iQuaticsNOPO Pouch 300g – Nitrate & Phosphate Remover for Marine Aquariums – High-Performance Water Purification for Reef & Saltwater Tanks

I have 3 comet goldfish that were rescued from an awful situation. They're now healthy, no longer stressed and enjoying life. The tank they're in is still not technically big enough but is all I can do for now. This of course means it's slightly overstocked with lots of poop and nitrates. It also doesn't help that my water comes with 2-5ppm of phosphate straight from the tap. So I end up with brown algae at an alarming rate after every clean. If it were green algae I wouldn't worry as it's beneficial, but brown algae can be really bad if not dealt with.It's a freshwater aquarium (108L 120cm Aqua One OptiClear), with a thin layer of sand, a couple of fake plants, terracotta tunnels and I've been running 2x HOB filters at both ends with good water flow. No skimmer or sump. The product instructions are written in a way to suggest marine aquariums only, so I didn't expect it to work.. but hey-ho I'll give it a go.The instructions on the back of the packet suggests using 1g for every 100L, but the included leaflet says 2g for every 100L. I started the first week on 1g and it made no difference. High nitrates and high phosphates. I did a 60% water change at the start of the second week and then put in 2g every day. By the end of the week the nitrates were still fairly high and the phosphates were marginally better but difficult to tell really. Come the middle of the third week (as of writing) the phosphates have plunged to 0!! and the nitrates are way down (light orange instead of the red earlier in the week, using API test kit). The Algae has still grown since last water change but it's way reduced and, fingers crossed, it'll be dead by the time I do the next water change soon.The only downside I'm seeing is the glass is becoming slightly cloudy. Not the water itself but the glass surface. The only time this has happened before is when I temporarily used a water hardener (Seachem Equilibrium) to raise the GH. I stopped using it as my fish didn't really need it and the glass became clear again. I've tested to see if this powder does anything to the GH and funny enough it is slightly higher than normal. It's only marginal though so it's quite possible it's just variance in my local water supply for this time of year. So take that with a grain of salt.I'm not entirely sure how the powder/bacteria works exactly. If what's happening is you're putting in the bacteria to feed on what exists at that time and then it dies before it's able to reproduce, thus why you have to keep adding more of the powder/bacteria all the time. Or if it's possible for the bacteria to latch on to the filter media and reproduce itself to keep itself going for the long term, so you only need to top up a little when doing water changes. I don't know.. so going forward I'll be reducing the amount of powder/bacteria I put in until the phosphates start rising again. Then I can fine tune it so I'm not wasting and paying any more than needs be.Very happy with this product. It works for me. You're mileage will vary but you need to give it time and make sure there's plenty of oxygen in the water and that it's flowing well.

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This was a life saver for my aquarium which had rising Nitrate No3 and couldn't lower. After a few days dosing this it settled my readings efficiently and very easy to use. Worth having in the cupboard. Just don't over do as it does drop readings very quickly.

After moving house the water obviously changed and my fish were getting sick. After testing I googled what was needed this product had good reviews. On 1st looks it's a lot of money for what you get. However my fish perked up within a few hrs and my snails have started breeding again! I would say it's difficult to work out the qualities needed for smaller tanks but I would recommend this to others!

I wish I'd discovered this product sooner. I have be struggling to reduce nitrates in my freshwater aquarium, first due to high nitrate levels straight out of the tap and then later due to new tank syndrome.I added the recommended dosage every day over a 10 day period, monitoring nitrate levels as I went, and they were steadily decreasing (from around 60ppm to 20ppm). I then stopped treatment for 5 days, monitored again, and the nitrate levels have continued to fall so that that they're now at manageable (very low - 5ppm) levels, which I feel would be prudent to sort out by partial water changes.My fish have remained healthy and the aquarium water has remained clear.

A good product to use as part of your marine tank maintenance schedule

Having high nitrates straight from my tap water, I wanted to to see if this would work before filling up fresh water in my aquarium. It did work, but only when I tried the double dosage instructed. Even then it only took my nitrate levels from 40ppm to 20ppm (which I understand is safe but less is better) but the main disappointment is the cloudiness from using it. Personal preference, I absolutely hate hazy/cloudy water so I have put this in the bin and will not be using it, unless in an emergency.

Easy to use if you find you aren't seeing a reduction just increase the dosage slowly. Also make sure there is phosphates in your water or nothing will work.