[Craig 72]

I read a post on here recently about aquariums but it seemed to have conflicting opinions.My brother has a marine aquarium and I've been giving him RO water which he has to use for it.He's got a tester that tests for nitrates and it says that even after the TDS is down to 000 it still has some remnants of nitrates which he's been told he has to get rid of.So I presume he then has to put my RO water through a nitrate filter?Anyone got any ideas where I might be able to get such a filter?Cheers.

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I'm  Surprised that your still getting nitrates in ro water. I would check your filters or his test kit. All the marine hobbiest books recomend ro water. I've been keeping marines, fish and corals for over 5 years now and have never had any issues with ro water.

Get him to buy some from a local fish shop and then he can test that and see how it compares. Do you m kw what test kit he is useing.?

Simon.

[Oakley Windows]

What level of nitrates are in the RO water?

Its generally considered good husbandry to have as low a level of nitrates on Marine fish/coral keeping. However SOME invertebrates appreciate a low level of NO3, clams for example would benefit from 5PPM of NO3.

If you are still getting NO3 in RO water its an indication your carbon is exhausted.


There is nitrate filter called the Nitrogon (thats original isnt it, but is nothing more than carbon and a DI filter), but what level are we talking about here.

How long has his tank been established. What sort of tank and filtration system has he got?
Live rock? Live sand? DSB? Protein skimmer?

A well established DSB filter will reduce the nitrates in itself anyway so long as theyre not too high.

What level are we talking about here in the RO water?

Matt

[Craig 72]

I'll have to check with him what the nitrate levels are.Minimal I think,but he was told that it should be perfect.I believe he's got the test which makes the turn the water turn a colour (green maybe?) in the presence of nitrates.I don't think it's matter of life or death but his tank is becoming a bit of an obsession for him so he wants everything spot on.

[Oakley Windows]

He needs this

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/

[Clive McDonald]

Matt seems to know his stuff.

The people at the shop told me different things. My fish died.

I used ro water and they said it was too pure(after i'd done it and they said it was fine) and fish need minerals. I think the nitrate cycle is something else inside the tank that happens naturally.

The tests are inconsistent too. different assistants giving different explanations of results.Everyone you speak to is an expert.

The fish that are in now(two days) are fine so far.

[Craig 72]

Thanks Matt,I'll pass on that forum info to him.

Slumpbuster,he's got this fish tank where he's had a piece of coral imported from Fiji so I think it's different from a normal aquarium,or so he tells me.He's been assured that the water must be pure.

[Oakley Windows]

Craig these are some pics of part of my set-up at home

[Craig 72]

Nice mate.You should see the tender loving care my brother is giving his tank!He's only had it a couple of months and this Fijian coral he's had imported actually develops it's own life apparently.Pretty amazing.He's just started putting actual creatures in it recently like hermit crabs and these snail things.