After reading the other reviews, I thought I will give it a try and in the end De*nitrate really works, brings down my 60 gal overstocked freshwater tank from 80ppm nitrate to a constant 10ppm, however it takes a lot more effort, brain and money on top of the product itself to create an ideal environment for it. And I think it's worth it. First, you need a few things: 1. A media reactor cylindrical and clear 2. Liquid flow meter 3. Flow control valve 4. A pre-filter 5. An after-filter 6. A submersible aquarium pump 7. Shut-off valves 8. Stainless/plastic hose clamps and strong cable ties 9. Clear aquarium vinyl tubing 10. 50 micron filter pads Then you connect the submersible pump to a shut-off valve, through a pre-filter, then through media reactor, out through the liquid flow meter, through the flow control valve, then finally an after-filter which is a 50 micron polishing pad tied to the end of the tube submerged in the aquarium. You want the flow rate to be at around 35gph consistently. To do that, you will have to adjust the flow control valve once in a while as the pre-filter catches more and more debris while it slows down the flow little by little. A few things need to be taken into consideration: 1. You need a pump that has a flow rate of at least three times of 35gph just to handle the media reactor and pre-filter, then add roughly additional 100gph for 50 micron polishing pad because it slows down the flow significantly. Finally another 50gph as the flow rate gets slowed down little by little in the long run while it catches more and more debris. 2. You need to use your liquid flow meter to read your current flow rate easily and adjust accordingly. De*nitrate takes about 2 weeks for me to work. 3. Do not cheap out on a pre-filter, make it big, in diameter, not in length. The bigger diameter it has, the longer it takes to slow down the flow significantly hence the longer time periods it provides until maintenance. 4. Put a 50 micron filtering pad inside your pre-filter. This will provide longer working time for your media reactor before it gets clogged up by debris which then it would require a complete rinsing of the media itself. 5. It can be pain in the ass when it comes to the tubing size. The best case scenario would be one size fits all when your pump, your pre-filter, your media reactor, your flow meter all require the same tube size, if not, then you would need multi-hose adapter which adds to the work and cost. 6. Always use clamps in every joint to prevent potential leak. Use plastic cable ties or hose clamps instead of metal clamps for underwater applications. 7. Add shut-off valve at the ins and outs of your pre-filter and media reactor for easy maintenance. 8. After every time you rinse your media, add tiny bit of sugar at the bottom and middle of your reactor as the anaerobic bacteria need a carbon source to thrive.
I love your content. I’m new to the hobby and you explain everything in away I can understand without making me feel dumb. Keep up the great work and I can’t wait to see you at the 1 million subscribe mark!!
Just keep in mind that you'll always have nitrates in a normal system. Our scheduled water changes is what keeps them in check. But hopefully this Matrix media is an additional way of keeping them low 😊
I honestly dont think its possible to remove nitrate in a canister filter the flow is too much ,and to be honest i change 90% of water every week so for me theres no point in trying to reduce nitrate in the filter ,,great videos ❤, greetings from a cold and windy UK
Thank you for being automatically you. I absolutely love watching your videos. Everyone needs sponsors to make things happen, but you are not a sell out! Keep it real my friend ✌
hey bro Im doing my first tank 75 gallon with 18 juvenile Mbunas…mostly yellow lab. and a common pleco…you have really helped me have a nice healthy tank and it’s only a month old. I appreciate everything you do.
Have you used Seachem Matrix media? What was your experience? And how are your nitrate levels?? 😁 We discuss topics like this during our members only live streams, join here - ru-vid.comjoin
Thank you for doing this experiment. I have been experimenting with different medias for years, and I too fell victim to the bio home ultimate trap. Please keep us posted on this!
its not a trap and he didn't use it right, if he put the same amount of it as he did the matrix the same shit happens he's full of shit and sponsored by seachem ffs dude
Awesome vlog Mr K… I’m running a 4ft planted tank 25 l Jbl substrate with volcanic/ coral base layer… Eheim 2180 pro 3 external filter (beast) … Haven’t cleaned it in 5 months and the fish look like they are floating in the air… Got my eyes on a 8ft tank but may have to dispose of my sofa set.. Worthwhile compromise?!? Yes, I think so also 😁
In my experience seachem matrix does keep my nitrates down ! Ive been using seachem matrix and do 75% water changes every two weeks ! When I check my nitrates the day before my water change, nitrates are always still low. I change the water anyways but according to the nitrates I dont even need to change the water !
For anyone reading this, Matrix is nothing but specifically sourced and washed pumice stone. Not all pumice is made alike but you can find excellent quality porous pumice for a fraction of the cost of what Seachem sells it for. Just google what you can find near you.
Pristine is great but wont help in reducing nitrates. Its a different strain of bacteria more for cleaning sludge and keeping your tank clean and cycled. 😁
Thank you bro! Yea They can tolerate alot more than many talk about in the hobby. But since its good to keep nitrates low anyway the industry set the standard around 40. But they're ok even if it gets much higher.
I am REALLY pumped to see the outcome! I run 3 Tidal 110's and a FX6 filter on a 125 gallon aquarium. The tidal 110's are loaded with matrix and I run them "about" half of their flow capacity. The FX6 I devote an entire tray to Matrix, no red insert, just the center round section packed to the brim with Matrix. I have a VERY overcrowded community tank. Prior to adding Matrix on any of the filters I would constantly get above 80ppm nitrates prior to a 75% water change. When I added the Matrix to the 110's it dropped to around 20 ppm prior to water change. When I added the FX6 filter with Matrix it dropped to less than 10 ppm. I experimented for a month without doing any water changes, just top offs, and the nitrate level never exceeded 10ppm. Depending on the outcome of your video, I may slowly decrease the matrix in one or two of my 110's to zero matrix, that way I can add more/other media. FWIW I don't bag any of my Matrix. I run it loose in all 4 filters. I find I can get much more Matrix in the filters this way. Thanks for the videos!!
That’s great to hear you’ve found success with Matrix. I haven’t gotten results like that yet but I see that matrix is helping for sure! Your timing is great because the update video is currently in final editing and will be up next week! 😁 Make sure you don’t miss it!
Hey Kev… bro I just wanted to say thank you.. you inspired me to take on a challenge of a over stocked community tank.. So I think I have finally got the fish to live plant ratio down. Checked my water peram. This morning and we're sitting bout 20-25 ppm. That's awesome cuz by this time I'm usually at 80 ppm. it's been a full week and no water change and I'm at 20... I think I've done it bro
I use matrix and bio rings in my 407 and matrix in both my bottom trays in my fx6 on my overstocked 75 gallon peacock and hap tank. 20 fish and nitrates at 10ppm with 75% water changes weekly.
Hey Kev enjoy what you’re sharing right now even though it’s three days later laugh out loud. Just to update you on my 75 with the 2307 Fluval‘s I also have a sponge filter in there and today I made a jump and decided to add a 101 title just for polishing and I’ll let you know how that goes take care
I mixed like 50KG of Seachem Pond Matrix and 15 Boxes of XL Mountain Tree media for my 2500 gal pond. Works like a charm for the cycle. I still get nitrates cause I keep big predators but not more than 80ppm.
I've been doing aquariums for about 28 years used to have an African cichlid tank with mbuna 2 canister filter with Matrix pond Matrix on top of that ran for about 2 years and I have never seen a nitrate- reduction in my aquarium that's the honest truth but I would like to see this honest and real time lapse and see if this truly works because I have not found a biomedia yet that can truly reduce nitrates and I have tried just about all of them
I hear you! I've been skeptical of these nitrate-reducing medias myself for a long time. Like I said in the video bio-home was a total waste for me. But still, there are some people out there that swear bio-home works, many also swear that Matrix works. Don't know the details of their tanks or maintenance schedules or live plant levels...but they swear its the media 🤷♂️ I failed with Bio-home but wanted to give Matrix the same respect to test it as well. I am looking forward to these results just as much as everyone else! lol And I will be giving honest results, Seachem is aware of that! 😊
@@KaveManAquatics yeah Overstock tanks would be even more difficult to achieve low nitrates with biomedia it might and I mean might be possible with under stock tank but your tank is definitely Overstock just like any African cichlid tank can't wait for the results kaveman I'm sure it will probably take many months
Hey Kev. Love these sort of experiments. I have a FX6 loaded with bio home ultimate and a Oase 600 loaded with seachem matrix running on my 120 gallon tank. The tank is medium stocked. I still have to do water change every week as Nitrate shoots up to 80 ppm after just 5-6 days or so. Good luck with this experiment though. Maybe need to get rid of the biohome once and for all.
Love the videos man, you’ve taught me so much in this hobby, I have fx4 on my main tank would you recommend this setup Minus one of the media trays? Thanks bro
Nice video! Just wondering how much Matrix did you end up using! I’m thinking of using the pond matrix, I have a 130 gal tank with a 50 gal sump. I’m going to be moving my Frontosa, a hap. Moori and a peacock over to this tank! Thanks !
Love your videos. Would love to get a 90 day feedback on how the Seachem Matrix is performing. I am getting ready to start up a new 120 gallon tank and want to know if this is worth the price. Thank You
Nice to meet friend.. I amaze your video. And I like to see your beautiful aquarium many different kinds of fish very cool and colorful. Thanks for sharing friend.. And I visit your live today.
Hey Kevin I’m a big fan of your page question I was thinking going pot scrubber route but I’ve seen when you changed your bio media you didn’t put back the pot scrubbers . Are you not going the pot scrubber route no more ?
Nice video been using all types of bio media over the years, use matrix in one of my canisters , only problem flow rate is to much in an fx6 to really do anything of great value for any type of bio media for nitrates.
Hey there @Kev, How is the experiment going? I bought the media today but was hoping to see some results from you before I installed in on my filter. Thanks for the amazing videos brother!
@@KaveManAquatics Alright, I’ll get mine setup today. I’m going to use 2 times the amount of media recommended for the tank size since I plenty of space in my filter. Keep up the great work! Love your videos…
Love your channel, you are actually the only one I subscribe to because of how well you get to the point. I have a question, if I'm planning a new tank and want to take advantage of my existing tank by adding a sponge filter or something, how long would it take for that to colonize before I could move it to the new tank and help cycle it?
Thats a great question! Unfortunately the answer varies. It depends on the bio-load in your original tank. To be very general, anywhere from 1-2 weeks and that sponge filter should have some good growth on it 😊
OH MAN, YOURE RIGHT! Thank you bro, didnt even notice! Just updated the links in the description....but here they are as well - Fluval White Polishing Pad - amzn.to/3qCjZb2 Fluval Blue Polishing Pad - amzn.to/3tFA0yR
Great video, thank you for sharing. Since I am new and new with my canister, I feel like this vid helped a lot. I do have a question though. What fine pads are you using for your FX6 and can it work with an fx5? Thank you.
Yes pothos is great…but this video isn’t about plants. I have videos on reducing nitrates in general. But I suggest you watch the results to this video next.
I added a seachem tidal 110 to one of my big salt water predator tanks to give it a little extra for media. I loaded it up with seachem matrix and bio balls. It’s been running for about a month and a half, today I’m going to test the nitrates and see how well it’s done.
Hey bro! ur one of the few guys on YT talking about the scrubbies from aquariumsciences research articles! love that you made these test videos. Would be great to see it on the aquario neo media too. Just wanted to point out, you sandwiched your purigen but putting it on top of the filter floss will make it work better i i imagine coz as the floss shrinks and clogs up the water will just flow around it. You can see this in the old filter pad u removed in the video, the rim of the pad was darker than the middle suggesting that more water went ove the sides of the floss as it shrunk but wasnt fully clogged as it shrinks. How often do you change the filter floss on that cichlid tank? Awesome vids, keep em coming!
Glad you enjoyed it bro, the pot scrubbers were a total success and I recommend them to anyone wanting to try it. I see your point about the purigen. I guess since I’ve always found my purigen totally brown and used up it meant it was always getting a good flow of water. I will try your suggestion though to see if I get any noticeable changes. I change the purigen every 30-45 days.
@@KaveManAquatics yeah youre right the purigen was pretty brown, browner than the pad under it so it prolly dont make a diff, probably better the way u did it since the water has more dwell time in the purigen that way. sorry meant to ask how often do you change the filter floss on that tank?
Im setting up my first tank pretty soon, gonna be a heavily planted scape in a 45cm x 30cm x 30cm tank, 10 Gal with only like chili rasbora and chery shrimnp and ottos . I have aquario neo media at the moment and from all the stuff ive seen it seems to have much better micropore area than matrix for sure and it has big valleys in the media so there is good waterflow over the biofilm that gets made kinda having a bit of a K1 media effect where the biofilm will have good surface to get fresh water flowing through always. From the videos ive seen where they dunk the neo media in water for the first time, it bubbles a shit ton, like 10x more than other media. Suggesting that thier micropores go deep into the media (only media ive seen so far that does that) even biohome(which claims that water gets into it lol ) which i tested myself is like 10% of the bubbling of that media. So in my head it seems it would be really good for nitrate reduction too as there will be slow flow in the media, better than matrix or denitrate too as pumice does not have open pores through the media, its all tiny bubbles that get formed in the lava. Since molten lava has high viscosity and the viscosity increases as the lava cools, theres no way for the bubbles to connect to make open pores. Thus i imagine matrix is only denitrating in the surface pores pockets which are larger than any ceramic media i imagine. i havent held matrix in my hand so this is just speculation as there are many kinds of pumice and every place its sourced from would have different properties thus i dont know what seachem is using. But from this long winded message i mean to say that the aquario neo media looks very promising by the logic above.I just want to do as little water changes as i can lol Do you think the same about thier media? check out thier website product description. Maybe could be something good for your heavily stocked tanks !! i will let you know my results with neo media once i have the tank setup and running for a bit!
I've been eyeballing matrix for a while, stuff is damn expensive tho. I currently use lava rock combined with live plants. My tank is mostly American cichlids. How can I have live plants with American cichlids? I added so many plants, they can't munch them all! weekly nitrate levels before water change day has been around 7.0ppm. It might change as my fish are still mostly juvies. Will keep a close eye and if I find my nitrates are getting higher than my personal preference (I prefer 20ppm or lower), I'll definitely switch to matrix. Nice video, looking forward to your results!
Thanks Dan, yea its more expensive than lava rock but much cheaper then other products that claim it can reduce nitrates. But your planted tank seems to be doing a great job so far! 👍
Love your videos brother..... an love your tanks as well i just purchased a 215 my self but i got a question where can i find L.E.D. lights thats 72" long thanks for your time have a good day
I just put biohome ultimate in its only been one day I get matrix tomorrow and going to replace it . Hopefully I don't lose too much beneficial bacteria
I've never seen nitrates that high. Maybe I'm lucky or I'm not as stocked as I think. No idea. However, I have seen nitrate reduction by putting a pothos plant in my HOB. The fish don't eat the plant, and the HOB feeds the plant. Might be worth a try
What's up Kev! Thanks for the guidance as always. I am gradually replacing the bio-home ultimate and bio-media balls in both of my canister filters with matrix. In the video you mentioned that you were putting Seachem Purigen at the top of your FX6. My question is do I need to put a Purigen in one of my canister filters as well as the Tidal 110?
You dont ever HAVE TO use chemical media. But if you wanted to it will help in improving your waters clarity. 1 bag is good for 100 gallons so use what you need according to your tank size.
In my experience it takes several weeks to several months to properly populate the anaerobic bacteria in Matrix (though I believe Stability and possibly Pristine help speed that process up). But I swear by Seachem Matrix. I don't have a single tank without it.
Great videos Kev. I always enjoy watching them. Question-I'm switching from a HOB to the fluval 207 on my 37g. Would I just keep my HOB running for a few months with my canister? Not sure the filter media from my HOB would fit inside my canister 🤔
Thanks! This is a great way to get your new filter seeded with beneficial bacteria! You dont need to keep it running that long. 1-2 weeks with both then you can remove the hob if you wanted to...😊
@@KaveManAquatics Please answer me my bro I had 11 very young orandas in a 41 gallon tank 0 ammonia,0 nitrite, nitrates are always between 20-40ppm All fish are fine,but my favourite panda oranda refused to eat for 2 weeks and died He was very active before that I don't know what happened He got white spot(treated) then fungus on the wen(treated) in the proper way and dosage,and died I tried everything, salt in aquarium, garlic,meds,personal epsom salt bath,lights turned down,but he died I change 30-50% of water weekly,with conditioner, bacteria,good temperature, filtration, but I'm lost why he died Any ideas? All I can think of is he was the biggest,boss of the tank so to speak,I then bought another panda oranda,friendly but a bit larger,maybe he did like another fish to be bigger? I'm lost
Great video Kev! I've been considering matrix for a tank of amazon puffers where I am aiming for nitrates under 10. Is there a nitrate test other than APIs that provides results that are easier to read? Do the results of APIs test get skewed after a certain time frame (like 10 mins)? For some reason I thought there was an ideal window for reading results. Love your tank!
There is, I believe its at the 5 minute mark...after that the color is no longer valid. Really the API master test kit is the best thing I've used for testing nitrates, even though it isnt always the best, if you know what I mean.
For my experience: I have same old set up as yours. I do have pot scrubs in my fx6 and Fluval bio media in fx4. My nitrate level remains 20-40. Hopefully in 6 months I will change it.
Good afternoon Kev, absolutely great video! You mentioned with an older set up mine is about a year old 90 gallon bow, I can change my trays in my fx4 from ceramic rings to matrix about once a month? My stock is about 9 fish. Thank you very much for your videos.
Hey Kev, love your work! Quick question. I'm upgrading from 260 litres to 550 litres (UK). I have a new FX6 and an old 307 which is cycled. How would you approach this to make sure the new tank cycles ASAP? Would you connect both pumps to the new tank for 1-2 week? Would you also add some of the filters or a matrix of the FX6 to sit in the old tank for a week prior to the new setup? All advice welcome!
@Fishy Tales, Run the cycled filter together with the new filter. It will cycle your tank quicker. I would also transfer some water from your old tank to the new tank
Absolutely. It's all just surface area for beneficial bacteria to grow on 😊 I highly suggest you check out my playlist for beginners. It'll be very helpful for you 😁 - ru-vid.com/group/PLP5OXTIIDO8NYvhUHAmwAd54WFmS4d8er
I just bought some matrix biofiltration and it came in a mesh bag with a plastic zipper, but I have a saltwater tank so should I take the biomedia out of mesh bag and dump it directly in the basket or still keep it in mesh bag? Btw great content 👍❤
Physical media or more filters is not going to reduce nitrates. I have high nitrates because my beneficial bacteria are doing a great job of converting high levels of ammonia and nitrite into nitrates, which is what they're supposed to do.
Unless the freshwater api gest is different from the reef tank, ypu only gotta shake the second bottle. Honestly, im shocked you dont have a hanna HR checker to be dead on accurate yet haha
Never felt like I needed to be that accurate when I really only care about Nitrates. But noow that I'm moving over to Saltwater, I will definitely be getting some hannas!
Great stuff as always, but I disagree with needing to dose bacteria in the filter on a fully cycled tank with another fully cycled filter running. The bacteria is going to take about month to fully populate the matrix whether you dose or not. Is there a follow up video tracking your current nitrates?
When both filters have been running on the tank and you remove an entire filter you are losing 50% of your bacteria. The tank can not continue to convert the same amount of ammonia and nitrite with only 50% of the bacteria. (Roughly speaking) While I agree that the new media will eventually catch up and grow bacteria, dosing with stability in the meantime is a great way to speed that up. Dosing with prime ensures any ammonia not being converted is detoxified. I would never remove 50% of a tanks established bio-media and assume everything will be fine. The update to this video is actually in work right now. Keep an eye out for it, coming in the next few weeks.
@@KaveManAquatics Right, but isn't most of what you pour in from the bottle going to dilute out into the tank? And wouldn't all of those pre-existing bacteria pour in from the water column, strata and other filter, in this cycled tank, anyway? It's still going to take a while for the bacteria to actually grow to a thriving colony in that new filter, either way. Thanks for responding, I'm looking forward to the update video.
@@gregorydubya when u dose with stability you are adding more bacteria to compensate for the bacteria u have removed thru media.....he removed 50% of his bacteria, i don't get whats hard to understand here? have you read up about stability? its not like the other instant bacteria products
@@anonamoss78 He removed 50% of the filtration capacity, but bacteria is only a part of it. The necessary bacteria is already thriving in his substrate, water column and other filter. This bacteria won't repopulate the new filter media instantly, because it requires something to consume. So when the mulm and detritus builds up, the populations of bacteria will begin to grow. He would have been better off rinsing the new media in the dirty bucket from the old filter which also contains high amounts of detritus for the bacteria to thrive on. So even if you were able to add the perfect amount of bacteria to your new filter, most would die off until the filter saturated with enough nutrients anyway. That's why cycling a new tank takes a month, give or take, anyway. If you want to risk it, you have to keep testing and adding bacteria every couple of days as the populations rise and die off. Instead of dosing stability, he could have just threw the old seachem purigen, which can be reused indefinitely, back in the new filter, and mitigated recycling the filter altogether. ...but if y'all just trying to sell product, I ain't mad atcha.
Hey kave, I just want to recommend a bio media to you it's API(aquarium products India) bio media it's, affordable, free bacteria pouch, and mesh bag is also free. I wish one day you will make a video on it :)
I use seachem matrix in all 4 of my tanks and NEVER have more than 20 on the nitrates before a 50% water change, i do water changes most to just clean the gravel make it look neat and tidy and straighten out decor that the cichlids have rearranged lol and to clean inside of glass
