Well made video, man. Unfortunately well planted tanks aren't the best type of tanks to test if any media can help to remove the nitrate since the plants will also do this. As you say, there are too many variables to draw any meaningful conclusions. The increasing amount of reports from people with cichlids, goldfish and marine tanks who have achieved a full cycle where plants can't help out are the most difficult for doubters to argue with although they invariably get dismissed as being 'anecdotal'. As long as the water conditioner used for water changes is not messing with the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the bacteria will be free to populate the whole system and the recommended amount of Biohome to use for the different stocking scenarios will be very accurate since it is based on well over a decade of tens of thousands of customer reports from all over the world (that's how the recommended amounts were achieved - not just by guessing, lol). With regard to scientific studies it's a shame you didn't see the 'community' post I put on my channel a couple of months before you made this video. Here it is: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxtEkJp-Ot-sr43DtEwMtd6ReLzSK2yQD6 There are 3 pictures on that post and the last one has the amount of nitrate processed during the test highlighted. The amount of nitrate processed and the time it took the bacteria to do it is very impressive but there was nothing used which messed with the 'food' causing starvation of the bacteria (e.g. prime). When I see paid 'ambassadors' online lecturing viewers about filtration, pushing products which starve bacteria then doing 80% weekly water changes to keep the water 'right' I just sigh and shake my head since that is a clear indication that the system has close to zero active bacteria in it. They are unfortunately the same people saying that it makes no difference which media is used as results are all the same. Results will be the same if the bacteria is being critically starved since there won't be enough active bacteria present in the system to make a difference in their 'test'. With regard to reports from people using Biohome, achieving a full cycle and what a huge difference the choice of water conditioner makes check this 'community' post out from my channel: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxtEkJp-Ot-sr43DtEwMtd6ReLzSK2yQD6 Many people took it upon themselves to write reports in the comment section and although they will be dismissed by many as being 'anecdotal' how many anecdotal reports does there have to be before it becomes proven that a full cycle can be achieved when there are no plants and damage can be done by a water conditioner marketed as 'safe and effective'? If you ever feel like doing a test on a tank with no plants feel free to contact me any time as you took great care making this video and it was good to watch. Best of luck with the channel. P.S. the latest post on the community tab of my channel may be of interest since it is about Germ Theory vs Terrain Theory and how they relate to fish keeping: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxQR8CbpF8GxMbWmhjBk88kKKngpvo6d3G
Thanks for the comment mate :). I will check the links out later this evening. I'm going to try setup a plastic storage box with no plants in it later this year for testing, I have a ton of Biogravel so just going to put it in the filter and dose Dr Tims ammonia solution to simulate fish waste. Do you see any potential problems with that? The storage box will be empty other than than the water and I can just let the filter run for months without issue. Edit - The filter will be an AllPondSolutions HOB with no other media in it, just pack it full of biogravel.
@@GlassBoxDiaries (my other channel). That sounds good to me, man. All I'd ask is that you do a normal 10%-15% water change every week or so to keep the water mineralized since that will prevent the water becoming 'dead' with a lack of nutrients. That will simulate the normal water change of a tank and the addition of ammonia will simulate the stock of fish. Unfortunately I don't know how the exact ppm of ammonia would usually be generated in a 'normally' stocked tank or a 'heavily' stocked tank so that would have to be ascertained. It looks like Dr. Tims states that the figure is 2-3ppm for a normal tank? If so that sounds realistic to me but if you have the materials to do another storage box with twice that level of ammonia being added daily (to simulate a heavily stocked tank) then that could be a great comparison for viewers. If you work on 1kg of media per 100 litres for the 'normal' stock and 2kg of media for the 'heavy' stock that will be in line with recommendations and if you need any more materials just let me know. As well as testing the media performance it will also test the recommendations for media amounts on normal and heavily stocked tanks. As long as you're using a normal conditioner (e.g. API Stress Coat) and not a type which starves the bacteria by messing with the food it needs (e.g. Prime / Safe) the results should be genuine. It is very frustrating when I see 'tests' online where the bacteria in the test vats or aquariums has been starved by 'prime' and the performance results of different types of filter media for nitrate levels are all exactly the same - that is a sadly predictable outcome when the bacteria population is kept to such an artificially low level as it never had a chance to process the nitrate. Feel free to ring me any time about this and let me know what you need for anything more broad ranging. You'll get no interference from me and the results will be whatever they will be. Hopefully you had time to check the links in my previous comment over the weekend.
@@ThousandYardStare Yea Dr Tims says 2ppm is an average community tank. I'm hoping to get this test setup next weekend, just to check before I start, do you think the regular API Tap Water Conditioner will be ok as its the one I use and have a ton of it already. And is there any temperature requirements? Its going to be a pain to heat two large plastic containers through winter with no fish in just for testing >.
@@GlassBoxDiaries Sorry, I'm answering comments on my other channel so am still signed in using that account. 2ppm for a normally stocked tank simulation and 4ppm for a heavily stocked simulation? - seems good to me but if you wanted to make it 3ppm and 6ppm I'm sure that would still deliver the correct results too if enough media was used. Yes, the API water conditioner will be no problem since it doesn't mess with the food the bacteria needs to prosper. The lower the temperature is the less bacteria the system will support and the slower the fish can digest food (which is why most pond fish keepers don't feed their fish in the Winter) but as long as it is somewhere around normal room temperature it should be fine. Most of the 'recommended amounts' of filter media given on the FilterPro site are based on indoor systems and some are heated, some are not. As long as it's not a long way under 18 degrees C it will be fine. The lower the temperature the slower bacteria will set up so the normal range for indoor fish keepers would ideally be somewhere between a minimum of 20C (unheated) to a maximum of 30C (heated). Hope that makes sense.
I suffered from the nitrate fear thing many months ago but i no longer consider nitrate a problem at least not in my tanks. 8mths ago my dad had regular nitrate readings of 50-60ppm he tested the tap water which fluctuated week to week from 40-50ppm also PH fluctuated from 6.0-7.5ppm, he decided to go NO water change and the theory was he's just replacing the same or possibly more nitrate he's taking out with water changes. After 3mths the nitrate dropped to 30ppm from 50/60ppm without any matrix or bio gravel. I decided to stop water changes 6mths ago, just to mention all my tanks are heavily planted. I tested the water every 3/4 days for 3mths what i found is a similar thing that nitrates fluctuate even drop in some tanks but they mostly capped in all my tanks, they never rised above what the highest readings was, nitrate didn't keep climbing and climbing they went up and down. In one tank the nitrate fluctuated between 60-80ppm it showed that over 3mths of testing, cherry shrimp still breeding like crazy and all fish doing perfectly well, zero ill effects or signs of stress from shrimp or fish its now been 6mths without any signs of stress. In fact in my main shrimp tank 1/3 shrimp would die everytime i did just a 10% water change, for 6mths i haven't losed one shrimp but gained probably hundreds due to an increase in breeding since the no water changes. We dont use chemicals of any kind, no dechlorinators we season our water, we have heavily planted tanks with deep substrate, 1 inch soil capped with 2/3 inch sand, we use no nitrate treatments such as bio gravel or matrix. The nitrafying bacteria will grow in deep substrate were there's very little to no oxygen and seachem prime is known to kill this bacteria so we never use chemicals for anything. I also have flow control sponge filters on the lowest flow so there's also very little oxygen being blown around the tank and the plants sort the oxygen naturally. In all this is my analysis of nitrate in my and my dads tanks and i only do water top ups 1/3% from water evaporation, i believe at least in our tanks nitrate is not the boogeyman we're sold by the industry. I dont even clean the sand there's shrimp and snails and a whole host of bacteria taking care of itself in my tanks they are ecosystems sustaining themselves i need do nothing more than feed my fish every 2/3 days with good quality frozen food, i use zero chemicals so nothings altering the balance of bacteria and my tanks are amazingly healthy everyone says so. I imagine without any plants results could be much different but this my experience with the supposedly fearful nitrates in my tanks.
Thanks for sharing this mate, I actually set a new shrimp tank up around a week ago thats very similar to what you report. I saw a few other people use a similar system and get great results too so I wanted to give it a try myself :).
From someone who's used Biohome in an unplanted tank (fish only marine), using the ordinary pellet shaped product. It did work, but it took 9 months before any reduction took place, where it stayed around 5ppm. This lasted for another 9 months and then just stopped working and nitrates increased in the usual way again. My only conclusion is its strength is also its weakness, as in the pores are so tiny it doesn't take that long before they become blocked, rendering it pretty much useless, at least for denitrification. And that was using the 'course, medium, fine foam, then floss' recommended to keep the water as clean as possible before it reached the Biohome. So I will say it _can_ work, or it did for me, but it took far too long and was too short lived to be worth the cost, both initially and with replacement.
Thanks for sharing mate, I really want to give it a proper test in a long term setup but I don't have the space right now as I want a control setup with regular foam to compare it to.
Hello from my fish room channel in Chicago, where I'm a subscriber to yours. I really appreciate your thorough and honest portrayal of these high end media and related matters. I also related to your "away from the computer" reason for doing water changes :)
There was a scientific study carried out on Biohome media and its ability to reduce / eliminate nitrate from waste water carried out by Athens university . These trials are extremely expensive and the one mentioned was funded by the EU for removal of nitrate from water after use in industrial processes before it being allowed back into the natural water system. I have attached the relevant extract from the full study regarding its ability to remove nitrate. The same study for a fish tank would be prohibitively expensive and someone would rightly point out only relevant to that tank ! Why seachem and other large companies don’t commission such trials for there media you would need to ask them , they certainly have the financial resources? To clear the position of Richard ( pondguru ) regarding his connection with Biohome he is the UK distributor and holds no stake or position in the company nor ever been paid for any review he puts out by Biohome or any other manufacturer he reviews . Hope this helps
@@mtourgus Thanks for the input, what are you Google searching to find that research as I can't find it. Or is it on one of those research sites with the monthly membership?
Some, if not all of the balled soil substrates can provide denitrification to a lesser or larger extent (from memory there is some research on it as well), so that is another thing to take into consideration along with substrate depth etc. For me personally, I mostly keep species that prefer low ph, low tds, soft water with lower flow environments, so I set up an undergravel filter, but made it low flow with a deep substrate... took 4 months I think before it balanced itself out, but since then the tank has been rock solid- pH 4.5 at most, 0 NH3, 0 NO2, 0 NO3, TDS generally sits around 40, GH & KH is 1 at most (requirement for some of the species I keep to breed successfully). It can go 6months without a water change & the TDS will only very slightly rise by, however, like yourself, I think there are other benefits to doing water changes, so my preference is to do at least one water change per month, per tank. Ideally, I'd like to do a small water change every 2nd week, but during the busy time of the year (late spring, through summer into late autumn), there just isn't enough hours in the day to make that happen for me personally. That tank is now a few years old & remained rock solid enough that last year I started converting all my other tanks over to deeper substrates with slow flow undergavel filters... so far they are having the same results as the first tank... I don't think the concept would work for fish with the strong desire to dig tho. I think the real test for the denitrifying media would be 2 equally sized tanks, both stocked with equally sized & number of fish, no substrate or plants (an equal number of the same prefabricated silk plants to meet any stressed fish needs for hiding) & both filtered by the same size, type & brand of filter- one filter filled with the recommended amount of denitrifying media for the stocking level, the other with simple filter sponges & ceramic rings. Feed both tanks the same amount of measured out food daily & let the experiment run for 12months, with water changes only done (& recorded) whenever nitrates hit a certain level in both tanks... if the denitrifying media works, the water changes should slowly get further apart until the tank matures & establishes, while the nitrifying media should increase, before holding steady in its requirements as the nitrifying bacteria get established & then mature to the static stocking & feed rate of the tank.
Great points, I actually saw a video on the Fishtory channel about how aquasoil can provide a similar benefit too, i'm going to look into it a little more this coming weekend. Yea it takes a ton of effort for someone to test to see if it works who doesnt actually sell the media, especially a long, fair test like you mentioned. When I debuild my 29 gallon I want to try the filter in a plastic bin dosed with Dr Tims Ammonia Solution just to see what happens though.
Great Video .... Ive been running my Juwel lido 200 with Biogravel .. Its been setup since 2019 . very heavily planted with bog wood . Ihave been achieving Zero nitrate for about 2 years , 4 Pearl Gouramis . 30+ neons . 1 Clown Plec . 5 Panda corys . 3 ottos . 1 Pandagarra . 10 chilli rasboras . Has the juwel internal Filter and a Fluval 207 . 7ph at 25 degree temp. I never clean the bio media anymore alway keep submerged . and rarely clean the external . all of which i keep at a slow flow rate .. and i do 1 , 25% water change a month . No algae , I do think its down to the Biogravel with a slow minmal water flow . which allows for the Nitrate eating bacteria to get a foothold ... But yet , it could be any number of factors ,,,
Thanks for the input :). I am thinking of rescaping one of the tanks that has the Biogravel filter setup in a month or two and putting its filter into a plastic storage bin dosed with some Dr Tims ammonia solution to see what happens.
@@GlassBoxDiaries That would make for a very good bench mark .. A measured dose of ammonia . No fish or Shrimp . Have a dosed only cycle going on . and then you are in control of all variables .. Be very interesting to see the consumption of Ammonia, Nitrite and then eventually Nitrate through bacteria alone , most interesting experiment ,, Dont rush it . I believe the trick is not disturbing the bio gravel . only the Mechanical filter can be disturbed . Also the pond Guru was onto something when doing water changes , regarding adding dechlorinater . dont use the ones that remove ammonia and nitrate , as they starve out the good bacteria each time used and mass kill the bacteria causing aquarium bacteria crash cycle to keep happening EG .. Ad constantly demonstrated by a certain U tuber . CMA Good luck . All the best from the UK ..
Another reason for doing water changes is the total dissolved solids (TDS) measurement. I have 2 open top aquariums which require daily top ups due to the evaporation loss. The problem is that this evaporation is just the actual water, and not all of the minerals, etc - they stay behind in the tank. The water that is added in the form of the top ups also contains the same TDS - so the TDS reading on the tank will keep going up with every top up... Eventually, you end up with tank 'water' that is so hard, it could be better described as concrete 😂
Must be a very nice.problem too have. In my style of aquariumming ,HEAVILY planted LIGHTLY stocked.... i find myself in need of upping nitrates not reducing them...
(apologies for the long comment)
Well made video, man.
Unfortunately well planted tanks aren't the best type of tanks to test if any media can help to remove the nitrate since the plants will also do this. As you say, there are too many variables to draw any meaningful conclusions.
The increasing amount of reports from people with cichlids, goldfish and marine tanks who have achieved a full cycle where plants can't help out are the most difficult for doubters to argue with although they invariably get dismissed as being 'anecdotal'.
As long as the water conditioner used for water changes is not messing with the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate the bacteria will be free to populate the whole system and the recommended amount of Biohome to use for the different stocking scenarios will be very accurate since it is based on well over a decade of tens of thousands of customer reports from all over the world (that's how the recommended amounts were achieved - not just by guessing, lol).
With regard to scientific studies it's a shame you didn't see the 'community' post I put on my channel a couple of months before you made this video. Here it is: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxtEkJp-Ot-sr43DtEwMtd6ReLzSK2yQD6
There are 3 pictures on that post and the last one has the amount of nitrate processed during the test highlighted. The amount of nitrate processed and the time it took the bacteria to do it is very impressive but there was nothing used which messed with the 'food' causing starvation of the bacteria (e.g. prime).
When I see paid 'ambassadors' online lecturing viewers about filtration, pushing products which starve bacteria then doing 80% weekly water changes to keep the water 'right' I just sigh and shake my head since that is a clear indication that the system has close to zero active bacteria in it. They are unfortunately the same people saying that it makes no difference which media is used as results are all the same.
Results will be the same if the bacteria is being critically starved since there won't be enough active bacteria present in the system to make a difference in their 'test'.
With regard to reports from people using Biohome, achieving a full cycle and what a huge difference the choice of water conditioner makes check this 'community' post out from my channel: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxtEkJp-Ot-sr43DtEwMtd6ReLzSK2yQD6
Many people took it upon themselves to write reports in the comment section and although they will be dismissed by many as being 'anecdotal' how many anecdotal reports does there have to be before it becomes proven that a full cycle can be achieved when there are no plants and damage can be done by a water conditioner marketed as 'safe and effective'?
If you ever feel like doing a test on a tank with no plants feel free to contact me any time as you took great care making this video and it was good to watch.
Best of luck with the channel.
P.S. the latest post on the community tab of my channel may be of interest since it is about Germ Theory vs Terrain Theory and how they relate to fish keeping: ruclips.net/user/postUgkxQR8CbpF8GxMbWmhjBk88kKKngpvo6d3G
Thanks for the comment mate :).
I will check the links out later this evening.
I'm going to try setup a plastic storage box with no plants in it later this year for testing, I have a ton of Biogravel so just going to put it in the filter and dose Dr Tims ammonia solution to simulate fish waste.
Do you see any potential problems with that? The storage box will be empty other than than the water and I can just let the filter run for months without issue.
Edit - The filter will be an AllPondSolutions HOB with no other media in it, just pack it full of biogravel.
@@GlassBoxDiaries (my other channel). That sounds good to me, man.
All I'd ask is that you do a normal 10%-15% water change every week or so to keep the water mineralized since that will prevent the water becoming 'dead' with a lack of nutrients.
That will simulate the normal water change of a tank and the addition of ammonia will simulate the stock of fish.
Unfortunately I don't know how the exact ppm of ammonia would usually be generated in a 'normally' stocked tank or a 'heavily' stocked tank so that would have to be ascertained. It looks like Dr. Tims states that the figure is 2-3ppm for a normal tank?
If so that sounds realistic to me but if you have the materials to do another storage box with twice that level of ammonia being added daily (to simulate a heavily stocked tank) then that could be a great comparison for viewers.
If you work on 1kg of media per 100 litres for the 'normal' stock and 2kg of media for the 'heavy' stock that will be in line with recommendations and if you need any more materials just let me know.
As well as testing the media performance it will also test the recommendations for media amounts on normal and heavily stocked tanks.
As long as you're using a normal conditioner (e.g. API Stress Coat) and not a type which starves the bacteria by messing with the food it needs (e.g. Prime / Safe) the results should be genuine.
It is very frustrating when I see 'tests' online where the bacteria in the test vats or aquariums has been starved by 'prime' and the performance results of different types of filter media for nitrate levels are all exactly the same - that is a sadly predictable outcome when the bacteria population is kept to such an artificially low level as it never had a chance to process the nitrate.
Feel free to ring me any time about this and let me know what you need for anything more broad ranging. You'll get no interference from me and the results will be whatever they will be.
Hopefully you had time to check the links in my previous comment over the weekend.
@@ThousandYardStare Yea Dr Tims says 2ppm is an average community tank.
I'm hoping to get this test setup next weekend, just to check before I start, do you think the regular API Tap Water Conditioner will be ok as its the one I use and have a ton of it already.
And is there any temperature requirements? Its going to be a pain to heat two large plastic containers through winter with no fish in just for testing >.
@@GlassBoxDiaries Sorry, I'm answering comments on my other channel so am still signed in using that account.
2ppm for a normally stocked tank simulation and 4ppm for a heavily stocked simulation? - seems good to me but if you wanted to make it 3ppm and 6ppm I'm sure that would still deliver the correct results too if enough media was used.
Yes, the API water conditioner will be no problem since it doesn't mess with the food the bacteria needs to prosper.
The lower the temperature is the less bacteria the system will support and the slower the fish can digest food (which is why most pond fish keepers don't feed their fish in the Winter) but as long as it is somewhere around normal room temperature it should be fine.
Most of the 'recommended amounts' of filter media given on the FilterPro site are based on indoor systems and some are heated, some are not. As long as it's not a long way under 18 degrees C it will be fine. The lower the temperature the slower bacteria will set up so the normal range for indoor fish keepers would ideally be somewhere between a minimum of 20C (unheated) to a maximum of 30C (heated).
Hope that makes sense.
I suffered from the nitrate fear thing many months ago but i no longer consider nitrate a problem at least not in my tanks.
8mths ago my dad had regular nitrate readings of 50-60ppm he tested the tap water which fluctuated week to week from 40-50ppm also PH fluctuated from 6.0-7.5ppm, he decided to go NO water change and the theory was he's just replacing the same or possibly more nitrate he's taking out with water changes.
After 3mths the nitrate dropped to 30ppm from 50/60ppm without any matrix or bio gravel.
I decided to stop water changes 6mths ago, just to mention all my tanks are heavily planted. I tested the water every 3/4 days for 3mths what i found is a similar thing that nitrates fluctuate even drop in some tanks but they mostly capped in all my tanks, they never rised above what the highest readings was, nitrate didn't keep climbing and climbing they went up and down.
In one tank the nitrate fluctuated between 60-80ppm it showed that over 3mths of testing, cherry shrimp still breeding like crazy and all fish doing perfectly well, zero ill effects or signs of stress from shrimp or fish its now been 6mths without any signs of stress. In fact in my main shrimp tank 1/3 shrimp would die everytime i did just a 10% water change, for 6mths i haven't losed one shrimp but gained probably hundreds due to an increase in breeding since the no water changes.
We dont use chemicals of any kind, no dechlorinators we season our water, we have heavily planted tanks with deep substrate, 1 inch soil capped with 2/3 inch sand, we use no nitrate treatments such as bio gravel or matrix.
The nitrafying bacteria will grow in deep substrate were there's very little to no oxygen and seachem prime is known to kill this bacteria so we never use chemicals for anything. I also have flow control sponge filters on the lowest flow so there's also very little oxygen being blown around the tank and the plants sort the oxygen naturally.
In all this is my analysis of nitrate in my and my dads tanks and i only do water top ups 1/3% from water evaporation, i believe at least in our tanks nitrate is not the boogeyman we're sold by the industry.
I dont even clean the sand there's shrimp and snails and a whole host of bacteria taking care of itself in my tanks they are ecosystems sustaining themselves i need do nothing more than feed my fish every 2/3 days with good quality frozen food, i use zero chemicals so nothings altering the balance of bacteria and my tanks are amazingly healthy everyone says so.
I imagine without any plants results could be much different but this my experience with the supposedly fearful nitrates in my tanks.
Thanks for sharing this mate, I actually set a new shrimp tank up around a week ago thats very similar to what you report. I saw a few other people use a similar system and get great results too so I wanted to give it a try myself :).
@GlassBoxDiaries No problem my friend
From someone who's used Biohome in an unplanted tank (fish only marine), using the ordinary pellet shaped product.
It did work, but it took 9 months before any reduction took place, where it stayed around 5ppm. This lasted for another 9 months and then just stopped working and nitrates increased in the usual way again.
My only conclusion is its strength is also its weakness, as in the pores are so tiny it doesn't take that long before they become blocked, rendering it pretty much useless, at least for denitrification. And that was using the 'course, medium, fine foam, then floss' recommended to keep the water as clean as possible before it reached the Biohome.
So I will say it _can_ work, or it did for me, but it took far too long and was too short lived to be worth the cost, both initially and with replacement.
Thanks for sharing mate, I really want to give it a proper test in a long term setup but I don't have the space right now as I want a control setup with regular foam to compare it to.
Hello from my fish room channel in Chicago, where I'm a subscriber to yours. I really appreciate your thorough and honest portrayal of these high end media and related matters. I also related to your "away from the computer" reason for doing water changes :)
Cheers mate :) Yea, one of the main reasons I got back into keeping fish was to have something to do thats nothing to do with my computer :).
There was a scientific study carried out on Biohome media and its ability to reduce / eliminate nitrate from waste water carried out by Athens university .
These trials are extremely expensive and the one mentioned was funded by the EU for removal of nitrate from water after use in industrial processes before it being allowed back into the natural water system.
I have attached the relevant extract from the full study regarding its ability to remove nitrate.
The same study for a fish tank would be prohibitively expensive and someone would rightly point out only relevant to that tank !
Why seachem and other large companies don’t commission such trials for there media you would need to ask them , they certainly have the financial resources?
To clear the position of Richard ( pondguru ) regarding his connection with Biohome he is the UK distributor and holds no stake or position in the company nor ever been paid for any review he puts out by Biohome or any other manufacturer he reviews .
Hope this helps
@@mtourgus Thanks for the input, what are you Google searching to find that research as I can't find it.
Or is it on one of those research sites with the monthly membership?
@@GlassBoxDiaries you will not find it , it was sent to us has the manufacturer of Biohome but I will be happy to send it you on a email
Now I’m thinking about using pot scrubbers under the substrate for a non filter aquarium.
I want to try pot scrubbers as media in the future :)
Some, if not all of the balled soil substrates can provide denitrification to a lesser or larger extent (from memory there is some research on it as well), so that is another thing to take into consideration along with substrate depth etc.
For me personally, I mostly keep species that prefer low ph, low tds, soft water with lower flow environments, so I set up an undergravel filter, but made it low flow with a deep substrate... took 4 months I think before it balanced itself out, but since then the tank has been rock solid- pH 4.5 at most, 0 NH3, 0 NO2, 0 NO3, TDS generally sits around 40, GH & KH is 1 at most (requirement for some of the species I keep to breed successfully). It can go 6months without a water change & the TDS will only very slightly rise by, however, like yourself, I think there are other benefits to doing water changes, so my preference is to do at least one water change per month, per tank. Ideally, I'd like to do a small water change every 2nd week, but during the busy time of the year (late spring, through summer into late autumn), there just isn't enough hours in the day to make that happen for me personally.
That tank is now a few years old & remained rock solid enough that last year I started converting all my other tanks over to deeper substrates with slow flow undergavel filters... so far they are having the same results as the first tank... I don't think the concept would work for fish with the strong desire to dig tho.
I think the real test for the denitrifying media would be 2 equally sized tanks, both stocked with equally sized & number of fish, no substrate or plants (an equal number of the same prefabricated silk plants to meet any stressed fish needs for hiding) & both filtered by the same size, type & brand of filter- one filter filled with the recommended amount of denitrifying media for the stocking level, the other with simple filter sponges & ceramic rings. Feed both tanks the same amount of measured out food daily & let the experiment run for 12months, with water changes only done (& recorded) whenever nitrates hit a certain level in both tanks... if the denitrifying media works, the water changes should slowly get further apart until the tank matures & establishes, while the nitrifying media should increase, before holding steady in its requirements as the nitrifying bacteria get established & then mature to the static stocking & feed rate of the tank.
Great points, I actually saw a video on the Fishtory channel about how aquasoil can provide a similar benefit too, i'm going to look into it a little more this coming weekend.
Yea it takes a ton of effort for someone to test to see if it works who doesnt actually sell the media, especially a long, fair test like you mentioned.
When I debuild my 29 gallon I want to try the filter in a plastic bin dosed with Dr Tims Ammonia Solution just to see what happens though.
Great Video ....
Ive been running my Juwel lido 200 with Biogravel .. Its been setup since 2019 . very heavily planted with bog wood .
Ihave been achieving Zero nitrate for about 2 years , 4 Pearl Gouramis . 30+ neons . 1 Clown Plec . 5 Panda corys . 3 ottos . 1 Pandagarra . 10 chilli rasboras . Has the juwel internal Filter and a Fluval 207 . 7ph at 25 degree temp. I never clean the bio media anymore alway keep submerged . and rarely clean the external . all of which i keep at a slow flow rate .. and i do 1 , 25% water change a month .
No algae ,
I do think its down to the Biogravel with a slow minmal water flow . which allows for the Nitrate eating bacteria to get a foothold ...
But yet , it could be any number of factors ,,,
Thanks for the input :).
I am thinking of rescaping one of the tanks that has the Biogravel filter setup in a month or two and putting its filter into a plastic storage bin dosed with some Dr Tims ammonia solution to see what happens.
@@GlassBoxDiaries
That would make for a very good bench mark .. A measured dose of ammonia . No fish or Shrimp . Have a dosed only cycle going on . and then you are in control of all variables .. Be very interesting to see the consumption of Ammonia, Nitrite and then eventually Nitrate through bacteria alone , most interesting experiment ,, Dont rush it . I believe the trick is not disturbing the bio gravel . only the Mechanical filter can be disturbed . Also the pond Guru was onto something when doing water changes , regarding adding dechlorinater . dont use the ones that remove ammonia and nitrate , as they starve out the good bacteria each time used and mass kill the bacteria causing aquarium bacteria crash cycle to keep happening EG .. Ad constantly demonstrated by a certain U tuber . CMA
Good luck .
All the best from the UK ..
Another reason for doing water changes is the total dissolved solids (TDS) measurement.
I have 2 open top aquariums which require daily top ups due to the evaporation loss. The problem is that this evaporation is just the actual water, and not all of the minerals, etc - they stay behind in the tank.
The water that is added in the form of the top ups also contains the same TDS - so the TDS reading on the tank will keep going up with every top up... Eventually, you end up with tank 'water' that is so hard, it could be better described as concrete 😂
Another great point mate :)
Must be a very nice.problem too have. In my style of aquariumming ,HEAVILY planted LIGHTLY stocked.... i find myself in need of upping nitrates not reducing them...
Thats actually a problem I just discovered today in one of my tanks >.
@@GlassBoxDiaries Kno3 dosing. In principal you could use more animals yes.
Over feed a bit, you’ll get there. I may do a test on my tank tonight, I’ve never tested any nitrates