High Nitrates!!!

[magdelan]

Thanks for the advice Nate. I appologize for taking so long respond, but I have been a bit busy with the new baby!!

My nitrates are still at 250-50ppm so I am going to do another 50% change. There doesn't seem to be any ill effects on the corals from doing these changes so I guess that I will continue changing out 50% at a time untill everything is in check.

I will post my results again later.

 

[thriceanangel]

Something is producing those nitrates. I have been there and it can be impossible to find. Thats why I ended up dosing sugar -as a last resort. It worked well though.

1. How's your sand? DSB? Crushed Coral Bottom?
2. How is your feeding?
3. What is your bioload?
3. How effective is your skimmer?

Consider a refugium for the chaeto so you can keep it on an opposite photoperiod like previously mentioned. If you don't have space for a fuge, then you can make a basket like bin for it behind your rock.

Consider a Remote Deep Sand Bed kept in a bucket.

When you have to do 50% water changes, and you still have elevated NO3, then there is a problem somewhere. Your corals will tolerate it for a while, but your growth will slow, and you'll get alot of brownouts. Some may die eventually.

 

[redrider911]

Since we are talking about a RDSB, how much water flow would be needed to flow through the salt bucket set up. I have a MJ 600 feeding my phosban reactor and was wondering if that if I were to combine the two, would it be enough flow through the bucket to work well enough.

 

[cardiffgiant]

RDSBs need enough flow to keep solids from settling on the bed. Just like in the display, the goal is to keep them suspended in the water column. If the flow is too low you'll get a detritus build up and will eventually get higher nitrates. You don't want so much flow that the sand is moving, but enough that detritus doesn't sit.

I use an MJ600 with mine, and find that it works pretty well. Water goes directly from the MJ600 and comes up a 18" hose from my return chamber to the RDSB, then back to the return chamber.

 

[redrider911]

Thanks!

 

[magdelan]

Thrice-

I'm not positive that there is anything (anymore) that is producing nitrates. I let my levels get so out of control that my nitrates were off the chart. This will be the fourth water change in this nitrate fiasco. Here's the thing though. My nitrates have stayed the same since my last water change. I believe that the initial source of the nitrates were coming from agressive feeding and a very dirty skimmer. I have significantly decreased my feedings and cleaned my skimmer so that it is working 4 times better than it was. With that, I believe that if I can export all of the nitrates through water changes, my nitrates will maintain stable at near zero. I will post results in a bit. Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[dreaminmel]

I have the same test kit as you. If you are following the regular directions which only use 5ml of tank water, use the number readings on the right for low range. The high range numbers on the left are only used if you use 1ml of tank water in combo with 4ml of distilled or RO water. It does advise to do the high range method though if the regular directions return a right hand side result of 50+...

 

[magdelan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11232804#post11232804 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dreaminmel
I have the same test kit as you. If you are following the regular directions which only use 5ml of tank water, use the number readings on the right for low range. The high range numbers on the left are only used if you use 1ml of tank water in combo with 4ml of distilled or RO water. It does advise to do the high range method though if the regular directions return a right hand side result of 50+...

Thanks mel but I tried the test in the low range first. Then I had to go to the high range with 1ml of my tank water plus 4ml of rodi. It was still off the chart.


Thrice- My nitrates are now down to a solid 10ppm. I think that I am on my way to zero!!! I'll post more on the later. Time for bed.

 

[tmz]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11232048#post11232048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redrider911
Since we are talking about a RDSB, how much water flow would be needed to flow through the salt bucket set up. I have a MJ 600 feeding my phosban reactor and was wondering if that if I were to combine the two, would it be enough flow through the bucket to work well enough.

Chris, the key is to ensure enough flow across the surface of the sand to create a condition called advection. As the water flows over the top of the sand it creates a pressure variance between the water above and below the sand, causing water to flow down into and through the sand bringing nitrogenous waste down to the low oxygen zones for the breakdown of nitrite and nitrate . It doesan't have to blast the sand ,just flow over it.

 

[redrider911]

That's good info. I am assuming I can just add 2 barbed fittings near the top of the bucket, attach the 1/2" tubing add sand, and wait a month.
Anyone have about 5 gal of sand they wanna sell me?

 

[thriceanangel]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11233321#post11233321 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by magdelan
Thanks mel but I tried the test in the low range first. Then I had to go to the high range with 1ml of my tank water plus 4ml of rodi. It was still off the chart.


Thrice- My nitrates are now down to a solid 10ppm. I think that I am on my way to zero!!! I'll post more on the later. Time for bed.

Thats good news! I thought that you had already gone through a water change cycle and they got elevated again in a short period. Now lets see what it takes to keep them there, and you can get a reasonable water change cycle.

 

[cardiffgiant]

Here are some shots of when I built my RDSB. I've also got a pic of the RDSB and sump in my gallery.

I had to rework this to use a larger bulked for a return. I'm recommend using no less than 1". Square buckets are nice, because you can use a regular bulkhead instead of a curved bulkhead. If you don't have one, Wegmans sells kitty litter in them, and sometimes sells driveway salt in them.

I used 30lbs of argonite and seeded 10lbs of live sand.

You need to elevate it above your sump for it to drain properly. However, keep in mind that this will add to your volume of backflow in the event of a power failure, and plan enough space in your return chamber.

Benefits:
-Nitrate export
-Increased volume
-Added environment for pods
-Very easy to toss the sand in the event that it becomes exhausted (as opposed to using a DSB in your display)

 

[tmz]

Nice and simple, Thanks for sharing.

 

[redrider911]

Is argonite more beneficial than sand?
I am picking up the material tomorrow.
I hope I can find the sand this time of year

 

[cardiffgiant]

I don't know that it's so much more beneficial, as less expensive than buying live sand. Smaller granules will have more surface area, thus greater capacity to host bacterias that filter. Live sand is less uniform in size, which I've heard makes it less likely for the sand to bond together (which should not happen if you have enough flow).

 

[cardiffgiant]

If oyu can't find the argonite, another option for fine grain sand is the stuff that pets tores sell for reptiles. It's more costly than argonite from a hardware store, but less costly than bagged live sand.

 

[redrider911]

Just did a quick search for argonite. You said it can be found at a hardware store. Is it called something different?

 

[tmz]

Chris, Argonite is finely or coarsely ground coral. You get it at the lfs or on line. I think the most common brand name is Carrib Sea.

 

[redrider911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11238407#post11238407 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tmz
Chris, Argonite is finely or coarsely ground coral. You get it at the lfs or on line. I think the most common brand name is Carrib Sea.

Thanks Tom. The hardware store thing threw me off. I hope Lowes or HD will have the sand so I can get this up and running. I am having a hard time getting my candy and sun coral to extend and eat Everything is in check except my trates (30 ppm). I don't know what else to do at this point. It will be my 3rd sunstar to die

 

[tmz]

You could try a piece of polypad. It is supposed to remove nitrate an other things..I use it and have for a long time. Might just be habit at this point with the heavy skimming,refugia and dsbs in the system.

I'm having trouble with my sun coral too. I think you probably have to be very attentive to feeding when it opens even a liittle. They seem to be pretty tricky to me.