Getting my high nitrates down

[Leronidas]

My nitrates are At 80 still even after using this AZ-NO stuff its supposed to be a chemical that takes your nitrates down to Zero Naturally i am on the 4th day already and it hasn't really gone down by much i am new to all this and i have lost allot of fish prolly due to this i am beginning to loose hair over it please any opinions on how to go about this

 

[Reefman29]

How old is your tank? What kind of filtration and what is your stock list?

 

[Leronidas]

2 months Old but it is a used tank was well taken care of has all the same live rock and sand in it that it did then had about 50% of the old water but by now i have done so many water changes and have tried using Denitrate and i have My Filtration is my sump all live rock except for the sock i have all the other equipment too all this live rock and sand was running for about 2-3 years with a experienced Reefer before i bought it my nano tank Nitrate level is about the same 70-80 level its been up and going for 21/2 months

 

[BShmerling]

by stock list he means what fish are you keeping?
And do you have a protein skimmer in the sump? Or some other kind of filter?

 

[speccialj922]

The problem with using chemicals to battle nitrates (or anything really) is that even if they do/did work, they do not address whatever is causing them (nitrates) to be there. Like Reefman said, what is your stock list? How much are you feeding? Are you rinsing/cleaning filter media? Are you running a skimmer?

 

[Leronidas]

Right now i don't have fish in there anymore because of a Ich outbreak so everything that is in there is about 8 Hermit crabs 1 cleaner Shrimp 3 emerald Crabs 2 Fiddler crabs that's all i have and yes i have a very good Protein Skimmer like i said i have all the other equipment

 

[Leronidas]

No i haven't rinsed my newest sock its about 1 week old and its the 3rd one i have changed since i got the tank the only other filter media is the Sponge things one in the overflow and one in the sump and i use Live rock for filtration

 

[Sk8r]

Have you got a skimmer, have you got bristle worms, have you got nassarius snails. I suggest all 3---a skimmer rated for about 2x your system volume.

Plus---you say you bought this system: when you moved it, did you disturb the sandbed? If so, you're cycling, and it will be a few weeks before it straightens out.

 

[Leronidas]

Yes i have a Protein Skimmer no i don't have the other 2 things where do i buy bristle worms at?

 

[steelhead77]

First you need to figure out where the nitrates are coming from. You say the tank has no fish right now. Are you using RO/DI water? If you're not, this could be the source. If you have no livestock, there should be no nitrates - at least not in that range.

The ONLY way to quicky reduce nitrates is through multiple LARGE (at least 50%) water changes. If your nitrates are at 80, doing a 50% WC will immediately take them to 40. Within a week do another 50% and you're down to 20. Another one and you're at 20. One more 10. You get the idea. Of course this assumes two things: 1) That your nitrate test is valid and 2) That your nitrates are not coming from your new water.

Sk8r - What in the world do bristle worms have to do with nitrates? Sure they're detritus eaters, but really? If he has live rock in his tank, there is a 100% chance that he has MANY bristle worms in his tank.

Leronidas - Give me your address, I'll send you about a thousand of them - free of charge - you just pay shipping. (J/K)

 

[Leronidas]

yes i buy R/O water and i used to have fish in there alllot of them but they all died except for a clown fish i have him in quarantine tank now tho like i said i have had the tank running for about 2 months now i have done allot of water changes but no where near 50%
wont that hurt the cycle?

 

[steelhead77]

No. That won't hurt anything. If you've had fish in there, your tank is already cycled. This is much safer than using any chemicals or other voodoo to get the nitrates down. Anything less than 50% won't have an effect, because they will just build back up pretty quickly.

 

[Leronidas]

it only saddens me because this is gonna be 40 gal of water boy that's gonna cost a pretty penny

 

[Leronidas]

thanks allot i will give it a try if this chem doesn't work i am already on the last few days of using it anyway so its a bit late to roll back on it now so i will see how it goes and try your step thanks for the help

 

[steelhead77]

Tell me about it. I just went thru this with my 180. I've done 4 90 gallon water changes over the past month. but now I am down to a 5-10 level.

 

[Leronidas]

Ouch

 

[shifty51008]

ok start from the beginning, what size tank, what fish did you all have in the tank? what brand and model skimmer?

az no3 is a sugar based additive. kinda like dosing vodka it does lower your nitrates and works well but the main thing is you need a very good skimmer and need to run it wet.

 

[Leronidas]

well i wish i had heard this sooner from the 12 professional people in they're stores!!! but i guess they like giving me the run around just so i can keep restocking my tank if i had known this before i would still have my fish i spent over a 100 on thanks man i think this has always been my answer

 

[Leronidas]

like i said i bought it used Shifty i have no clue the name brand of that skimmer but i have been told by many it looks like a really good one and it works but to be honest i am not even sure if i am running it right since i am so new to this. Its a 80 gal . I had 2 clowns 1 Blue Tang 1 Koran Fish Juvenile 1 Sailfin tang and 1 Butterfly fish all dead Except for 1 clown who has survived my stupidity time and time again poor guy

 

[shifty51008]

understandable, thats why we are here to help. those are some big fish for an 80 gal. IMO and all messy which could cause your nitrate problems. do you have a pic. of the skimmer? I will see if I can find a good article on how a skimmer works and how to see if yours is working like it should.