Nitrates

SinkyShippy · Jun 9, 2019

I posted about this before but I'm still having issues with nitrates. I didn't change the water for two weeks and they shot up to over 20ppm. I am in the process of building a sump so hopefully that will help a bit. Is there anything else I can do to control this? Doing weekly water changes is not fun.

Keesers · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
I posted about this before but I'm still having issues with nitrates. I didn't change the water for two weeks and they shot up to over 20ppm. I am in the process of building a sump so hopefully that will help a bit. Is there anything else I can do to control this? Doing weekly water changes is not fun.

I didn’t see first post but can you get us a little more info.
Tank size?
How long has it been running?
Livestock?
Food you feed if any?
What source water you are using?TDS of said water?
Rock what kind? how long been in there?
Sand? Barebottom?
What test kit especially? Have you double checked with different kit? Expiration?
Light schedule? What kind of lights?
Stuff like that

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
I posted about this before but I'm still having issues with nitrates. I didn't change the water for two weeks and they shot up to over 20ppm. I am in the process of building a sump so hopefully that will help a bit. Is there anything else I can do to control this? Doing weekly water changes is not fun.

There are a number of things you can do. Control your feedings (if over feeding), dose NOPOX (food for bacteria), dose vodka (similar to NOPOX), add nitrifying bacteria. I run my nitrates at around 20. That’s not something to be too worried about but it’s best to keep them under control. Regular water changes help as well. Cleaning out filters, sand, blowing off rocks when doing WC help as well.

SinkyShippy · Jun 9, 2019

Keesers said:
I didn’t see first post but can you get us a little more info.
Tank size?
How long has it been running?
Livestock?
Food you feed if any?
What source water you are using?TDS of said water?
Rock what kind? how long been in there?
Sand? Barebottom?
What test kit especially? Have you double checked with different kit? Expiration?
Light schedule? What kind of lights?
Stuff like that

20 gallons. It's been running since March. I have two clownfish, a tailspot blenny, and a firefish. I feed shrimp and algae flakes and some shrimp pellets for the hermits and snails. I have an RO/DI system that I run on my faucet. I have 15 pounds of live rock. I use live sand. I use a Red Sea kit and API for the nitrates. I keep the light (SB Reef Light s box 18") on for 9 and a half hours a day.

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
20 gallons. It's been running since March. I feed shrimp and algae flakes and some shrimp pellets for the hermits and snails. I have an RO/DI system that I run on my faucet. I have 15 pounds of live rock. I use live sand. I use a Red Sea kit and API for the nitrates. I keep the light (SB Reef Light s box 18") on for 9 and a half hours a day.

How many and what kind of fish do you have? I never feed my clean up crew. That just adds nitrates to my water. Everything in my tank eats when the fish get fed anyway. Also, believe it or not, pellets add tons of nutrients to your water. I prefer feeding frozen food when possible.

ChiSox Rabbitfish · Jun 9, 2019

My nitrates have always stayed between 15 and 20 like forever no matter what I do even after water changes 20 ppm isn’t bad you can always add some prime to detoxify if your worried

SinkyShippy · Jun 9, 2019

ScottR said:
How many and what kind of fish do you have? I never feed my clean up crew. That just adds nitrates to my water. Everything in my tank eats when the fish get fed anyway. Also, believe it or not, pellets add tons of nutrients to your water. I prefer feeding frozen food when possible.

I have a 10 gallon clean up crew from reef cleaners. Snails already multiplied though so there are more now. I have three hermit crabs.

I'll stop feeding pellets. I only put a couple in there every night.

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

ChiSox Rabbitfish said:
My nitrates have always stayed between 15 and 20 like forever no matter what I do even after water changes 20 ppm isn’t bad you can always add some prime to detoxify if your worried

I use salifert to test and my color is lighter than the 25 but close to it. So I assume mine are around 15-20 as well. Everything is thriving in my tank. So I agree that it’s not a big deal.

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
I have a 10 gallon clean up crew from reef cleaners. Snails already multiplied though so there are more now. I have three hermit crabs.

I'll stop feeding pellets. I only put a couple in there every night.

CUC job is to clean up. Snails don’t need to be fed. They’ll eat algae and that’s enough for them. Hermit crabs, it depends on their size and how much food they can get from leftovers. If you’re feeding fish, then they’ll get the leftovers. If you have no fish then you’ll most likely need to feed them.

SinkyShippy · Jun 9, 2019

ScottR said:
CUC job is to clean up. Snails don’t need to be fed. They’ll eat algae and that’s enough for them. Hermit crabs, it depends on their size and how much food they can get from leftovers. If you’re feeding fish, then they’ll get the leftovers. If you have no fish then you’ll most likely need to feed them.

Ok. Thanks. I will reduce the flakes too.

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
Ok. Thanks. I will reduce the flakes too.

How old is your tank? An established tank should be full of algae and provide some good food for those guys. Sometimes it’s fun watching hermits eat. You could feed nori to them.

SinkyShippy · Jun 9, 2019

ScottR said:
How old is your tank? An established tank should be full of algae and provide some good food for those guys. Sometimes it’s fun watching hermits eat. You could feed nori to them.

I've had it since March

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
I've had it since March

Nice. Is everything else in it ok? This hobby can be addicting

SinkyShippy · Jun 9, 2019

ScottR said:
Nice. Is everything else in it ok? This hobby can be addicting

Yes everything is all good lol. Just waiting on the right time to get some coral.

ScottR · Jun 9, 2019

Jessica Schoen said:
Yes everything is all good lol. Just waiting on the right time to get some coral.

Cool. Corals are easier to deal with than fish IMO. LPS and softies mainly. Clownfish ;Blackeye

btmedic04 · Jun 9, 2019

20ppm of nitrates is something to be aware of, but not stress out about. especially on a soft/lps coral tank. i'd raise an eyebrow at 20ppm if it was an sps dominant tank though. some things you can do now to reduce your nitrates are smaller, weekly water changes. I change 3 gallons on my nuvo 20 every week. I have 2 clown fish, an orange spotted goby and a six line wrasse. I run an eshopps nano skimmer and I change my filter floss every 4 days if I remember. otherwise I change the floss during my water change. I feed every day; mostly pe flakes and occasionally nyos true algae pellets. I also use frozen lary's reef frenzy nano or frozen mysis shrimp once or twice a week. I only feed as much as can be consumed within a couple of minutes but everyone is fat and happy, including my pistol shrimp, hermits and snails. With all of that being said, my nitrates usually run around 5ppm.

SinkyShippy · Jun 10, 2019

ScottR said:
Cool. Corals are easier to deal with than fish IMO. LPS and softies mainly. Clownfish ;Blackeye

Planning on getting torch coral, maze coral, and then a blue mushroom

SinkyShippy · Jun 10, 2019

ScottR said:
There are a number of things you can do. Control your feedings (if over feeding), dose NOPOX (food for bacteria), dose vodka (similar to NOPOX), add nitrifying bacteria. I run my nitrates at around 20. That’s not something to be too worried about but it’s best to keep them under control. Regular water changes help as well. Cleaning out filters, sand, blowing off rocks when doing WC help as well.

How do you clean the sand?