~!~!~ Nitrate problems ~!~!~

clownsrcool

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I need help solving my nitrate problems. My tank has been up for about 3 months. It was set up with live sand and live rock from Tampa bay saltwater. The cycle was short. Ammonia and nitrite went to 0 within a week but phosphate and nitrate was sky high. Nitrates in the 80 range and PO4 around 0.64. I have chaeto running in a fuge which is growing nicely. I have a reactor running GFO and carbon which has gotten my PO4 down to 0.07.

This whole time my nitrates have remained basically the same. I do weekly water changes and rinse my filter socks weekly. The tank is about 200g total. My livestock is:
1- yellow tang
2- medium sized clowns
1- yellow coris wrasse
1- melanurus wrasse
1- black cap basslet
1- small anthias

I consider this to be a very lightly stocked tank. The Rock is a mix of 2.1 Walt smith and pukani.

I am out of ideas to get these nitrates to come down. I've talked with a few local reefer friends and all we can think of is maybe it's the pukani. I know it's notoriously high in PO4 but didn't think it would effect nitrates at all. I'm really on the verge of just shuttin it down. Please help.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
 
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clownsrcool

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Also I've have grown increasingly frustrated with pretty much all test kits. I've tested with the following for nitrates and get the following results:

API- 40
Nyos- ~30
Red Sea- >64
Salifert- 75

You can see the giant fluctuation between kits which basically tells me I have no idea where my levels actually are.
 
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clownsrcool

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Usually about 40 gallons. Tank has been up and running for about 3 months. PO4 is fine but nitrates not moving at all has me stumped
 

jsker

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I have been dealing with high Po4's so I run GFO in my sump flow tray and I started running bio pellets in a reactor a month ago and my very high nitrates are coming down. The reason mine are so high is that I feed heavy. I also dose carbon via @Aquaforest NP-Pro. I was having a green hair algae issue and now that the nitrates are coming down the green hair algae is almost gone.
 

beaslbob

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I recommend macro algae in a refugium or an algae turf scrubber.

Both increase nitrate consumption plus phosphates and co2 as well while returning oxygen and fish food.

Plus when something goes bump in the night, the algae will consume ammonia first then nitrates second. Preventing danger parameter spikes and even tank crashes. So all you get is a temporary nitrate spike at most.

my .02
 

beaslbob

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I have chaeto in my fuge
Hopefully you have enough.

FWIW your chaeto may be maintaining your tank be consuming ammonia forgoing nitrates. So perhaps a little maturing is all that is needed. Once bacteria consume the ammonia, nitrates will rapidily drop down.

my .02
 

twilliard

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No one has explained WHERE no3 comes from?
No one has asked "how much are you feeding and WHAT is being fed?"
We tend to throw equipment in for issues we create not knowing the basic understanding of no3.
 
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clownsrcool

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I don't know exactly where it's coming from that's the problem. I've been in the hobby for a few years now and know the basics. Normal ways to reduce nitrate are with water changes first, macro algae, carbon dosing, media such as bio pellets, or to boost your bacteria levels.

When you have excess nitrates it can mean ether your tank is brand new, you are overstocked, or feeding too much.

I feed a mixture of PE Mysis, hikari krill and hikari plankton. I mix a cube of each in a condiment bottle and that lasts me almost a week. I feed once daily.

To my knowledge I don't have anything dead or decaying in the tank other than a snail here or there which I have been losing because of the high nitrates I a tribute it to. They are eaten by the other inverts left so I don't see that being an issue especially with my tank size.

I know the basics and advanced principles of the basic water parameters. I know what to look for when I see one becoming unbalanced and normally how to solve them but for whatever reason everything I am trying is not making an impact.
 

twilliard

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In reality no3 can be significantly reduced by a water change in your situation.
Upwards of 75%
 
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clownsrcool

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It doesn't help that I have tested with 4 different test kits and have gotten a wide range of results. For all I know I have been making slow progress but with crappy test kit accuracy I just don't realize it. I used my API kit which I know is probably the least accurate but it does the job to at least tell you if your basic params are present throughout the cycle. Well that has read like 80 since day one and for almost 3 months. It stayed dead on the same color the entire time so I figured it must be bad or something. I buy s nyos kit because the color readings look very easy to decipher. It was reading in the 40 range. Every so often I get a reading that I swear is down to around 25 so I think I'm making progress. The last few times I've tested with it, it's trending back up. Meanwhile my API is showing a reduction.

Then I buy a salifert and test and its in the 75 range. Way higher than either API or Nyos. Then I borrow and Red Sea and use it and get a reading off the charts so >64. So my most recent readings done in the same day, back to back are 25,40,64,75.... I pretty much have no idea where I'm at. I'm between 25-pick a number
 
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clownsrcool

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In reality no3 can be significantly reduced by a water change in your situation.
Upwards of 75%


My storage tanks are 55g with about 50 usable gallons. I have changed hundreds of gallons of water already and seen no changes. I wish I had bigger containers but that's all I have room for and it meets the 20% volume need plus a little extra.
 

twilliard

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It doesn't help that I have tested with 4 different test kits and have gotten a wide range of results. For all I know I have been making slow progress but with crappy test kit accuracy I just don't realize it. I used my API kit which I know is probably the least accurate but it does the job to at least tell you if your basic params are present throughout the cycle. Well that has read like 80 since day one and for almost 3 months. It stayed dead on the same color the entire time so I figured it must be bad or something. I buy s nyos kit because the color readings look very easy to decipher. It was reading in the 40 range. Every so often I get a reading that I swear is down to around 25 so I think I'm making progress. The last few times I've tested with it, it's trending back up. Meanwhile my API is showing a reduction.

Then I buy a salifert and test and its in the 75 range. Way higher than either API or Nyos. Then I borrow and Red Sea and use it and get a reading off the charts so >64. So my most recent readings done in the same day, back to back are 25,40,64,75.... I pretty much have no idea where I'm at. I'm between 25-pick a number
But the fact is that you are high regardless of what test kit used.
Once you get down to 5ppm use red sea pro
 
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clownsrcool

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Correct. I guess I can just pick the most convenient kit and stick with it. As long as it's consistent I won't be too concerned with the accuracy until I get very very low
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Bustyraker

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Where did you get your rock and how old is it? I got my rock from a fellow reefer and it had a ton of die off on it and leeched NO3 and PO4 for years! The only way I could get them down was carbon dosing and it took forever for everything to come down. I also did 50% water changes twice a week for 2 months. I finally have low nitrate and phosphate but took a ton of work.
 

twilliard

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Where did you get your rock and how old is it? I got my rock from a fellow reefer and it had a ton of die off on it and leeched NO3 and PO4 for years! The only way I could get them down was carbon dosing and it took forever for everything to come down. I also did 50% water changes twice a week for 2 months. I finally have low nitrate and phosphate but took a ton of work.
Decaying carbons will produce as an end result no3 :)
 
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