High nitrates

[Fphipps]

I have been noticing some unhappy LPS and montipora in my tank over the past week. My acros seem happy and fine. I rarely test for nitrates but figured it could be the cause. sure enough, my nitrates are about 40 ppm.

I do weekly water changes but I feel they are not enough to bring it down that much. Would vodka or vinegar be an option? I run GFO and GAC 24/7. My phosphates are low, around .03-.04, so I am not worried about them, although I know the carbon dosing will slightly effect them. I am more concerned about the nitrates. I read a few articles on how to dose, but none of them have said the size of the system they were dosing. I am running a 125 gallon tank with a 30 gallon skimmer. This tank has been set up since december and all the liverock was transitioned from 75 at the same time the 125 was set up.

I feed PE mysis once a day and newlife spectrum pellets every other day. Could I be over thinking it? should I stick with my water changes? Or would carbon dosing be a better bet? I only have about 8 fish in the tank, most small.

 

[Themonsterisme]

High nitrates

Feeding too much...drop it down to every other day or 2 days a week and do a few 20-30% water changes

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Feed only 2 days a week? Seems extreme to me. I feed many times each day. If the amounts are high, I'd feed less but as or more often.

There are many ways to reduce nitrate. I use skimming, vinegar dosing, macroalgae growth, and water changes.

I discuss these in more detail in these articles:

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners,
Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php


Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

 

[Themonsterisme]

randy is a guru...the fish whisperer lol

 

[BrentH]

I just started. Dosing vinegar 15 ml per. 100 gallon volume..... Via my dosing pump .... Could help u if u need to reduce your n03 I have a lot of sps which are slightly unhappy my nitrates are in. The 20 to 25 phos 0.02 without gfo I'll let u know how it's going

 

[Fphipps]

After reading the articles, I am starting to come to the conclusion that there is no way to rapidly bring down my nitrates?

some of my corals are suffering a bit and my montipora are strating die quickly. I do not have another aquarium to relocate my coral too nor do I have space large enough to put all of them. I am doing 20% water changes on a 125 gallon(give or take) system every two days but it does not seem to be helping much. I plan on getting some cheato and macro tomorrow and throwing it in my sump with a light to see if that helps.

Is there any thing else I can do to atleast speed the process up? Would removing my sandbed be a good idea for the long run? I know alot of people run barebottom with alot of success. I personally like the look of a sand bed, but its hard to keep clean and when I do water changes i seem to suck up a lot. My sand bed is only about 2 inches at most in some areas.

It sounds like dosing vodka or vinegar is more of a long term approach to the problem.
Please help

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

A big water change is a fast way to reduce nitrate, but won't help as much for phosphate issues.

Organic carbon dosing (liquid or pellet) and a denitrator are both usually quite effective, with the former being much more popular.