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  1. #1
    Hi, I'm New Here!
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    auburn alabama
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    Aquaripure Denitrator

    Hello, I'm new to this forum and I'm seriously thinking about starting a discus aquarium. Just doing the research right now to make sure I'm ready and able to do what it takes to raise discus correctly. Has anyone hear of a product called the Aquaripure Denitrtator? According to the website it's an excellent nitrate remover and claims to keep nitrate levels at or around zero. Seem simple enough and not terrible expensive. It's not supposed to eliminate water changes but claims to reduce the amount needed and the water quality is supposed to be very good. Any help would be appreciated. thanks

  2. #2
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    Hi and welcome to the forum.

    To be honest, the best way to keep nitrItes down is to keep a healthy and mature filter running. Maybe more importantly, you need to keep the ammonia level at zero, nitrIte at zero and nitrAtes between 0 and 10

    IMO Products that claim to reduce 'this' and bypass 'that' to reduce the need for changing water do not have any part in the Discus keepers cabinett. There is no substitiue for a water change.

    I have a friend in Alabama, I am sure she could help you with some local knowledge.

    H
    Why me ?

  3. #3
    Hi, I'm New Here!
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    I'm sure your right and in most cases there aren't many shortcuts to doing things the right way. The "denitrator" as it was described is actually a filter of sorts. It uses the same bacteria that regular filters use but according to the website it just does a great job of removing all amonia, nitrites and nitrates all at the same time. You actually have to feed the filter device with either sugar water or vodka if you can imagine that. If you have the time maybe look it up on the web and let me know what you think. I do appreciate your advice and I would love to have someone in Alabama to ask my millions of questions or maybe see their setup. I'm determined to have a discus tank and just want to learn as much as I can. thanks

  4. #4
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    Hi Rw,

    Yes I read all the info from their site, and to be honest, if you are serious about keeping discus, like the guys here on the forum, you will learn that like I said before, with a proper water change regime, you do not get huge amounts of nitrAtes antway.
    As the nitrogen cycle works, ammonia is converted to nitrIte and then the bacteria in your filter convert this to nitrAtes.

    Here is a quote from their website:

    "Nitrates are less toxic than ammonia or nitrites, but they are still toxic to humans, animals and fish and are a primary cause of water pollution"

    The last statement is in my opinion is clearly untrue and put in there to make the product sell to those who feel they just want an aquarium for fun, with no regard for the real fish's health and happiness. I know of no-one in my years of keeping fish that have had nitrAtes so high that it killed their fish, and if it got higher that 10ppm a good water change normally reduces to a safe level.

    The very basics of keeping fish is to keep your water in such a way that your fish thrive. Keeping discus is easy.......but they do require the highest quality of water and this means regular water changes, and whatever spin manufacurers put on a product there is no substitute.

    My advice is in no way to put you off, quite the contrary. But it is a sad fact that some people do not read up on fish like you are, and kill their fish right off the bat. I am glad you are looking into ways of making keeping fish easier, but the fact remains, water changes are part of the deal.

    hth

    H
    Why me ?

  5. #5
    Hi, I'm New Here!
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    Thanks for your good advice and for taking the time to answer my questions. I really would like to have a discus aquarium but I want to make sure that I'm ready to take this on and do it properly. I'm still reading and asking questions at this point and opinions from experienced people really helps. thanks again.

  6. #6
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    You are in the right place to ask, and there are many more experienced than me here. But I'll help where I can.

    Why me ?

  7. #7
    Medium Discus
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    Dec 2007
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    Alexandria, Syndey
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    Hi RW,

    Hollowman is always on the money and his experience shows. I just wanted to say, firstly welcome. I love that your researching first .

    Secondly, water changes arnt so bad if you set yourself up to make it easy. As you now know, the waterchange will become your fishes next best friend (after you) and life support. Whilst products like you mentioned are designed to cheat, clean fresh water is the only long term effective method of keeping healthy happy fish. The only way of cheating at water changes is by purchasing yourself a good powerhead and hose.

    Depending on tank location, the hose will be used to siphon out all the debris etc straight into the garden, lawn, drain. The powerhead & hose used in conjunction with your water storage container (for pretreatment) will be used to fill your tank back up. This eliminates the use of buckets and the pain stacking process of 'old school' water changes. You can also have a cuppa while the tank is filling back up. It makes it a lot easier and the fish love it more as your not dumping water on top of them.

    You have probably already read to make sure your water storage is heated to the right temp and has had the PH changed to the same PH. Once your rutein is set its easy and it doesnt take any time away from enjoying the aquarium.
    Aaron

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by AHC
    You can also have a cuppa while the tank is filling back up.
    I like your style Aaron
    Why me ?

  9. #9
    Medium Discus
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    Dec 2007
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    Alexandria, Syndey
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    651
    HA! Cheers
    Aaron

  10. #10
    Just an Egg
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Seoul, (South, non-communist) Korea
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    41
    I have now two Aquaripure biofilters, one medium for my 65g discus tank and a small one for my 25 g breeder tank. They work well, but I found some things you have to be careful about. My error cost me the death of my breeding pigeon-blood pair, my first discus breeding pair.

    As background, I am testing the extent of the Aquaripure so I have purposely overloaded my 65g tank: 9 three inch discus, of two brown, and of 7 golden orange (I forget the specific name the breeder had), in a sugar fine substrate, drift wood, plastic plants (allows me to vacuum the gravel completely), one 2217 Eheim classic canister filter (physical filtration only), one sponge filter (for aeration), almond leaves in a bag, two heaters, 3 marine blue fluorescent light bulbs, and one ordinary fluorescent light bulb all on a timer. I use two Eheim rotating cylinder feeders feeding the fish eight times a day.

    With the medium Aquaripure with this current set up, I am getting nil ammonia, nil nitrites, 10 to 25 ppm nitrates, with pH at 7.0, KH at 3 dH and GH at 5 dH. Before the Aquaripure, I had 5 three inch discus and the nitrates were off the scale at 100 ppm if I didn't do a 50% water change every other day. I now do one water change every two weeks, and I get these numbers before the water change.

    What convinced me that this guy isn't a gimmick is that Seachem has these anaerobic rocks that get rid of nitrates too, that I read on the internet could be set up with a motorless Eheim 2213 filter piggybacked to physical filtration only 2217 Eheim classic filter. The set up seemed too complicated and prone to leakage. Not that many people seemed to have this set up too, except for my LHS dude who recommended it based on marine fish keepers who use it. The Aquaripure is expensive but so far works great.

    Two things to be careful about though:
    1) If you overdose the filters with too much vodka, you will have a massive anaerobic bacteria bloom that will spill out into the tank from the filter outflow, and it will clear up after a few days, yes. The link doesn't tell you that the oxygen that the bacteria takes up could kill your fish. Like my breeding pigeon pair. I had accidentally overdosed it as soon as it arrived, even though the instructions said to wait two to three days after arrival to dose with vodka.

    2) The pump is weak and doesn't run sometimes. The weak pump is good since the things supposed to drip a few drops per second anyway, but to start it back up, I recommend turning the motor power to low, let it get a head start for a few seconds and then get it up to the recommended high rate before plugging back in the intake hose.

    If the two recommendations don't make sense, they will once you start to use it. Maybe I'll start a thread about this, but I just didn't want to seem like someone endorsing this thing or that I'm working for the guy.

    He is very helpful and very accessible though. However, on some of the YouTube videos, he does seem a bit rough around the edges. I suppose he could help himself and hire a CEO and a marketing team. He does have some thin skin in the posts I've seen, but his product is legit. There is a biochemical basis for his invention after all: the Seachem rocks, for example, uses the same principle.

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