Can't get Nitrates down help! please im Lost!

[Tourpicks1]

im very stressed because 2 weeks ago i thought all was well with my parameters as my nitrates in my DT 150 gallon RT were 2.5- then i realized my testing kits red sea which i love since its simple and easy and fast test same, were expired. I quickly purchased a red sea testing kit and noticed after 2 weeks and i was feeding alot as at the point i had an angelfish (emperor) in the tank and i was trying to train him not to eat the corals and sponges, so i fed alot- noe i have a great CUC a great skimmer and a great wet/dry filter but when i got the new tests the nitrtaes were 20 ppm.
i started to see my elegance coral die slowly and my aussie hammer is 80 percent dead- i have a fully sotcked tank from top to bottom the corals are placed were they need to be and there is space between semi aggressive- and aggressive corals- with all inverts corals lps nps sps so 98% IS FINE but i did lose the aussie hammer or almost losing it all and 100% of a 10 inch Aussie elegance, (which was so beautiful it hurt me so much) i did 3 weeks ago a 20% water change, nitrates were still at 20-25ppm i did another 20 percent water change, and then last night another 15% water change, but i cant get the Nitrates down. please help! im so stressed and out of options.
i have 3 plants burried in the sb shaving bush plants recently purchased and i read they can help with a nitrate problem i have some tri. clams which can also help, i cut down 3 weeks ago from feeding nori 5x5 3x a week and frozen mysis 3x a week and flakes daily to flakes half portion every other day 1x a week 2 cubes of mysis with garlic and zoe- and 1x a week a 4x4 piece of nori.
these are my tankmates
3 schooling yellow tangs 3 inches each
1 powder blue tang 3 inches
1 chevron tank 4 inches
1 purple dottyback small
5 schooling reef chromis very small about 1 inch each
i have a 150 gallon reef tank filled with corals inverts and those fish and the 5 reef chromis are less than 1 inch each
the rest of the parameters are
sal. 1.025
ph.8.4
alk. 3.4
ammonia-0
nitrite-.1
nitarte-25 ppm
calcium 500 ppm
magnesium- 1350

if anyone can help me out im affraid of losing anymore corals and i cant get the nitrated down- i have skimmed with a higher setting but after the intial time doing this there not much to empty out i have a filter custom wet/dry with LR in it and a 40 gallon sump-what else can i do ??? i also cut back on fedding so much, my back is broken from all the water changes- is this something i have to just wait and hope they (nitrates) get down to 10 ppm
besides for the weekly water changes i do every few days maybe 5 gallons and i cut back on feedings what else can i do ?
theres enough pods algae some worms and other thing si cant I.D. that the fish could survive probably a month without feeding- but i give them 1x a week mysis with garlic and zoe to boast their immune system and enhance color and i feed them noe only 1 time a week a small piece of nori to again help with thier immune system. im all out of ideas- so cut back on feedings i do water changes and broke my back- i gtot shaving bush plants on the SB i got 2 corcea clams 1 3.5 inches 1 close to 5 inches- im helpless if anyone can help id be so greatful. Thanks so much-
Joyce
:mixed::mixed:

 

[BuckeyeTodd]

IMO nitrates of 25 aren't going to kill corals, so I would look for another culprit...25 while not ideal isn't that bad. I've had over 50 nitrates and had great pe on sps, thriving lps, etc.

 

[tkeracer619]

The fact that you have readable nitrites should be of concern.

What kind of skimmer is on this system? I can go ahead and tell you that with 5 tangs in a 150 you are going to run into nutrient issues.

When you say wet dry does that mean bioballs?

 

[gerth2010]

Check out ur nitrate level at ur water source. Do u have a RO system? Are u missing any fish, or inverts?

 

[headless]

You need to know one thing only...

Vodka...nothing more...dose it and your nitrates and phosphates will be gone...fact, not fiction!

 

[Tourpicks1]

vodka ? what does that have to do with fsh ?
my nitrites are a bit readable i dont know why- like i said i cut back on feeding alot and i did several water changes. i use pretty clean water i can make only 5 gallons of ro water a day but i have a great filter and even so nyc tap water is some of the best tap water in the country- but if i use some ro water and some tap water i usually let it sit for 3 days and put in some stress coal to remove cholrine metals and cholromine and use a powerhead to mix up the water and keep oxygen in the water-after 3-7 days i then use that water in a water change. again is that fo real dose vodka ? what kind how much ? im not sure if thats serious ?
i use a wet/dry with LR in the sump and filter pads on top of the LR in a dif compartment
its for a tank of up to 400 gallons
i use a skimmer made by aquamedics also a very good skimmer for taks up to 400 gallons
im not missing any fish or invertsjust the 2 corals that over 6-8 weeks died.
i dont think they were stung but u never know. i would still like to get the 0 reading on the trites and 10 or less on the trates. at least for the trities what should i do and is that vodka thing for real what do u do and does it work ?

 

[RA]

Here is an article on vodka dosing:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

I don't know if this is the right way for you to go at this point. I would not put any tap water into your tank, that could be causing part of your problems. You might want to consider a GFO reactor also. Also I would get rid of any pads that you have, they could be a problem source also.

 

[Ntvper]

lol sounds like the vodka was for the owner of the tank being stressed n all. but i digress. so lets look into a few things what water do u use for top offs/water changes? that LR rubble in the sump do u clean it during water changes? they can hold excess nutrients that need to be exported with water changes. Im sure your using RO/DI water for all top offs/water changes. if not that would be my first 'culprit' introducing unwanted nutrients. hows the flow? at least 30x your tanks volume right? if not the 'settling' of nutrients can come out n haunt u when disturbed. any algae blooms? another thing that can be a quick 'band-aid' to your situation is to get a reactor and use carbon in it to help export those excess nitrates. also cut down on feeding those are loaded with nitrates/phos that are introducing it into your tank. good luck and best wishes on solving this. IMO the above are the first steps to recovery and vodka I would use as a last resort after all those above things are fixed/not the problem.

 

[tkeracer619]

i use pretty clean water i can make only 5 gallons of ro water a day but i have a great filter and even so nyc tap water is some of the best tap water in the country- but if i use some ro water and some tap water ...

You do NOT have a great water filter. You need to look into purchasing a real RO system.

I would not start dosing vodka on a tank that is showing issues.

 

[Humu Humu]

Ok, lets look at what you have said so far.
1. You are not using an RO/DI filter for all of your water. Fix this.
2. You are using a wet/dry filter. This is a nitrate factory. The purpose of a wet dry filter is to break down ammonia into nitrate. They are very good at this. Get rid of this filter.
3. Try running activated carbon in addition to GFO. It will help.
Do a search on this forum for nitrate control. There is a lot of information out there.

 

[karsco]

Good advice Humu, I agree. You could also consider adding a RDSB, I run one zero nitrates and cheap to set up.

 

[Sk8r]

x2 on humu humu's advice. You're doing many things right, but what you are doing wrong is exactly what hh said, and that is the source of your problem. A coral reef really should not HAVE a filter: the corals and sandbed are filters. Your system is taking their food and converting to nitrate as fast as it can.
To safely remove a wet-dry, remove the filter medium at the rate of a fistful every 2 days, testing often. This will let your rock/sand bacteria multiply and catch up to full strength.
The fact that NYC has good water is only regarding cats, dogs, and humans. For fish, not so much, and you may even have it coming through copper pipe at some point---not too awfully scary, since at that point it's only fresh water, (salt is far more aggressive about dissolving metals) but---over time, it builds up in your tank because only WATER evaporates. You need the ro/di filter.

 

[Tourpicks1]

all very intresting thanks for the help- ill get on it right away.

 

[syrinx]

did he say he had bio balls? If he is calling a sump with liverock in it a wet dry- then he shouldn`t remove any media. Do need to find out why there is nitrite- how long has tank been set up? Obviously if the tap water tests out as most does a RO is needed.

 

[headless]

all very intresting thanks for the help- ill get on it right away.

Bio pellets good.
Vodka dosing good.

If you don't know about how well the vodka method works, you should read about it...will zero out your nitrates and phosphates in very little time!

 

[vono]

Overfeeding can result in increased phosphate level too. High phosphate levels restrict the calcification. Too much phosphates will also cause corals to turn brown on you.

 

[steelhead77]

Don't be afraid to do a couple 50% water changes a few days apart. Two 50% changes and your nitrates are 6. However as stated, nitrates of 25 are nothing to worry about. Especially with the bioload you have. Last summer mine were over 100 in my 180 and within a month I had them down to under 10 simply by doing four 50% water changes. No harm to any critters and since then they have stayed in the ~10 range - which is perfect IMO.

As stated, nitrates of 25 are not that bad and you need to look at other causes - including the fact that sometimes corals (and fish) just die for no discernable reason.

 

[Tourpicks1]

i have no idea of the vodka thing or method- i wouldnt attempt doinf that i have almost 60 lps corals and 10 sps corals and many ricordeas and soft corals i cant take a chance on something i have never done- ill just do more water changes and feed less maybe 1 nano mysis cube for all the tank every 3 days and some 4x4 nori 2x a week- plus the fish i cant mess with a vodka thing unless i fully understand it maybe from a book with reasons why it works and how to exactly step by step do it- im not gonna just pour in my tank some grey goose .. lol-

 

[funkejj]

You don't pour it in. It is reef safe if you dose it like it calls for in the reefkeeping article that was linked earlier. It does work but your first issue is a RO/DI unit to start putting clean water in your tank, Get rid of the filter pads in the wet/dry. That would be the first things to do to start to clean up your system.

 

[headless]

i have no idea of the vodka thing or method- i wouldnt attempt doinf that i have almost 60 lps corals and 10 sps corals and many ricordeas and soft corals i cant take a chance on something i have never done- ill just do more water changes and feed less maybe 1 nano mysis cube for all the tank every 3 days and some 4x4 nori 2x a week- plus the fish i cant mess with a vodka thing unless i fully understand it maybe from a book with reasons why it works and how to exactly step by step do it- im not gonna just pour in my tank some grey goose .. lol-

How can you say you don't know anything about it and then say you wouldn't do it? That makes no sense!!

The vodka dosing is DONE FOR TANKS WITH CORALS!!

If you have nutrient issues, nothing will get your nitrates and phosphates down like vodka...okay, I'll make it simple...the vodka fosters bacterial growth, the bacteria bind the nitrates and phosphates, and your skimmer boots them out for you.

It's simple and highly effective...done all over the place now. You can go with bio pellets as well...however, vodka dosing is cheap and it works, period. The alcohol is NOT going to harm anything in your tank...there is a dosing method that you follow...you just don't pour a bottle in...

If you don't know anything about it, don't be ignorant. That is how I was...I was having a phosphate and nitrate issue that wasn't going away no matter what I did...I started vodka dosing last spring and haven't had an issue since...my tank is 1000% better and ALL the inhabitants are doing better.

Look, do what you want, but until you read about vodka dosing, don't play it off...it might really be able to help you...it's really worth looking into!

http://www.aquariumslife.com/saltwater-101/dosing_vodka/

http://www.melevsreef.com/vodka_dosing.html