sirdarksol

Turns out this is going to be the first official test I'll be doing, as HiQ-USA is kindly donating the equipment for me to test it with.
http://hiq-usa.com/default.asp
Here's their website, just so people have the ability to check things out for themselves.

The general idea of the system is that it creates a controlled anaerobic area in the filters, allowing the nitrates to be be turned into gaseous nitrogen.
This is done through a combination of equipment (a HOB filter and a special reverse UGF) filter media, and additives.

We'll see how things turn out as I go.

One note: This thread is going to be locked, because I want to keep it as clean as possible, so I can track my progress and so others can track it without problems.
I will be opening a discussion thread for people to ask questions. I believe HiQ-USA will be around to answer questions that I am unable to answer.

I will be testing ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate on a daily basis.
I will be testing pH and hardness at least on a weekly basis for the duration of the official experiment.
The duration of the official experiment is yet to be determined, as I have to find out the amount of additives I have available for the experiment.

Below is a link to the thread for discussion of this experiment.
HiQ-USA discussion thread

sirdarksol

Day -1
Got the box yesterday but was too sick to bother opening it.

Equipment:
2 Reverse UGF with filter media towers
1 EcoPower HOB filter
Various filter media, including activated carbon, zeolite, and limestone (Clean Magic)
Bio Magic Bacterial starter, food source for bacteria, trace elements
Vita Magic Botanical extracts and vitamins

Setup:
The UGFs go in the bottom of the tank (duh ), and the towers sit on top of them. The HOB goes on the back. Setup is pretty simple. Substrate is limited to gravel, as anything smaller than gravel 1/4" in diameter can get caught in the UGF.
Fill the tank with water, then add Bio Magic and Vita Magic into the filter.
Let the tank run for two days, at which point plants and fish can be added.

Upkeep:
Clean Magic filter needs to be changed every week.
Bio Magic and Vita Magic must be added every week.

Initial Opinions:
The need for weekly replacing of the filter media and addition of Bio Magic and Vita Magic makes me kind of leery. On a weekly basis, you're putting fresh zeolite (a nitrate absorber) and bacterial culture in the aquarium. This suggests to me that the Bio Magic bacteria are not truly aquatic bacteria, as I can see no need to add bacteria to a system once it's been seeded.

On the other hand, you're trading a small amount of money for time and effort of water changes. Many people may find this well worth it, if the system works as well as it claims.

The system is being set up today. The official experiment will continue for 28 days (I have enough of the additives for at least one month, according to the pamphlet I got).

Edit: Okay. Setup will be tomorrow. I need a place to put the tank, and I don't have an extra stand yet. The local fire department has a garage sale tomorrow, and a couple years ago I got my hands on hundreds of dollars worth of equipment for $10. I hope to repeat the experience.
Otherwise, I'll have to put together a simple stand.

sirdarksol

Day 0

The tank is set up. I had a choice between setting up the experiment from scratch or testing the full potential of the system. As the directions say it can be used in an established tank, I chose to go with the latter.

Thus, we are starting with 20ppm nitrates. If the literature is right, this state should not last long in the aquarium. Aside from that, the aquarium is going to be severely understocked for the first month, as I am loathe to fully stock the tank. This way, if the system does not function the way it is supposed to, I'll have a chance to catch it and keep from losing any fish.

There are currently no fish in the aquarium (the nitrates come from a combination of a small amount of plant detritus in the gravel and the colony of snails that live in the gravel).

pH is starting at 7.5.

Impressions on the setup:
The towers are a bit too tall for a 20g long tank. It's not the end of the world, but any hood is going to have to perch on top of them a bit.

The UGFs are of customizable size and shape, which is really neat. They take some time to put together, but it's a pretty good tradeoff, in my opinion.

The EcoPower HOB filter is pretty neat, other than its dependence on AC, zeolite, and limestone. The biomedia is a chamber full of bio-balls, and there are two spots for floss packages, allowing you to switch only one out at a time, minimizing the amount of bacteria lost in the switch.

The VitaMagic seems to be a cross between Prime and Vita-Chem. It feels like aloe, and is supposed to have a bunch of vitamins to help the fish stay healthy.

The BioMagic is a powdery stuff that, even when added to the filter, ends up in the tank to some extent.

sirdarksol

Day 1

It's only been a bit over 12 hours, but I want to reset the testing time to morning, since that's when I'm most often available.
Unfortunately, I think that the towers were meant to be entirely submerged. There is little I can do about this, as the 20g is the only aquarium I can put this in right now. There's roughly half an inch of the towers sticking up right now, and bubbles coming from the holes at the tops.

There was something wrong with my pH indicator yesterday. True pH starting was 8.1.
Today's pH is 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 20

Added BioMagic to filter, sent little bits floating through the tank. Hopefully the stuff isn't harmful to fish.
Added VitaMagic to the water.

Fishies can go in the tank tomorrow, according to the literature.

sirdarksol

Day 2

Today's pH is 8.1
Ammonia .25-.5
Nitrites .25-.5
Nitrates 20 (perhaps a shade less)

Added BioMagic to filter, more little bits. The larger container (I finished the starter that came with the filter) smells like garlic powder.
Added VitaMagic to the water.

Since the fish that would be going in are pregnant female guppies, I don't think I'll be subjecting them to any ammonia, even if it's just a little bit. On the plus side, it does look like the system may work to get rid of nitrates.

sirdarksol

Day 3

pH is 8.3 (A significant jump from yesterday. I was concerned about this, with the limestone in the filter media. I'm hoping that it's an error of some sort.)
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0 (YAY!)
Nitrate 20

Added BioMagic and Vitamagic.

The water level is dropping off, which means I'm going to have to add more water soon. This is where I'm concerned about water hardness. If I add tap water (I'm going to do so to represent typical use), I'm going to be adding more minerals to the tank. There's nothing in the setup that I can see will remove minerals from the tank, which means that, in the long run, the water is going to keep climbing in calcium content, especially in my tank.

sirdarksol

Day 4

pH 8.2 (I'll be going to once a week with this, now)
Ammonia .5
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10-15 (YAY!)

Added BioMagic and VitaMagic.

sirdarksol

Day 5

Ammonia 1
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10 or less

Added BioMagic and VitaMagic.
Obviously, there's a noted decrease in nitrates, now. However, there's the constantly increasing ammonia, and that's troublesome.

Edit: Learned something about the BioMagic. It seems to be run by lactobacillus which, as far as I know, has no part in the normal nitrogen cycle. Of course, there's no species name on the list, so it's possible that this is a bacteria engineered to be aquatic. I'll be testing this at the end of the official experiment.

sirdarksol

Day 6

Ammonia .5 (a little better)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10 or less

Added BioMagic and VitaMagic

sirdarksol

Day 7

Ammonia .5
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

Added BioMagic and VitaMagic
From this point on, BioMagic and VitaMagic are once-a-week things. Since there is still ammonia in the system, I will be adding liquid ammonia to the tank in lieu of adding fish, as I do not feel comfortable keeping fish in any system that has ammonia.

sirdarksol

Day 8

CATASTROPHE!
There is a leak in the tank, which, in addition to causing damage to my basement ceiling, is wreaking havoc on the experiment.
Science will overcome, however. I have another catastrophe that I've been struggling to fix, and I'm just going to combine the two catastrophes.
Miyamoto's filter has been going on the fritz (which, I believe, has caused the death of He Who Eats Snails), so I'm going to install the Zero water change system in Miyamoto's tank.
Unfortunately, this is going to more or less scrap the info I've collected so far (except that it is apparent to me that the BioMagic does not instantly cycle the tank). However, this will be an excellent test of the nitrate-consuming properties of the towers. We'll see how things go.

sirdarksol

Day 9

Equipment has been fully transferred over. The gravel in the tank is the same gravel that has been in Miyamoto's tank for over a year, so it should be carrying a hefty dose of nitrifying bacteria. Hopefully, this will be enough to fully cycle the tank.
I'm just waiting for the water temp to get close to room temp (I used the outside faucet because it was easier, and the temp right now is a lot lower than Miyamoto's water is. He'd survive the lower temp, but not the sudden change. I'll be getting nitrate readings in a bit here.

Ammonia >.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrates >5

sirdarksol

Day 10

Ammonia >.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5

sirdarksol

Day 11
Ammonia >.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 5

Not bad, considering this is a 29g tank with a koi the size of a fully-grown goldfish.

sirdarksol

Days 12 and 13

Life happened, and I spent both days not paying attention to my fishtanks.

Day 14
On the upside, there haven't been any major changes
Ammonia >.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrates >5

Added BioMagic and VitaMagic

sirdarksol

Day 15

I've started doing tests every other day, because the water conditions seem pretty stable, and I'm running out of nitrate solution.

Day 16
Ammonia 1.5
Nitrite 0
Nitrates almost 0

Obviously, the cycle has crashed. It is slowly getting rid of the nitrates, but the ammonia is climbing. I'll have to do a water change today, and use some Ultimate to detoxify the remaining ammonia.

sirdarksol

Day 17

Replaced the lime/resin/AC pack yesterday (should have done it on day 14), and so I have tested the ammonia today.
Ammonia close to 1

sirdarksol

I have been doing testing, I just haven't been logged in much the past week (car crash and all).
Day 18
Ammonia <.5
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <5

Day 20
Ammonia Almost 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <5

Day 22
Ammonia Really, really almost zero
Nitrite 0
Nitrate Almost zero

Day 24
Ammonia Just the slightest touch of green to the liquid
Nitrite 0
Nitrate Almost zero