50ppm nitrate level question

[Vadafallon]

Ok so i have change all my sand, so i know that is not the issue. That happened on Monday night, my ppm is 50 for nitrates. Should i go ahead and do a 50% water change to get that down and then start doing small changes after that? This is a 60 gallon with a 24 gallon sump. I am going to test for phosphates tomorrow.

 

[Rybren]

Water changes are, at best, a temporary stop-gap measure. The levels may drop temporarily, but usually bounce right back up.

Tell us more about your system. What livestock do you have? What is your feeding regime? How old is the tank? What types of nutrient export systems do you currently employ? Are you carbon dosing?

We can't really help without more information.

 

[Vadafallon]

I think, i hope i have taken care of most of the issue. The subtrate. This tank has had the same crushed coral for over 7 years or more and i have not cleaned it or anything. I feed once or twice a day, but now only once. I have neglected doing water changes like i should as well. I know this. My refug had live rock and subtrate in it, i know this is working against itself so i only have live rock and chaeto.

My fish are a clown, a starry blenny, angel (not sure the breed right off hand), blue eyed cardinal, Bangai and a fairy wrasse. I have a sand sifting star which i picked up recently. I have had a couple fish day and i am sure that did not help, but that was a few months ago.

So basically i am asking if i have taken care of the issue, should i go ahead and do a big water change to get it back on the right track and them smaller ones from there to get it down?

I am running carbon, no GFO currently but i have not tested for that. I run a filter sock now that i change everyday, a sponge i wash out everyday and a good skimmer that i rinse out everyday.

 

[OrQidz]

If your livestock is doing ok, I'm not sure I would do a 50% water change on a long established tank. It could shift a lot of parameters quickly and might cause more problems. The nitrate has been there a long time, so doing say, 20% water changes a couple days apart might be better.

The only time I do huge water changes is for an ammonia crisis or something along those lines.

 

[CStrickland]

If the sand was your issue, you just need to do some extra water changes now that it's out to "catch up." 50% will get you to 25ppm (because you take out half) but there's still nitrates being added constantly so there's that.

Catching up can be much slower than getting nigh nutrients in the first place. You need to balance your reduction with the tanks stability and you e lost any denitrifying bacteria that lived in the crushed coral. So, the bigger the change the more carefully you need to match things like temp, alkalinity, ph, salinity etc. For me, unless it's an emergency (and this isn't) I wouldn't do more than 30% even being careful to match the new water. Otherwise you can shock your fish and kill them. 20% every other day is def safer than 60% once a week; even tho it is slower and a pain in the you know what.

 

[Vadafallon]

That sounds like a plan. I am good on making sure it all matches perfectly. So i will start small over and do 20% every other day. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[Vadafallon]

Is there such a thing as the rocks have so much gunk in the live rock that i have to replace it? Anyone ever had to do that to get rid of an nitrate issue?

 

[Remy LeBeau]

Is there such a thing as the rocks have so much gunk in the live rock that i have to replace it? Anyone ever had to do that to get rid of an nitrate issue?

Being that Hydrogen Sulfide can build up in the rocks, I'm sure this has happened before. This is why blasting your rocks with a power on regular basis is so important.

 

[Vadafallon]

How often should i be blasting off my rocks?

 

[gone fishin]

I agree to do some WC's, since the crushed coral is gone this may have been a major contributor. Only time and testing will tell. good luck just my 2 cents.

 

[CStrickland]

Is there such a thing as the rocks have so much gunk in the live rock that i have to replace it? Anyone ever had to do that to get rid of an nitrate issue?

That would definitely be excessive. This is the kind of issue that makes people freak out and take drastic action, often that causes much more harm than good. I would bet my house that you don't have any kind of crazy problem like that, you just have a normal nitrate problem caused by crushed coral and dirty tank. It will be fine if you do normal stuff to fix it, but it might take a couple months.