# API Nitrate Test - tell me sweet little lies...



## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

Good morning all!
Thank you in advance for taking the time to read (and possibly answer) my question. All help is appreciated.
Today's mystery...

I have an overstocked 29g tank (cycled) that was creating nitrates pretty quickly; I couldn't go more than 4 to 5 days without a water change, because it would get to 40ppm in that time. (ph 8.2, 0 ammo, 0 nitrite). The forum recommended Purigen, and that stuff rocks! It reduced my nitrate where after an entire 7 days, my nitrate was only 15ppm...

but... I had to take out the purigen because I'm currently medicating with Pimafix and Melafix... (Today is Day 7 with the Pimafix. I took out the Purigen bag on Day 3 (didn't think of it right away), although I did take out the carbon on Day 1.)

I have 0 Nitrates. Yes, I know that is not possible(?) or at the very least, highly unlikely... So, now the normal questions.

1.) Could it be my kit? I kinda doubt it, I am running other tanks, a tilapia aquaponics tank, a Koi tank, and use the same test kit. My nitrates were up in my tilapia and Koi tank, as expected. I tested twice in my cichlid tank, the Koi tank and the tilapia tank, and got the same results. In between tests, I used a bottle brush, soap and scalding hot water to wash the tubes and caps. Same results.

2.) Could the Pimafix and Melafix be interfering with the results? I don't know, what do you all think?

3.) Could any of my other water treatments, Seachem Prime, Seachem Stability and Seachem Cichlid Trace Minerals be interfering?

4.) I recently (3 wks ago) added Biohome scintered glass into my canister filter. It's supposed to house anaerobic bacteria that will supposedly break down nitrates. Maybe that just kicked in, possibly because the Stability says it has anaerobic bacteria in that breaks down nitrate. (which is why I changed from API, because it doesn't.)

5.) Something else?

I would really like to think that after a week I have 0 nitrates... But that just really cannot be true, can it?

Thanks!


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Your fish constantly produce waste, which the nitrogen cycle turns into nitrate. Nitrate is produced 24x7 and accumulates in your system, so it is impossible to have zero nitrate - unless you are also constantly removing or binding it. I am no expert on Purigen, but isn't that exactly what Purigen does - removing/binding nitrate and other nitrogenous compounds before they turn into nitrate? Again, I am no expert on Purigen, and I have never used it, but I would expect nitrate to be zero in any tank that is filtered over Purigen as long as the Purigen is active. If I understand you correctly, you have taken out the Purigen only 4 days ago. There probably isn't enough nitrate in the system from this short time to give a reading.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Do you have another tank to test for nitrate and see if the test kit is good?

I have Purigen but don't use it. Not sure what Biohome is, either. Who makes it?


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

Fmueller - I don't know exactly how Purigen works either. it says, "Purigen® controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds." ...or... "black magic and voodoo". But yes, you are right, it has only been 4 days. Before I started using Purigen, by day 4 or 5 my nitrate would already be 40ppm. I have 18 fish & 1 catfish in a 29 gallon tank. Nitrate has always gone up pretty fast. (Yes, I'm going to get a bigger tank as soon as I can... 

Iggy N - I am running other tanks, a tilapia aquaponics tank, a Koi tank, and use the same test kit. My nitrates were up in my tilapia and Koi tank, as expected. I tested twice in my cichlid tank, the Koi tank and the tilapia tank, and got the same results. In between tests, I used a bottle brush, soap and scalding hot water to wash the tubes and caps. Same results.

What is Biohome scintered glass? I'd been scouring the internet about reducing nitrates, as changing 50% of my water every 4 days or so was getting really old... I came across it on youtube originally. The theory behind it - because of it's porous characteristics, it claims to be able to house anaerobic bacteria - the kind that will actually destroy nitrates, in addition to aerobic bacteria that controls the ammonia and nitrite.
http://reinbiotech.com/pets/animal-cate ... egory_id=0 is the link. I bought 600g of it and put it in my canister filter, I think about 3 weeks ago.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

From my background in science (PhD in chemistry), the claims made by Purigen are credible to me. It is quite feasible to design compounds that chemically bind nitrogen containing waste and thereby remove it from the system. It is only a slight alteration of what the nitrogen cycle does.

On the other hand, claims made by Biohome and similar products are not credible to me. The idea is that you can create a material with both fine and ultra fine crevices. The fine crevices house the beneficial bacteria responsible for the nitrogen cycle. Water rich in both waste material and oxygen circulates through the fine cavities, and the nitrogen cycle takes its course. That's biofiltration 101 and nothing special about it. But the extra kick are the ultra fine cavities where anaerobic bacteria live that consume nitrate. "Anaerobic" means that these bacteria can only live in an environment free of oxygen, because oxygen would harm and destroy these bacteria. The claim is that oxygen will not get into the ultra fine cavities - well, because they are ultra fine. But oxygen (O2[/sub] - just two oxygen atoms) is a very small molecule - smaller indeed than nitrate (NO[sub]3- - three oxygen atoms and one nitrogen), which needs to get into these cavities to feed the anaerobic bacteria. How you keep oxygen out of the ultra fine cavities - especially since it has to be abundant in the just slightly larger fine cavities to sustain the nitrogen cycle - that's where "black magic and voodoo" come into the game


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

What you're saying makes perfect sense to me... I have a more lightweight engineering background (2 year electronics engineering technology, and years as a software implementation consultant), but I still have (hopefully) a somewhat critical thinking process. 
Therefore, at the end of the day, knowing that this tank has historically produced approx 10ppm/day nitrates (which is why I was having to change it every 4-5 days before) I am coming up with 2 hypothesis, in the order I think they are most likely:

1.) My nitrates are higher than the kit is showing and the pimafix/melafix or prime/stability are affecting the results.
2.) Changing to seachem stability, which says it contains anaerobic bacteria that reduce nitrates (wherever they choose to live in my tank! ) are just kickin' butt on the nitrates, and my nitrates are really under control... (the reason I changed from api to seachem was that it had the anaerobic bacteria, and the api did not...)

I guess I probably won't ever know for sure. Today is Day 8 of my medicating, so I am done - doing a 50% WC, and feeding metro. When all that is over, and I've done a few more water changes, I'll see if those nitrates start coming back up... It is interesting though...

Thanks!


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