160 ppms Nitrates

[Eddie V]

What can I do to lower my Nitrates ASAP? I now know I have to feed less, but may i have too many fish?

Fox/Rabbit Fish
Blue Tang
Yellow Tang
Domino Damsel
3 stripe Damel
2 Clown Fish
and a Manderine Goby

 

[Waddleboy]

tank size?

 

[Eddie V]

55 Gallon glass tank

 

[Principeces]

Do you have a skimmer? That would help to alleviate some of the DOC's that are the source of your high nitrates. To lower what Nitrates already exist in your tank you would need to do several water changes over the next few days. Dilution is the solution.

 

[stingray 125]

Eddie V ,
I feel your pain, I have a 125 gal with 1 porcupine puffer, 1 fox face, 1Lavender Tang, 1 melanurus wrasse, 3 Lyretail Anthias and my nitrate are at 60-80ppm now. I am currently dosing with Vodka to lower them but it has only been a week. I have a sump with Mangrove, Caulerpa, Algae Scrubber and Skimmer rated at 2x tank volume,with weekly 25gal water changes still high nitrate.:headwally:

I do know the puffers are waste producers and the Anthias are fed 3x a day this does not help...... but they seem to be healthy.

 

[sillygoose]

That's crazy Stingray - you've got all kinds of ways to be getting NO3 out of there. I wonder what's going on. I've got another thread on here right now asking about things that could contribute to a false positive for NO3.

While I was running my turf scrubber I had zero NO3. Can't wait to get the new one rigged.

Good luck everyone.

 

[karsseboom]

Why equipment are you running? Gfo? What brand slimmer?

 

[bertoni]

That level of nitrate might cause some problems for stony corals, but other animals will be fine. You might want to task in the New to the Hobby forum for opinions on a stocking list for that size tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are lots of ways to reduce nitrate, including skimming more, denitrators of various types, growing macroalgae, and dosing organic carbon (like vinegar or vodka or biopelllets).

 

[tanksfishtank]

Water changes are going to be the best way to reduce your levels immediately, and after that I agree with everyone else, invest in a good skimmer.

 

[Eddie V]

As far as my protein skimmer goes, off the top of my head I cant remember the brand name. I have noticed that it hasn't been filling up. I removed what was in there last night and this morning I just woke up in time to keep it from over flowing.

Now I have been reading of people treating their tank with vodka?? Is this some type of product for aquariums or the stuff I drink? If it is the stuff I drink how would I go to apply this and how much? :beer:

 

[Metal Man 1221]

<a href="http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php">Here</a> is an article on vodka dosing. It will cover how to begin and maintain dosing levels. However, vodka dosing will be almost useless if you don't have your skimmer running efficiently. Proper aeration will also be important when dosing a carbon source, because the extra bacteria created will consume more oxygen.

If you can provide some pictures, so we can see how you have it set up, and what type of skimmer you're running, maybe we can help you get it tuned properly.

Also, what is your water change regimen?

 

[Eddie V]

Thanks Metal Man, I'll post some pics when I get home later. As far as my water changes go I've been doing them every other week. Funny thing is this started happening right after my last water change. LFS said it may have been due to me siphening the sand during the water change. So now the whole chemistry has been restarted from the begining.

 

[Metal Man 1221]

That could be possible if you have a deep sand bed, or if you stirred up a lot of crud. Usually you will want to stay away from siphoning the sand bed, especially if it's deeper than a few inches. If this is the case I wouldn't say that the "chemistry" has restarted, you merely disturbed and or kicked up nutrients into the water column that are now breaking down, resulting in your high NO3.

Now if enough nutrients were kicked up to cause a spike in ammonia, then you could say the tank is re-cycling or "restarting". However since you haven't reported the fish being stressed, or any losses, I doubt the tank is cycling very severely, if at all.

 

[Snowman31]

Have you had the results confirmed against a new test kit

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, I agree that siphoning a sandbed can cause problems. I'd probably do a few water changes, and see whether the nitrate level bounces back up or starts to drop off.

 

[sillygoose]

Sigh - so many people say I need to gravel vac and then others say not to. My sand/gravel is about 2-3" max.

 

[bertoni]

Is it sand or crushed coral? I would siphon-clean crushed coral, but not fine-grained sand. In either case, the process might dump some nitrate into the water column. They should go away on their own, if that does happen.

 

[Metal Man 1221]

Is it sand or crushed coral? I would siphon-clean crushed coral, but not fine-grained sand. In either case, the process might dump some nitrate into the water column. They should go away on their own, if that does happen.

+1

If your sand bed is fine you will notice (if you siphoned deep enough) that there may be a black layer (provided it has established). It is this layer that you want to stay away from. It is the result of anaerobic bacteria thriving in an oxygen free area at the bottom of the sand bed. I noticed that my sand bed would get anoxic in some relatively shallow areas. Contrary to the idea that you need to have a 3-4" sand bed to get anoxic zones.

 

[Eddie V]

+1

If your sand bed is fine you will notice (if you siphoned deep enough) that there may be a black layer (provided it has established). It is this layer that you want to stay away from.

Umm yeah that is exactly what I didn't do, is stay away from that. I didn't know I needed that thin black layer and me wanting to clean my sand I siphoned that deep in my sand. I am kind of regretting having bought the fine sand as to the crushed coral.

So as for my protien skimmer it is a 65 gallon Coral Life Skimmer I bought from Petco. Here are some pics, not very good quality sorry. This skimmer can either hang off the back of the tank like I have set-up here. Or it can sit inside a sump system. I plan on DIY my own sump out of a 30g tank I have here soon.

BTW thanks to everyone and their help, I really appriciate it.