Orca nitra guard bio cubes discussion

@hadiosbourne I do get that a lot and actually I am glad you raised that. Just want to go into the volumes a bit more in detail for everyone. I have calculated that a certain volume will reduce NO3 in a certain amount of time. Other factors also affect the performance such as quantity of air flowing through the bag, but, I will keep that for another day and just stay with volumes. Nitra-Guard Bio-Cubes is not an additive, it's a bio-media. Sometimes people will add less to the system thinking it will reduce NO3 by 20% or whatever. This is not the case, rather think of the cubes as media that you use for ammonia removal. If you are producing 1mg/lts of ammonia per day, you will need enough biomedia to remove that. If you add less biomedia than what is required, it will be decreasing the ammonia produced daily, but, your test kit will show that ammonia has risen instead of decreasing. The reason for this is that our test kits tell us the total of all ammonia in the system. They do not say "on the 10th of October between 09h00 and 09h30 there was a dramatic increase in Ammonia production of 0.25mg/lts followed by a sharp decline in the afternoon of just 0.01mg/lts" It will always be the total ammonia concentration present at that moment when the test was performed. So, while adding less will make ammonia rise more slowly in the system, it will still rise. Nitra-Guard Bio-Cubes is exactly the same thing. You need a certain volume to handle a certain amount of NO3
 
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@KillerWhale
thanks for the explanation, it does make sense,
the only thing is that, in the instruction it gives the corret amount to use according to the volume (ex. 2ml per liter)
So the unit must be something that could be measured for the reefers, to be able to put the needed amount.
I think thats something you could look into.
I hope i make sense here.
 
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I've been using cubes for a while with great effect on both my NO3 and PO4 which have both been non existent according to 2 different brands of test kits.
Personal opinion is same as most the bomb method works as my results show but has all the rudimentary issues that have been mentioned here.
But I agree with @hadiosbourne the measurement system would work better if it was grams.
Even a simpler formula 100g treats 80L because this is the only way an end user can measure for initial use an exact amount. Especially if you need to up your dose or use portions of a bigger volume drum as Hadisbourne mentions.
I have a 300L system and I bought a large bucket which I shared with someone.
Now how do you use your volume calculation when we only have weight to work with?
 
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@brentv thank you and glad to hear the product is working well for you. The reason I did ml is because everybody has a kitchen jug, but, not everyone has a kitchen scale. Personally, I would also have liked weight, but, I have to consider giving customers something that can be measured with something that everyone has. Bathroom scales don't work...mine tells me that I weigh 15kgs...
 
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Even a simpler formula 100g treats 80L because this is the only way an end user can measure for initial use an exact amount

Some people have larger fish stocks and therefore will create more wastes that become NO3 I did post earlier why the proper amount is important. If I put everyone in a single category, people who have serious problems like RegalAngel would complain the product does not work, while other people who do not have serious loads would be forking out lots of cash for nothing
 
Thanks @brentv for agreeing
The product is great nevertheless,
It's just the instruction was slightly confusing for me personally,
And still think grams would be easier to measure and also helps us make the cubes last longer if we use the exact amount and not guessing
 
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@KillerWhale ,Im not sure if this has been discussed - But what will happen if you add 500ml of each(regular and titanium) to a 300liter tank. Obviously it will strip you water of all nutrients, but if thats your end goal like it is with a lot of reefers, is it that bad? Can it do more damage than good? Do you just top up whichever of the two needs a top up after a while then or isnt it recommend to add this much?
 
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Hi Guys, Wondering if you could help. I would like to use these bio cubes in my TL 550 and take out the matrix and phosguard I am currently using. The tank has been running for 8 months now. can i just take out the old filter media and put in the bio cubes? do i have to run both for a time then take out the old filter medium or can I run both? thanks guys
 
@KillerWhale ,Im not sure if this has been discussed - But what will happen if you add 500ml of each(regular and titanium) to a 300liter tank. Obviously it will strip you water of all nutrients, but if thats your end goal like it is with a lot of reefers, is it that bad? Can it do more damage than good? Do you just top up whichever of the two needs a top up after a while then or isnt it recommend to add this much?

It is impossible to strip the water of all nutrients.
 
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Hi Guys, Wondering if you could help. I would like to use these bio cubes in my TL 550 and take out the matrix and phosguard I am currently using. The tank has been running for 8 months now. can i just take out the old filter media and put in the bio cubes? do i have to run both for a time then take out the old filter medium or can I run both? thanks guys

You can leave the Matrix in, but, I would remove the Phosguard. Once NO3 levels are at 0ppm or desired level, you can add a phosphate remover again. This is to ensure you don't hit Redfield's Ratio, if you do wish to continue using the PO4 remover, I would recommend using the Nitra-Guard Titanium Cubes, with them, Redfield's Ratio is no longer a limiting factor
 
Hi Guys, Wondering if you could help. I would like to use these bio cubes in my TL 550 and take out the matrix and phosguard I am currently using. The tank has been running for 8 months now. can i just take out the old filter media and put in the bio cubes? do i have to run both for a time then take out the old filter medium or can I run both? thanks guys

The cubes do take a while to become active / populated by microbes, therefor I would suggest you leave in the matrix.

I don't quite agree with removal of the phosguard, except in circumstances where you have high NO3 and undetectable PO4.
 
It's just the instruction was slightly confusing for me personally,
And still think grams would be easier to measure and also helps us make the cubes last longer if we use the exact amount and not guessing

Tens of Thousands of people worldwide have used the volume method with great results. I would not stress too much about these things. Just use them as directed and I am sure you will be just fine
 
You can leave the Matrix in, but, I would remove the Phosguard. Once NO3 levels are at 0ppm or desired level, you can add a phosphate remover again. This is to ensure you don't hit Redfield's Ratio, if you do wish to continue using the PO4 remover, I would recommend using the Nitra-Guard Titanium Cubes, with them, Redfield's Ratio is no longer a limiting factor

The cubes do take a while to become active / populated by microbes, therefor I would suggest you leave in the matrix.

I don't quite agree with removal of the phosguard, except in circumstances where you have high NO3 and undetectable PO4 .



thanks guys for the help. currently my Nitrates are around 1ppm and my phosphates are undetectable but I am dosing red Sea's NoPox and was wondering if the bio cubes would be better management system?
 
But what will happen if you add 500ml of each(regular and titanium) to a 300liter tank.

Would this mean that you in total would have added 1 000ml of product to the system (500ml + 500ml) or is that a combination of both to make 1 000ml?

Obviously it will strip you water of all nutrients,

Not possible to strip the water totally. NO3 and PO4 will always be produced in a system. The only way to stop that is to stop the nitrogen cycle at the beginning. Unlike pellets, cubes removes NO3 and some PO4 inside the bag. This means that some NO3 will always be present in the system even though our test kits can not detect it, it is there
Can it do more damage than good?
Unlike pellets, cubes only erode when there is NO3 in the system. It would do no harm, but, it's a waste of cash adding in way too much...times are tough!...save cash wherever you can and spend only what you must on a problem

Do you just top up whichever of the two needs a top up after a while then or isnt it recommend to add this much?

Simply top up when needed
 
thanks guys for the help. currently my Nitrates are around 1ppm and my phosphates are undetectable but I am dosing red Sea's NoPox and was wondering if the bio cubes would be better management system?

With cubes you just add them and enjoy your tank...no daily dosing required. If I can steal a quote from DallasG..."like a Fire and Forget missile"

If your PO4 is at oppm, I would recommend NGBC Titanium or maybe a smart bomb blend of the 2
 
With cubes you just add them and enjoy your tank...no daily dosing required. If I can steal a quote from DallasG..."like a Fire and Forget missile"

If your PO4 is at oppm, I would recommend NGBC Titanium or maybe a smart bomb blend of the 2

Thanks again @KillerWhale. excuse the ignorance but is the bomb method in a filter bag with an air stone? I don't have much space as my TL550 is not sumped, so I am suspecting the best way to run the bio cubes would be a blend. I am assuming the blend would be a little bit of both in one bag?
 
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Tens of Thousands of people worldwide have used the volume method with great results. I would not stress too much about these things. Just use them as directed and I am sure you will be just fine
I'm sure they are and they will continue growing,
It was just a suggestion from a slightly confused customer,
Its up to you to take it or not.
good luck;)
 
I'm sure they are and they will continue growing,
It was just a suggestion from a slightly confused customer,
Its up to you to take it or not.
good luck;)

while we think grams would be better, we are measuring a porous media with multiple facets for colonization, so measuring grams will only achieve an accurate mass of the media not a quantity of effective product.

the following are all measured in ml
Ceramic Rings
Bio Balls
NP Pellets
Seachem Matrix
Seachem Purigen
Zeovit Zeo stones
Carbon
to name a few
 
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