Seachem Pristine is a product that will help clean up your fish tank and make it a healthier environment for your fish and other aquatic pets. So, can you use this product to remove nitrates?
You can find out in this article from Aquarium Blueprints.
Quick Summary
Seachem Pristine does not directly remove nitrates from your tank water. Instead, the bacteria species from this product will slow down the nitrate production caused by organic wastes.
With that said, you can use Pristine to go along with doing small, daily water changes to quickly lower the nitrate concentration in your aquarium.
How does nitrate appear in your fish tank?
If you have fish and other aquatic pets living in your aquarium, then they will produce organic wastes. These wastes will decompose into ammonia. The beneficial bacteria living in your tank will convert the ammonia into nitrites and then the nitrites into nitrates.
If you have a very deep substrate that is at least 2 inches in depth, or use a special filter media such as the Seachem Matrix or Biohome Ultimate, then a specialized bacterial species will also help remove nitrates from your tank water.
What dose Seachem Pristine help with?
The main function of Seachem Pristine is that it will help break down the organic wastes in your fish tank. It does so by adding a special mix of bacteria in your tank. Once established, these colonies will consume any detritus, uneaten fish food and other wastes.
Does Seachem Pristine remove nitrates?
On its own, Pristine does not remove nitrates. Instead, this product will slow down the buildup of nitrates in your tank waters. Its bacteria will consume the organic wastes, which mean that less ammonia is being produced. With less ammonia, you will also get less nitrate buildup.
So, if you do nothing else other than dosing Pristine, then your nitrate level will still increase although it will be at a slower rate than before.
How to remove nitrates with Seachem Pristine
While Seachem Pristine won’t remove nitrates on its own, you can use it with another product and/or action to lower the concentration. In order to do so, you can try taking the following steps:
1. Before we start, we recommend adding a filter media such as the aforementioned Seachem Matrix or Biohome Ultimate. These have small microscopic chambers that are devoid of oxygen, which makes then the perfect place to grow the nitrate-consuming bacteria.
2. To begin, we recommend doing a small water change. This should remove some of the nitrates from your tank water. Make sure you swap out no more than 20% of the tank water as a higher amount could end up over-stressing your fish.
3. After the water change, you start adding Seachem Pristine.
Follow the instructions on the container, which should be to turn off any UV or ozone equipment, shake the bottle well and then add 5 mL of Pristine for every 10 gallons (or 40 liters) of tank water.
4. Next, you simply wait for 72 hours for the bacteria colonies from Pristine to settle in your tank.
5. Afterwards, you can do daily water changes in order to get nitrates down to your preferred level. With the bacteria from Pristine, you should be able to reduce nitrates quickly.