gringort@decwrl.dec.com (Joel Gringorten) (01/19/88)
In article <3581@whuts.UUCP> wp@whuts.UUCP (Wally Bear) writes: >I would like to know if any of you have had experience with a product called >"Nitrex" for your marine aquarium. Being relatively new to salt, I've >had a few too many failures for the budget, most due to what I feel >is unstability in the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and/or ph. >I am VERY careful to follow the maintance suggested by a dealer >I have been working with. Yet problems persist. >Nitrex is supposed to increase the efficiency of converting ammonia >to less harmful nitrate and thus make maintanence less critical >and the survivability rates of fish get MUCH better. >My dealer suggests I try it to end my misery...as Nitrex is supposed >to be the best thing since sliced bread for marine setups. > >The bottom line.......What do you folks think about Nitrex, >advise on introducing it to the tank, or whatever other general comments >do you have. > >Thank you in advance, > >Walt. >whuts!wp I've been looking into Nitrex myself by asking a lot of questions from dealers and fellow marine aquariasts that use it, and by perusing their marketing propoganda. I've also done some experimentation with it. The general consensus seems to be that indeed Nitrex is great stuff. However, I'm afraid that my bottom line advice to you, my friend, is *to solve the real problems in your tank before you start to use it.* First I'll address a few things in your note, then get down to what (little) I know about Nitrex. You say you feel you have problems due to "unstability in the levels of ammonia, nitrite, and/or ph." I'll assume you know this because you've been monitoring those levels in your tank and they seem to fluctuate. If this isn't the case, then by all means get yourself a good test kit and start taking regular readings. In practice, a well maintained marine aquarium enjoys very stable levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. As you're surely aware, but just for quick review, fish shit is high in ammonia which is poisoness to fish. Happily, Nitrosomonas bacteria soon populate the tank substrate which metabolize the ammonia into nitrite. The bad news is that Nitrite is also poisoness to fish, but also just as happily, Nitrobacter bacteria start to colonize, and these little babies eat the Nitrite and metabolize it into Nitrate. Of course the nitrate is also poisoness to fish, but MUCH LESS SO. There don't seem to be any aerobic bacteria that eat nitrate, but it's level must be kept in check just the same. Water changes are the most obvious ways to keep the levels of nitrates to sub-toxic levels. Nitrex greatly aids the development of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacters bacterium. In this regard, it might appear to reduce the symptoms of your problems but will not solve the problems itself. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If Nitrex is the cure, you really need to address some prevention to eliminate the source of your problems. So what is it about your tank that is causing instability of the chemical levels? The most important relationship to keep these nitrogen-cycle chemicals in place is the level of bacteria in the tank to the fish load. The single most common mistake of novice marine aquariasts is adding too many fish too soon. It takes a minimum of month for the bacteria to populate the tank substrate. This period can last much longer -- say 3 months under some circumstances. During this time the ammonia and nitrate levels are at poisoness levels to fish. All but the very hardiest of species will surely die in a tank that hasn't been completely cycled. If the basic equation of fish waste to bacteria levels cannot maintained in a tank, then I maintain that attempting to add cures to the tank will only compound your problems. If you want to supply us with a horde of information about your exact setup, then we can try and help with your specific problems. (how long has been set up, fish load, chemical readings, filtration details, etc). All that being said (whew) let me tell you what I know about Nitrex. Nitrex looks like small irregular shaped, black rocks around 3/8 of inch in diameter. They're made from some sort of plastic. The way that they are supposed to work is that they provide an ideal habitat for Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacterium to multiply. There are two distinct uses for Nitrex. The first is as an excelerator for bacteria growth. The most impressive application of this feature is that the use of Nitrex is supposed to be able to reduce the "cycle" time of a new tank to effectively zero. That is, set up your new tank, add nitrex and fish and don't worry about ammonia levels. Quite a claim -- although, I have yet to hear it disputed. As an experiment, I added Nitrex to my newly set up 100 gallon marine tank. The tank had been set up for almost two months and had not cycled yet. The reason for this was that the fish load in the tank was very low -- 3 damsel fish and two hermit crabs. The ammonia and nitrite levels were off the scale of test kits, and the damsels were quite stressed (not eating, barely moving). I then dumped some Nitrex into a small net bag, and dropped it into the tank. The next day I took the readings and my ammonia and nitrite levels were effectively zero. Wow. The damsels were ravenous. (I don't think the hermit crabs ever noticed.) The other application for Nitrex is used to control nitrates. Very low levels of nitrate is imporant for keeping certain invertabrates such as anemones. The Nitrex is put into a closed box that has a small vent at one end. Evidently some type of bacteria thrives in this anaerobic environment that reduces nitrates. Bubbles of nitrogen gas can been seen eminating from the vent on the box. What ever is left from that process stays with the Nitrex, and is discarded when the Nitrex is changed, after 6 months or so. I haven't had enough Nitrates in my tank to test this claim. -- -joel