Nitrate removal

[phil56]

At the recent Gold coast pet expo,at one for the exhibits a guy tried to sell a internal filter that removed Nitrate from the water by means of passing water through an electric field converting Nitrate according to him back to water.A process which ionized the water.I'm having trouble understanding the process which he (the sales rep) was trying to explain.chemically it didn't make sense to me.Can somebody please explain?.

[ILLUSN]

my understanding of electric removal of nitrate is that it uses Dc current and a membrane to force nitrogen "salts" out of the water.

I wasn't aware of any device that can split nitrate into oxygen (or H2O) and N2 gas.

it would take a fair amount of energy to break the covalent bonds within an NO3 molecule.

[phil56]

yes I can't help but wonder if it is possible,the process also claims to remove Ammonia,and nitrite I believe.Got one today to test.I'll let you know the results.

[phil56]

sold one of these filters from the shop on Wednesday last week to a guy with a marine tank.his ammonia,nitrate and phosphate was quite high,I tested his water again on Sunday and all had dropped to near zero.interesting,but I'll have to see that happen in several tanks In both salt and fresh water tanks before I'll become a believer.yet the result is interesting.
years ago I experimented killing various parasites in both marine and fresh by an electrical discharge into the water,results were very favorable in most cases.I'm wondering if this filter could do the same?Any opinions.

[phil56]

just checked guys water again all parameters have gone back up.the filter has failed to maintain efficiency.check again next week for any improvement.

[ILLUSN]

sold one of these filters from the shop on Wednesday last week to a guy with a marine tank.his ammonia,nitrate and phosphate was quite high,I tested his water again on Sunday and all had dropped to near zero.interesting,but I'll have to see that happen in several tanks In both salt and fresh water tanks before I'll become a believer.yet the result is interesting.
years ago I experimented killing various parasites in both marine and fresh by an electrical discharge into the water,results were very favorable in most cases.I'm wondering if this filter could do the same?Any opinions.

i believe there was some talk about using a Dc current to change the redox f water and help stimulate the spawning of Altum angels and discus, but I never saw and proof of it working or being done. interesting you had an initial drop but this could have been from a filter cycle. still please keep us posted how it all goes.

[phil56]

checked readings today,apparently last week he had two anemones die and were rotting in the tank,once removed parameters are all now back to zero.This happened very quickly,faster than normal,renewed my interest again.I do believe electrical stimulation increases spawning and reduces parasitic infections from my own experience,how exactly needs more research.It certainly increases coral growth.

[xrrob]

checked readings today,apparently last week he had two anemones die and were rotting in the tank,once removed parameters are all now back to zero.This happened very quickly,faster than normal,renewed my interest again.I do believe electrical stimulation increases spawning and reduces parasitic infections from my own experience,how exactly needs more research.It certainly increases coral growth.

Hi Phil. Any follow up with this?