Cant get Nitrates down

[walleyebum]

My nitrates seem to be stuck at 15. I have a 220 gallon tank and 40 gallon sump with macro in it. I do weekly water changes, and only feed once a day of shrimp and a few pads of algae for the tangs a day. And my RO water has 0 nitrates. any help would be nice thanks

 

[likemike99]

How long has the tank been running? anything new? if your water is truly -0, and you are not over feeding, then it is either you are not filtering enough( nitrate reducing bacteria not built up enough) or maybe something died ( in new rock or in sand)

 

[tmoneysps]

throw some biopellets in your media reactor. Ecoback

 

[L.R.fisherman]

How big of weekly water changes are you doing? Just to cut your nitrates in half you would have to change half of your water volume. I just found out recently I had a bad nitrate test kit and I dont know where my nitrates were when I first started doing big water changes but after I change about 70gal of water out and got a API test kit my nitrates read 40. I still had alot of water changes to do. Finaly got them down thou doing 80gal water changes over a 3 week period. I have some where around 160gal total water volume.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Elevated nitrate is a common occurrence, and may not be a problem. But if you want to lower nitrate, there are many ways to do it. I use a combination of skimming, organic carbon dosing, growing macroalgae, and GAC.

This has more:

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

 

[KSzegi]

In my opinion, which is by no means expert, if everything in your tank is doing well and the level is maintaining at that ...... I wouldn't lose sleep about it. Not saying that if there are still steps you can take to lower it not to try, but not to get completely wrapped up in the goal of zero if you aren't having any problems either. So, if you cover all the bases, adequate filtration and water changes, not overfeeding, quality skimmer, maybe carbon etc ...... then the real judge of the problem is how is the livestock in the tank doing?

I have a 180 that consistently runs between 10-15 nitrates, and has for the past year. For months I tried everything I could think of to reduce that number with no success. Finally I just gave up and am happy so long as it doesn't rise any further and the tank is doing well. All of my corals are colorful and growing (both sps and lps), long tentacle anemone thriving, no algae issues at all.

I'm sure there will be a lot of disagreement with me but for me and my tank at least, that level of nitrate does not seem to be detrimental.

 

[briankmarsh1980]

whats your sand bed like? deep/shallow? if its shallow try vacuuming your sand bed

 

[walleyebum]

i have 3 skimmers on it, and its been running for about a year now, i have a 3-4in deep sand bed, i do 20% water changes on it and i clean the sand bed when i do my changes, and nothing has died.

 

[seapug]

I know it's frowned upon by purists, but every couple years when I start getting "nitrate creep" in my system (even with weekly water changes, oversized skimmer, GFO, pro-biotics), I do a dosing cycle of a bottle of AZ-NO3. It works on the same principle as pro-biotics (carbon-bacteria dosing) but works much better and faster for me. If your water quality is really bad, some soft corals may show signs of stress from the sudden nutrient drop, but it's amazing how clear the water becomes and how "clean" your rocks and sand become once you reach the full denitrification dose. Really seems to help the coralline algae take off as well.

 

[walleyebum]

where could you get that bottle at? My leathers havent been opening up in weeks now too. They just seem to shed their their skin and come out for a day then just close up and repeat. is this from my nitrates too?

 

[seapug]

where could you get that bottle at? My leathers havent been opening up in weeks now too. They just seem to shed their their skin and come out for a day then just close up and repeat. is this from my nitrates too?

Marinedepot.com sells it. FYI: only use it if you have a properly functioning, adequately sized protein skimmer. Good idea to give the skimmer a cleaning before you start dosing (you'll probably need to empty the cup daily) and remove all mechanical filtration pads. They will get clogged with white bacteria slime.

Your problem with the leathers is probably nutrient related, but be sure to check your calcium and alkalinity (especially alk).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, that product is similar to dosing vodka or vinegar etc.

 

[seapug]

IMO, that product is similar to dosing vodka or vinegar etc.

Yes, it does function via the same biological processes, but is MUCH more effective, IME. The product website explains how it works in quite a bit of detail, but it's full of references to tongue twister enzymes. Please take a look-- I'm sure you can make better sense of it than I can and I'd be interested in your thoughts on it.

Like I said, it's not something I'd want my tank to get "hooked on," but I've found it's a great way to tackle a persistent nitrate problem when regular maintenance isn't doing the trick for you.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The product website explains how it works in quite a bit of detail

Well, I'm not sure what they write now. Previously, the website was filled with pseudoscientific stuff that seem designed to sound impressive while conveying no real understanding. The manufacturer seemingly didn't know how it worked until I discussed it in detail with him on the phone one day. It is (or was) basically a raw sugar/carbohydrate type of organic additive.

Edit; just checked an online description, and it is unchanged. :lol:

 

[seapug]

very interesting. thanks for the info... whatever it is, I can certainly vouch that it works.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Happy Reefing.