Since this phrase has been stretched beyond all recognition, I figure I will just completely misuse it.
Plenums, DSBs and I would venture to guess all anaerobic decompostion schemes are indeed nitrate factories. The boxes of nitrate go in to the factory and the finished good is boxes of alkalinity with free nitrogen as the gas coming from the smokes stacks. Some factories are more effecient than others, but it seems that they all produce the same output. I have yet to see in very long term nitrate factories the dreaded nutrient dump, and I have had my nitrate factories up for years. I have found that hydrogen sulfide isn't really the enemy, the real enemy is rapid aerobic nitrification. IME nitrate factories have been very desirable in doing what they are intended to do. Convert nitrate into free nitrogen. With the beneficial (it seems) effect of producing alkalinity.
Today I removed my 8 month old plenums ... for good. They and none of their kind will be returning. Perhaps in the future I will find a niche application that provide a solution for but for now, they are dunzo.
What might you ask is the reason for your sudden distaste for this seemingly beneficial at best, nuetral at worst system?
Well it is the alkalinity. I have been struggling with high alkalinity for a while. This seemed awesome when I was dosing differently, but when I added a calcium reactor this became unteneable. I was at first struggling to diagnose my low calcium. This was confusing and no matter what I did I could not get the calcium up. I even considered calcium chloride, but for me that is a last resort. I don't want the imbalance and I don't want the water changes. So I have been grinding on this for quite a while. My alk has crept up from 8.6 dKh to 10.2 dKh in an attempt to get my calcium over 350 ppm. I have lost one of my LPS and I am frustrated because the tank is very mad and I don't know why. So it finally occured to me that maybe the plenums were the problem. I pondered this over the course of several days and it made sense. My wife wanted to keep the plenums alive until I was sure so I figured I would go to the ocean get my water change water and then perserve the plenums in case this wasn't the issue. Whelp it was. In two days from the removal of the plenums the dKh went from 10.2 to 9.6. I expect it to fall further.
Just something interesting that I wanted to share.
Plenums, DSBs and I would venture to guess all anaerobic decompostion schemes are indeed nitrate factories. The boxes of nitrate go in to the factory and the finished good is boxes of alkalinity with free nitrogen as the gas coming from the smokes stacks. Some factories are more effecient than others, but it seems that they all produce the same output. I have yet to see in very long term nitrate factories the dreaded nutrient dump, and I have had my nitrate factories up for years. I have found that hydrogen sulfide isn't really the enemy, the real enemy is rapid aerobic nitrification. IME nitrate factories have been very desirable in doing what they are intended to do. Convert nitrate into free nitrogen. With the beneficial (it seems) effect of producing alkalinity.
Today I removed my 8 month old plenums ... for good. They and none of their kind will be returning. Perhaps in the future I will find a niche application that provide a solution for but for now, they are dunzo.
What might you ask is the reason for your sudden distaste for this seemingly beneficial at best, nuetral at worst system?
Well it is the alkalinity. I have been struggling with high alkalinity for a while. This seemed awesome when I was dosing differently, but when I added a calcium reactor this became unteneable. I was at first struggling to diagnose my low calcium. This was confusing and no matter what I did I could not get the calcium up. I even considered calcium chloride, but for me that is a last resort. I don't want the imbalance and I don't want the water changes. So I have been grinding on this for quite a while. My alk has crept up from 8.6 dKh to 10.2 dKh in an attempt to get my calcium over 350 ppm. I have lost one of my LPS and I am frustrated because the tank is very mad and I don't know why. So it finally occured to me that maybe the plenums were the problem. I pondered this over the course of several days and it made sense. My wife wanted to keep the plenums alive until I was sure so I figured I would go to the ocean get my water change water and then perserve the plenums in case this wasn't the issue. Whelp it was. In two days from the removal of the plenums the dKh went from 10.2 to 9.6. I expect it to fall further.
Just something interesting that I wanted to share.