High Nitrates?

been running them for almost a year now. IMHO only use them if you run a SPS heavy system and like to over feed. do some research on Vodka dosing or VSV before trying to convert your tank to ULNS
 
I agree with Travis on dosing. But please do a lot of research about dosing anything. You can definately make matters a whole lot worse if your not precise in doing this.

I can't speak on the bio-pellet idea as I've never used them.
 
i'm at 20ppm right now. I know the root cause. I have a high bio load due to quite a few fish + I tend to be a little heavy handed on my feedings to both fish and coral. I've cut back on feeding, but i need a little help getting the nitrates down.
 
Seachem makes a great product called denitrate that is pretty simple yet works really well.
I agree with mutated dog bone about bio pellets being used in sps tanks,from what I have read you have to be careful with them or they do to good of a job. I have seen some really great looking sps systems that run the biopellets!
 
unless your corals are acting funny, honestly i wouldnt mess around with anything. Sometimes in this hobby we chase numbers and end up harming the system rather than making it better. i always go off of what the corals look like and if they're growing, colorful, etc rather than a number
 
it can be if you dont take every detail into account. and DONT even attempt any sort of carbon dosing unless you have a skimmer rated much much larger than the gallonage for your tank
 
I personally like to keep things low as maintenance and natural as i can. I usually try to do a water change once a week but that usually turns into every two weeks. You would be amazed what a difference a clam will make if you have the lights for one. :)
 
I went to oddballs and got setup on the Seachem Denitrate and a medium sized clam on Sunday. I put about 750ml of the media in a phosban reactor with about 50gph running through it. I'll keep everyone posted on the results.
 
Best way to lower Nitrates is weekly water changes,if you feed heavy change more often.Having a good skimmer is another plus...
 
I do a weekly water change 25%. I cut way back on feedings about a month ago. I have a good skimmer (ASM Mini-G). Just tested last night. 2 days in and no change in Nitrates. it's still at 20 ppm.
 
This may not be directly addressing what you want to do, but a good nitrate reduction and jump start into carbon dosing is AZN03. I ran this when i had a nitrate issue due to some dieoff. This stuff worked incredible. After i brought my nitrates down, i went to a vodka and vinegar daily supplement dose.

Granted, AZN03 is carbon dosing, but it takes a bit of mystery away from the process to the newbie. You will definitely get the feel of the power of carbon dosing. Im not bragging about not doing so many water changes, but it sure is nice not having to do weeklys. Monthlys is more my speed.

For 20ppm, i wouldnt even bother.
 
I see posts from lots of "old timers" that contradict that, but on a low level, im sure it does a tiny bit. Not worth losing sleep over IMO
 
if you're doing a softie/lps/zoa tank, 20ppm is perfectly fine. only if you're wanting to do a heavy SPS tank do your nitrates need to be lower.
 
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