Best way to get nitrates down

[Betaktical]

I have a 55gal without a sump. I want one but I am trying to buy a house therefore I am on a limited budget. Also I live in an apartment with limited room. I have about 25 lbs of live rock that is well established 2+years in the same tank and another 25 that I have added slowly over the last 3 months. I got the tank from a friend who was moving out of state and has been at my apartment for 3 months. I have seen a couple different bacteria additives to help nitrates and cyno. I have a small cyno out break and nitrates are higher than I would like but I want to nip it before it gets out of hand. What are yalls experiences with different additives. Btw I only have 3 different corals gsp Xenia and one zoa frag that are all doing well.
40 ppm nitrate
.1 phosphate but no algae.
Little bits of diatoms on the glass every couple days but nothing big.
Any help is appreciated


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[RobZilla04]

Water changes.

 

[Betaktical]

Thanks for the help


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[CStrickland]

Have you got any fish in there? Feeding them, and their poop, is a big variable.
What is your water source?

Most of the additives are bs, or something like a starter culture that adds a few bacteria which need carbon, nitrates, and phosphates to grow - and a skimmer to remove them once they get big.

 

[Mad_Reefer]

Deep sand bed.

 

[OldReefGuy]

I would do what Rob said....
do 10% water change once a week.
Get that in control and than figure out whats out of wack....too much feeding?

 

[Betaktical]

Have you got any fish in there? Feeding them, and their poop, is a big variable.
What is your water source?

Most of the additives are bs, or something like a starter culture that adds a few bacteria which need carbon, nitrates, and phosphates to grow - and a skimmer to remove them once they get big.

I've got 2 oc clowns a banggai and a fairy wrasse. Inverts are a short spine urchin 2 skunk cleaners and 3 peps. Urchin shits all the time. But he cleans the lr with cyno in about an hour if I put him on the right lr.from what I've seen the additives really help in a new tank


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[Betaktical]

Deep sand bed.

I've thought about it as my tank is really tall. I've read everything about it and look like it a hit and miss. If/when I move I think I'm gonna try it


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[Betaktical]

I would do what Rob said....
do 10% water change once a week.
Get that in control and than figure out whats out of wack....too much feeding?

I do at least 10% a week but with distilled or RO water. I should have my rodi in about 2weeks-1month. Does it really help that much? I've heard mixed reviews on how much it actually helps. Can you use a tds meter on the tank


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[Mad_Reefer]

I had super fine sand in my 180 and it didn't move around as much as you might think, and the finer the sand, the less you need. But still, it is something to think about, if you want super high flow, don't go too fine. Otherwise, I had nothing but benefit.

 

[Walla2GSP]

No where in there did I see you mention a Protein Skimmer. Although it possible to run a tank without one, a good skimmer can go a long way in completing the Nitrogen cycle and exporting Nitrates and Phosphates. I've found Carbon dosing to be an effective way of reducing Nutrient creep but it works in conjunction with your skimmer.

 

[Betaktical]

No where in there did I see you mention a Protein Skimmer. Although it possible to run a tank without one, a good skimmer can go a long way in completing the Nitrogen cycle and exporting Nitrates and Phosphates. I've found Carbon dosing to be an effective way of reducing Nutrient creep but it works in conjunction with your skimmer.

I have a skimmer


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[SFish]

If your going to run a deep sand bed I would do a remote one. Not many people put them in the display anymore. If it crashes or you decide to take it out it will be a PIA to get it out. Also know that a deep sand bed could crash your whole tank. I'm not saying it will happen for sure but it could. I think an ATS is a better option.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2268433&highlight=deep+sand+beds

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1652103&highlight=deep+sand+beds

 

[scooter31707]

water changes and be mindful of how much you are feeding. I have seen mines come down some after I install my refugium.

 

[Walla2GSP]

I have a skimmer


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Okay, well as long as you have it dialed in and it appears to be running well, I would look up and research Carbon dosing to help spread out water changes. Commerical products for this include Biopellets and Reactors along with Red Sea NO-POX. DIY products include Vodka, table sugar, and Vinegar or combination of all three (VSV). I'm pretty new to using carbon dosing so I'm still in the learning curve but a couple things I can say is start slow, test often, and don't be afraid to stop dosing and give the tank a break if things move a little fast. My first experience dosing a tank with VSV I thought I was dosing slowly and my nitrates dropped rather suddenly over the fourth and fifth day so i stopped dosing for a couple days and levels all dropped to 0 and kicked off a mini-cycle. So I learned that it takes very little to get things moving in the right direction and the results are delayed by 36-48 hrs so slow is the way to go till you know how it will effect your system. Your Skimmer will go nuts if you are dosing though, so you will need to clean it out a little more often.
Also, make sure you aren't over feeding and that will help prevent nitrates and phosphate levels from building in the tank to begin with.

 

[Betaktical]

water changes and be mindful of how much you are feeding. I have seen mines come down some after I install my refugium.

Yeah I'm thinking of getting a small hob fuge and throw some chateau in it as I've heard that helps. As for feeding I cut a mysis cube in half and it's usually all gone in about 30 sec. I feed once a day sometimes every other. Usually about 5 times a week with 10% wc on the weekends.


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[Betaktical]

Okay, well as long as you have it dialed in and it appears to be running well, I would look up and research Carbon dosing to help spread out water changes. Commerical products for this include Biopellets and Reactors along with Red Sea NO-POX. DIY products include Vodka, table sugar, and Vinegar or combination of all three (VSV). I'm pretty new to using carbon dosing so I'm still in the learning curve but a couple things I can say is start slow, test often, and don't be afraid to stop dosing and give the tank a break if things move a little fast. My first experience dosing a tank with VSV I thought I was dosing slowly and my nitrates dropped rather suddenly over the fourth and fifth day so i stopped dosing for a couple days and levels all dropped to 0 and kicked off a mini-cycle. So I learned that it takes very little to get things moving in the right direction and the results are delayed by 36-48 hrs so slow is the way to go till you know how it will effect your system. Your Skimmer will go nuts if you are dosing though, so you will need to clean it out a little more often.

Also, make sure you aren't over feeding and that will help prevent nitrates and phosphate levels from building in the tank to begin with.

I was using carbon and phosgard in a canister filter with some live rock tubble but have since disconnected reason being people said that will still become a nitrate factory. Ive read a couple things about vsv but am a little scared to try it because knowing my luck I would wipe my tank. Just weighing out all my options and seeing what people's thoughts would be. Thanks for all the help


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[RobZilla04]

I do at least 10% a week but with distilled or RO water. I should have my rodi in about 2weeks-1month. Does it really help that much? I've heard mixed reviews on how much it actually helps. Can you use a tds meter on the tank


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Having your own RODI is a huge help IMO. You wont use the TDS on tank water, only on fresh RODI to ensure you are filtering the tap to 000 TDS. Once you mix salt to the fresh RODI water the meter will go off the chart from the minerals in the salt. Make sense?

 

[AlSimmons]

A high Nitrate reading is usually the result of your tank working too hard to process all the crap within it. Whether this is poop, leftover food etc. Remove this and you'll lower that. It's actually pretty simple. Then again if you don't want to do the work such as vacuuming your sand bed on a regular basis or blasting your rocks with a power head you'll have to rely on things like skimmers, reactors, ATS etc. Things don't have to be so complicated though. A little elbow grease can go a long way sometimes.

 

[Sk8r]

Strength of your skimmer matters hugely. I battled extremely high nitrate with every notion in the book, including water changes, before I upgraded skimmers; and my problem level sank like a stone.