High nitrate problem, please HELP!!!

[NanoCube-boy]

thanks again... i'm going to need it.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

Okay, I change 100% water change and it reads 15ppm. What the heck... I assuming that my stupid Master Saltwater Test Kit is suck. I test my Q.t. down stair and it also read 15ppm.

What is going on?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Could be a testing error, nitrate in the new salt water, or new nitrate generated in the tank since you changed the water.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

I change the water like weeks ago... I test every week and it's still the same reading.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Maybe the kit has an error and cannot properly read lower values.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

Hey, when you rinse out test kits what water you use?

 

[bertoni]

Either tapwater or RO-DI will work. RO-DI as a final rinse is probably the truly paranoid approach.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

I see. For some reason it keeps reading 15ppm. Such a stupid kit. What kit do you use?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've used and like the LaMotte and Salifert nitrate kits.

 

[Mighty Quinn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6304901#post6304901 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoCube-boy
not that bigg, it;s a nanocube sump that I convert into a ref.

Very nice article...

I'm not even feeding the tank, there is nothing in the tank. Just live rocks, chaetomorpha and one ounce feathers calaupra.

If you are not adding any food to the tank, then it is possible that the infauna in your sandbed and on your rocks is slowly starving and dying, thereby contributing to a persistant nitrate problem.

Just a thought...

Q

 

[NanoCube-boy]

I see.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

OMG, my tank nitrate went up to 50ppm :eek2:.

What I have in my filtration is 1oz of Chaets, 1.5LBs of LR. Filter floss and 8oz of carbon.

What can I do?

Well I do one gallon water change every week and I don't get it. How did it rise ?

OVERFEED? hmm that might be the problem because I do I have Sun Corals, I usually feed half a cube for the tank and one cube of mysis. Could that be it ?

DAMN, I hate nitrate, I hate it so much......:mad2: :mad2:

 

[bertoni]

For a 12g tank, I might feed 1/8-1/4 of a cube of frozen Formula 1 per day, as a very rough idea of what might be feasible. How often are you feeding?

 

[NanoCube-boy]

Daily... That is bad huh??? Well In oder to get my Sun Coral open, I have to feed the rest of the guys first. So how should I feed? any advice...

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, well, you could try letting the food sit in a cup of tank water for a bit, and then dump the water into the tank. That might encourage the sun coral to open. melevsreef.com has some pages on feeding sun corals, too.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

I read that already. I thinks that's the only way to feed my favorite coral... hehe I think I'm going to try feeding every other day. I mean feeding a tank 1/2 of a cube is a lot and plus 1 cube more later.

I should feed 1/2 cube and 1/2 of mysis instead every other day huh?

 

[bertoni]

I think that'd be a good start. You'll probably need to do some experimentation.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

yup... play around with water changes and add 16oz carbon. change floss every 4 days.

 

[NanoCube-boy]

Is my sand bed deep enough?

 

[bertoni]

In a 12g tank, I don't think the sand depth much matters.