high nitrates what to do?

my skimmer used fill the cup half way in 3-4 days...it hasn't skimmed that much since i stopped feeding as much, but i figured that would happen. The skimate is always dark green when i clean the cup out.

i have the cup a little below where the bubbles break so that way the bubbles are already 1/4 of an inch up the cups tube right at the begining of the taper
 
try turning just the air off on the bakpak rather than the whole pump. especially now that you have rock in it. if water sits stagnent with all that rock, it will go foul and do bad things. then dump nasty water into your tank every time it turns on.

also, try setting the timer to have it come on at 3AM or so, once you're already asleep it probably won't wake you.


would polyp extension be less when the coral is growing in those places?
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on my acros i've always noticed insane nighttime PE on the growing tips when they are actively growing, much less when they are not growing. my theory is it needs to expand more to get better gas exchange to balance the higher metabolism.
 
well my nightime PE is good somtimes....other times i see no PE at night. say out of 5 days in a week i see PE about 2-3 nights
 
if i got an Ro/Do unit is there anyway to hook it up to the sink without having to drill into a pipe? id rather have it connected to the focet than to a pipe just incase i move in a year or so to make it easier to remove without having a hole in a pipe that can't be replaced.
 
They come with a little adapter that goes in the sink line. You unscrew the existing hose/pipe (instructions are much better btw :D ) and then put thier adapter in between. Even if you use a self piercing adapter from the hardware store you could just close it off anyway and leave the little 3 or 4 dollar adapter on the pipe.
 
If you have been using tap all along I don't see how starting with an RO/DI now is going to help. IMO you need to start over.

are you having any algae problems?
 
I don't think you have to start over, but, I would defintely atleast siphon a lot if not all the sand, and add more; like I previously had said. CeeGee is right, your sand has probably absorbed all the nitrates it can and leaving it there as is, will only leach nitrates back in, even when you get an RO/DI unit. A major role of having sand is teh de-nitrifying effect it has, since it may not be able to do this anymore, it will serve primarily negative purposes.
But, like REEF-DADDY said, 10 ppm isn't all that bad, but, I think you posted you were at 50, which is pretty bad.
 
well...i wish i didn't have to remove my sand,do you guys think it would be better to run a DSB or just BB? Id say DSB because of my nitrate issue but...no clue which one would be better
 
That is a very touchy subject around here...

My personal choice would be BB, but, it requires different/more equipment. An Ro/DI would only be the beginning of spending if you decided to go BB(maybe that's what just happen to me??) I feel that running a Sandbed would give you more slack, in terms of runner lesser equipment(in terms of flow, skimmer, etc) Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that running a sandbed is wrong or the cheap way out, because I'm sure I would have found something to spend my money on either way. Simply put, they are just different, both can work, just have to be looked at differently.

I'm not 100% sure if you NEED to change your sandbed completely, maybe someone else can chime in on that. I'd also stop doing the water changes so much/ so frequently, SPS need stability more than anything,IMO, so all these constant water changes are probably what is affecting your polyp extension and the tank not looking as good.
 
well...i wish i didn't have to remove my sand,do you guys think it would be better to run a DSB or just BB? Id say DSB because of my nitrate issue but...no clue which one would be better
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BB can be more prone to high nitrates than dsb. I have experienced this in my 300g sps and 215g lps tanks. Both were running BB and both had high nitrates. I added a dsb and remote dsb fuge to the 215g and the nitrates way down. I added a dsb fuge to the 300g and the nitrates also went down. You can definately make it work with a dsb.
 
Algae:Probably because I'm a BB guy, I'm gonna disagree a little bit there. If BB is done right, nitrates are not a problem at all. But, you are right in that it takes a lot more to get 0 nitrates with BB.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7568137#post7568137 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rutz81
Algae:Probably because I'm a BB guy, I'm gonna disagree a little bit there. If BB is done right, nitrates are not a problem at all. But, you are right in that it takes a lot more to get 0 nitrates with BB.
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Heck I have to work at it to keep some level of N03 in my BB tank.
 
After all the talk about nitrates, I decided to check mine, I hadn't checked in a long,long time. They are about 7.0 ppm. I guess, according to me, that my BB isn't set up completely right....LOL, I kinda already had a hunch my tank wasn't perfect..
 
Algae:Probably because I'm a BB guy, I'm gonna disagree a little bit there.
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Don't get me wrong I'm a BB guy too. I thought I was doing everything right, but for some reason Nitrates just went sky high. I strongly believe both methods work and use both BB and DSB methods.
 
Heck I have to work at it to keep some level of N03 in my BB tank.
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You did a good job on your rock work. Not many places for detritus to collect. My problem is I added a lot of rock for detritus to hide. I now blow off the rocks with a powerhead before water changes. This has helped with nitrate control.
 
well i can go eaither route,

though i'm not sure if i should have any sand stiring critters for the DSB (Is having critters that stir the sand in a DSB an issue or is that fine?)

if i go BB and change out 90-100% of my water in a few weeks and continue to cut on my feedings would i potentially still have a nitrate issue as long as i exchanged most of the water out? Also is my live rock still "live" able to be used without issue?

i would think so but having nitrate this high and my sand bed already being bunk and since i'm totally new at this what should i do?

i like the look of BB, i might eventually go with an Aquafuge with a skimmer built in, and that might work with BB as long as i keep an eye on nirates right?

or would it just be better to go with a full DSB and then i have more room to watch my nitrates and prevent this from happening again.
 
though i'm not sure if i should have any sand stiring critters for the DSB (Is having critters that stir the sand in a DSB an issue or is that fine?)
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You want creatures that stir the sand. Its vital for a dsb to work. You don't want creatures that prey on dsb inhabitants. EI. sand sifting gobies, some starfish, etc.
 
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