Help me figure this out.....

[SuAsati]

The tank is 260+ gallons, All live rock came from my old 100gallon and some fully cured new ones.... I added new substrate, dry sand the kind that comes in 40lb bags.... I did use some quikcrete concrete to bind a few live rock for aquascaping....
I have a BM250 skimmer that I think is workign right, there is excellent foam, pulled nice skimmated for two weeks but the past week there is still good foam but the skimmate production had gone down conciderably, Have 3 - 400W and 1-250W for lighting.... all 20K's flow provided by tunze wavebox, 1 - 6200 and 2 - 6000's.... Doing 10% w/c every week.

here is the issue, the nitrate has been at 20+ppm for as long as I have been measuring, (about 2months), but there is no nuicense algae.......

Other parameters,

CA - 430,
Alk - 8.5
Mg, 1350
Ph - 8.0-8.2
Temp, 78-81
P04 - undetectable with salifert test kit.....

I do feed heavy, tank has 14anthis, 2 tangs, a pair of clowns and couple of wrasse........ SO I am wondering if the skimmer is not functioning right... Though not sure where to look at since I have checked all, cleaned the pumps, the flow is the same as before, gets good foam........

Can anyone give me some theories....

Is quikcrete or the dry sand leeching nitrates?

 

[reefnetworth]

how long did you cure your DIY? quikcrete is supposed to cure for about 3 months from everything ive read. also, most of it is cured in fresh water with high turn-over rate.
nitrate (NO-3) is not mainly exported through skimming, FWIW.

 

[SuAsati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10528801#post10528801 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefnetworth
how long did you cure your DIY? quikcrete is supposed to cure for about 3 months from everything ive read. also, most of it is cured in fresh water with high turn-over rate.
nitrate (NO-3) is not mainly exported through skimming, FWIW.

Thanks reefnetworth, That was what I was afraid of, I didn't really cure the DIY aquascape. So I guess I will just have to wait it out..... Anyone with experieince with using quikcrete chime in?

 

[Bri Guy]

How much is "some" quikcrete?

a whole bag?

 

[SuAsati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10530619#post10530619 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bri Guy
How much is "some" quikcrete?

a whole bag?

A cup at the most.....

 

[mr_o98]

I've never heard of anyone using concrete to bond live rock, most use coral glue or epoxy.
How long has the 260g been set up? You may still have some nitrates left over from the cycle. Also, 14 Anthias and your tangs will produce alot of detritus which will lead to nitrates.
If you feed frozen food, drain out the liquid that the cube releases after it defrosts. That is full of nitrates.

 

[SuAsati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10554012#post10554012 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr_o98
I've never heard of anyone using concrete to bond live rock, most use coral glue or epoxy.
How long has the 260g been set up? You may still have some nitrates left over from the cycle. Also, 14 Anthias and your tangs will produce alot of detritus which will lead to nitrates.
If you feed frozen food, drain out the liquid that the cube releases after it defrosts. That is full of nitrates.

I read a few threads here that people were using, Quikrete --- "Quickwall" for making rock structures, so I tried it.

The 260 has been up and running for three months, except for a couple of large pieces, all live rock came from my existing tank, which had 0 nitrates. So maybethe new rocks are leeching nitrates, I don't know. I am doing 20% wc a week, so let me see if it goes down in a month.


I soak the frozen food in ro water for 10-15mins and run it through a strainer, give a quick wash with somemore ro water before dumping it in the tank. It usually gets comsumed before the tunzes kick back on.

 

[grallster]

Is your pH super high? Cement is supposed to leach a super basic solution into the water...this could be causing things in the live rock to die and thus the high nitrate.

 

[grallster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10557808#post10557808 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by grallster
Is your pH super high? Cement is supposed to leach a super basic solution into the water...this could be causing things in the live rock to die and thus the high nitrate.

This is why you are supposed to cure aragocrete in water for long periods before use.

 

[SuAsati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10557815#post10557815 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by grallster
This is why you are supposed to cure aragocrete in water for long periods before use.

I wouldn't call it super high.... fluctuates between 8.0 - 8.25.....

 

[grallster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10558094#post10558094 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SuAsati
I wouldn't call it super high.... fluctuates between 8.0 - 8.25.....

Then it's not part of the problem.

 

[SuAsati]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10558125#post10558125 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by grallster
Then it's not part of the problem.

Yeah!!! I am beginning to think that the few new liverocks that I added had more death inside them than I anticipated... I am going with 20% wc a week and see how It looks in a month... Thanks for all the posts guys...

 

[jeffnsa]

check your nitrates with another test set, you could have a bad set.

 

[coralnut99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10564723#post10564723 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jeffnsa
check your nitrates with another test set, you could have a bad set.

I would go this route first also. With a realtively high bioload, relatively young set up, and NO nuisance algaes, I'd be second guessing the test results. What brand test kits are you using?

 

[coralnut99]

PS. In my mind a cup of quickcrete in a 260 shouldn't throw things out of whack.

 

[theman772]

my brother in law works for quickcrete shouldn't be aproblem