fighting nitrates...

[jmoney]

my nitrates are simply just not dropping, ive purchased a much larger skimmer and performed weekly water changes i decided to purchase a denitrator from korallin, i was just checking to see if you guys had any other bright ideas, if i had anymore room underneath i would add a refugium other than that im out of ideas and the bubble algae keeps growing

 

[what'scoral]

how are your phospate levels in the tank? sometimes that could be the problem

 

[jmoney]

ever since i added a phosban reactor from tlf with phosar they have been 0

 

[dean1977]

Whats your nitrates? your tank stocking? water flow? any other algae growing?

 

[Nereaga]

what are you running for filtration? Do you have build up of detrius in sand/rocks?

 

[redfishsc]

^+2. Tell us more about your system.


Normally for nitrate woes, I advise folks to use a big refugium full of algae, I prefer chaeto. Chaeto is a fantastic nitrate and phosphate reducer, produces tons of pods, and can be lighted 24/7 without fear of it dying so long as it has some nutrients. You may end up dosing some iron to keep it healthy. I do, and it works great. My 10g "puddle" has not had one iota of nitrates since the day I set it up and I feed it pretty heavily.

 

[jmoney]

to answer nereaga, i am running a filter sock washed every 2 days, and an octo 200 on a 75 gallon, yes there is bulidup on my sand, the rocks are completely coated in bubble algae...i ordered a vortech to help move the water around a little bit more.....

redfishsc----i have no room for a refugium that was the first thing i wanted to do

 

[mordibv]

JUst a thought .
U could look at using some ULN system . Prodibio, Zeovit , Brightwell ,Fauna Marin ,VSV vodka method etc . U would not have to use the stones . Just use the Bacteria and Carbon source . Cost would be low and no extra equipment is needed .

 

[Nereaga]

since you have a nice skimmer, try every night and use a turkey baster and blast the rocks free of junk. You can lightly do it to the sand. This will get all the detrius in the water column so your skimmer can remove it.

I baste my rocks weekly to prevent builb up.

HTH,

Brad

 

[lotsoftats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14530783#post14530783 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mordibv
JUst a thought .
U could look at using some ULN system . Prodibio, Zeovit , Brightwell ,Fauna Marin ,VSV vodka method etc . U would not have to use the stones . Just use the Bacteria and Carbon source . Cost would be low and no extra equipment is needed .

I just started dosing vodka 5 days ago I am up to .8 ml a day for a 100g of water and my nitrates have went from 40ish to 5-10....I like the vodka method cheap and easy.....lol

 

[jmoney]

thanks guys those are some great ideas, i used to blast the rocks with a turkey baster all the time over a year ago....don't know why i stopped doing that, and ill look into the zeovit products

 

[mordibv]

It still doesn't identify the source of the problem . But using the BAC method would certainly get the nitrates down . If you use the ZEovit product be careful as the the dosge rate is for a maximum dosing . U would at least half that and subtract 20% . Total tank volume for a working volume of water in the tank .

 

[ravedood]

get an HOB refugium

 

[Denadai]

buy a new no3 test

 

[reefscape15]

I agree with ravedood. Any fuge is better than none. I had fully stocked 20 gal mixed reef and nitrates used to be a problem till i got a CPR 2.5gal HOB fuge. It isn't the cleanest thing i've ever seen, but nitrates and phosphates are at 0 all the time. Also tons of water flow, and whats your light cycle? Bubble algae can be tough to get rid of, and if you try to remove it by hand make sure that you DON'T break any bubbles in your tank. It will cause them to spread more