De*natrate Exhausted

[farmhand]

Quote from Seachem; "As long as nitrate concentrations remain under control, the product is not exhausted. Each 500 mL of de*nitrate™ treats about 100–200 L (25–50 gallons*), depending on initial nitrate concentration and the current biological load."

Does 500 ml of De*natrate treat 25 to 50 gallons in its life or is that how much it can handle at one time? Why would it become exhausted?

[Tech Support DD]

500mL of de*nitrate will treat 25 to 50 gallons of water at one time (for the life of the product). de*nitrate may become exhausted if the pores of the product get clogged. As long as the nitrate concentration in your tank remains under control, the product is not exhausted. Many people get several years of use out of de*nitrate.

[madscientist]

I did not know that de nitrate has can be exhausted. May I ask if this applies to matrix as well? Is it possible to regenerate de nitrate by unclogging the pores?

[Tech Support EH]

Since de*nitrate, Matrix,and Pond Matrix are all biological support media, they do not actually ever exhaust as chemical filtration resins tend to do. Instead, they can grown less efficient with use by pore clogging. Chemical resins will actually reach a capacity where they are no longer able to remove impurities. This is not true of biological media. Prefiltering the water(with mechanical and chemical filtration) before it passes through de*nitrate will extend its useful life. Rinsing the product of any slime build-up, etc will typically restore its capacity to house denitrifying bacteria. It is always a good idea to add some Stability when you do this, in order to re-establish some of the colonies that were lost during rinsing.