Due to the breakdown of animal waste, nitrate builds up in aquariums and must eventually be removed in order to maintain a healthy environment for the animals. Typically, this is achieved by performing water changes to dilute the nitrate levels. For aquariums that do not have access to unpolluted natural seawater, water changes can become very expensive due to the cost of disposal of the nitrate-laden sea water and production of new nitrate-free synthetic seawater.

EcoMat's unique, natural process for removing nitrates provides the final component necessary to complete the natural nitrogen cycle within an aquarium treatment system.

By reproducing the natural nitrogen cycle, the exhibit becomes a truly closed system!

Based on the amount of food that is added to an exhibit, EcoMat's engineering team will size a denitrification system which can reduce and maintain the nitrate concentration in the exhibit to below 20 mg NO₃-N per liter (or lower if desired). After installation, the system is started up using the exhibit's naturally occurring denitrification bacteria.

No foreign bacteria are introduced to the system!

Besides paying for itself by eliminating the need for large volume water changes, nitrate removal opens doors for many new possibilities in aquarium exhibits:

1. Creation of natural ecosystems
   Typically, mammals have a much higher tolerance for nitrate and produce more nitrates than fish and other sea creatures. In the past, this has limited the types of animals that can coexist in one exhibit. By establishing consistently low nitrate concentrations, it is now possible to create mini-ecosystems, which replicate a natural setting. Picture it! As your porpoise swims by an underwater viewing window, a school of fish scatters or an octopus jets to safety in a crevice of coral!
2. Ability to maintain nitrate sensitive species in
   manmade environments
   Research has shown that toxic nitrate levels vary from specie to specie. By establishing consistently low nitrate concentrations it may now be possible to maintain nitrate sensitive species in manmade environments.
3. Ability to naturally reproduce more species in
   manmade environments
   Studies done on nitrate toxicity to larval marine organisms show that larvae have a much lower nitrate tolerance than adult and juvenile animals. This indicates that the potential to reproduce animals in manmade environments could be greatly increased by establishing consistently low nitrate concentrations.