Help with my water parameters testing results!!!

[TonyOrlando]

My tank is 8 months old these are my results on my reef tank:
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 30
Amonia 0
Phosphate 0
PH 8.3
Calcium 400
Alk 8 dkh

How off am i and what can i do to correct it..thanks!

 

[jer77]

Your doing good except maybe for the nitrates. Can you explain your setup, feeding schedule, and anything else that might pertain to the nitrates.

 

[UntamedBreez]

eight months old and the nitrates are that high????

 

[Sk8r]

Nitrates: wow. Everything else is ok. But have you got a sponge or old carbon bag forgotten in the water flow? a cannister filter?

How much live rock? 100 lbs would be good. 3" sandbed. Moderate feeding. Something is wrong in this department.

 

[drummereef]

What kind of substrate do you use?

What kind of filtration do you have in the sump?

 

[bertoni]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

That article covers water parameters and their acceptable ranges.

Nitrate at that level is fine unless the tank has stony corals.

 

[TonyOrlando]

i never could never understand why my nitrates are that high. I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks, i have plenty of flow in my tank, so nothing settleys, i have a 3-4inch sand bed (its caribsea agronite sand), i have a 20 gallon sump that first goes into a filter sock(i change weekly), i have a corallife SS65 skimmer, i have a phosban reactor, and then my return pump. As far as carbon goes, i run 24/7 in a media bag and change monthly, i allow a 3 day break, then i add new carbon to the filter bag. I have always been stumped with my nitrates and Ive read all different things on it. I feed once a day and dont over feed, no food settles and its all gone within 3 mins. Any suggestions???

 

[virginiadiver69]

You could try some macro algae in the sump on a reverse light schedule. Also try doing a 10-20% water change on a weekly cycle. I have adjusted my skimmer so it pulls a little wetter for a few reasons and nitrates was one. I have been doing these things and I typically run near zero nitrates. Like bertoni said though...there really is no need to stress unless you are running a stony dominated tank. I understand that up to 20-30ppm is nothing to really worry about.

 

[bertoni]

The macroalga approach might help, if you want to reduce the nitrate level. How much and what kind of food is going into the tank? The time it takes for the food to be consumed is not a useful guide, in my opinion.

 

[TonyOrlando]

i use all frozen foods, formula 1 and 2, brine shrimp, blood worms, mysis shrimp, and scallops. I rotate the foods. Im planning on keeps some sps corals and i really want to get a handle on these nitrates. Ill try doing weekly water changes too and running my skimmer a lil more wet. I dont have room for chateo in my sump either. Has anyone used Absolute Zero Nitrate by bayside aquarium supply... www.baysideaqua.com If so, what were the results?

 

[kevin2000]

How many and what kind of fish?

 

[bertoni]

For a 72g tank, I might start with 1/3 cube of frozen Formula 1 per day, as a beginning feeding level, assuming there's around 70 lb of live rock or more in the system.

 

[TonyOrlando]

I still only give 1/2 cube each day and one clip of nori for the tang. I have around 80 pounds of LR too.

 

[kevin2000]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10220423#post10220423 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TonyOrlando
I still only give 1/2 cube each day and one clip of nori for the tang. I have around 80 pounds of LR too.

Thats alot of food. How many fish and what kind?

FYI ... most nitrate problems boil down to overstocking &/or overfeeding, inadequate water changes, or not enough live rock.

If you have enough live rock and do regular water changes then chances are you fall into the first category.

The fact that fish eat all their food before it hits the substrate doesn't mean a great deal when determining whether your overfeeding. Food hitting the substrate is just a demonstration of obvious over feeding. Fish poop creates the same nitrates as uneaten food and the authors of the nonsense of feeding fish for 3 minutes should stand up in front on an audience of aquarist who have given up the hobby because of nitrate/algae issues.

 

[TonyOrlando]

I have a 5 inch naso tang, 3"anthias, 3'damsel, 1'damsel,3 chromis 1', 1 mandrin goby, 1yellowwatchman goby, 1 diamond goby, and a cleaner shrimp

 

[TonyOrlando]

those are all inches by the way, not the number of fish of each type.

 

[kevin2000]

Not sure I understood your post. Near as I can tell you have 10 fish and a shrimp? Yes/No?

 

[TonyOrlando]

I have 11 fish and a shrimp

 

[HBtank]

Fish gotta eat! Especially the ones on that list....

I dont see those fish all getting fed with half a cube of anything.. Much less a smaller amount .... JMO...

Overstocking may really be your issue considering your feeding demands and more importantly your systems capabilities, which are maxxed out already as shown by that nitrate concentration.

I would be looking at a better skimmer if I were you and possibly setting up a refugium.. More rock could go in the refugium as well.

Starving your fish as a long term solution is not a valid option in my opinion, just not the way to go.

Time to upgrade the skimmer and adding some more filtration IMO.

 

[kevin2000]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10226143#post10226143 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TonyOrlando
I have 11 fish and a shrimp

Thats lot of fish for that sized tank. Remember that fish poop generates the same nitrates that uneatened food does .. tanks with lots of fish generate nitrates whether your overfeeding or not.

I would consider reducing the number of fish .. I would also recommend returning the tang which many would argue needs a tank that is 120 gallon +.