It’s hard to not be skeptical of aquarium products and additives that seem to contain more sci-fi techno-babble than actual substance. We were pleasantly surprised when we poured out a goop of Instant Ocean’s Natural Nitrate Reducer and it was easy to see the patented Biopolymer particles.
As a recap, the Natural Nitrate Reducer contains a substance which is purported to be a substrate/food source for the bacteria which are enlisted to do the heavy lifting of munching up nasty NO3 molecules down to N2 gas where they can quietly fizz out of your tank. Aside from poking at the substance with a stick and making jokes about what other substances the goop resembles, we haven’t quite yet moved beyond the testing stages of how effective the new Instant Ocean product will perform. As soon as this post is fired off we’ll walk over to our skimmerless 110 gallon fish tank that is ruled by a Clarion Angel with an iron fin, test the nitrates and begin the evaluation of how much nitrate this natural reducer can chew through. No doubt this stuff works but if it can’t consume at least half of the nitrate being produced by a lightly stocked fish aquarium then it may be better off sticking with good ole fashioned water changes. We’ve passed several bottles of the Natural Nitrate Reducer around for testing on a range of tanks and we’ll let you know what our vicarious reefing crew has to say about the new nutrient management product from Instant Ocean.
