Horrible Nitrates !

[beefcake]

In the past I've never really had a nitrate problem, certainly nothing over 20ppm anyway. Its been a while since I tested my water I admit and if figured I should check it since I'm getting algae pretty bad. Lo and behold its off the charts 100ppm+. I'm doing a water change as I type this but am wondering what may have caused such crazy nitrates. I only have 2 small fish atm and tons of live rock and some corals (none of which r too happy i would imagine). I feed my fish fairly conservatively as I only have 2 fish so i dont think thats a big issue. I don't use bio balls. I have the mud/calurpa in my fuge with some more live rock. I also ran a phosphate test which turned up negative. ideas ? please don't flame i know i've been naughty.

 

[mg426]

Do you run a skimmer? a skimmer does not remove nitrates directly but it removes the stuff that becomes nitrates.Are you sure about your make up water? Tons of LR? 1 lb per gallon minimum. Mabe try another test kit to verify the whole situation.anyway water changes are the way to go at this point lots and lots of them

 

[beefcake]

No skimmer, really no room for one underneath the tank. Corners are so small. :-(

 

[mg426]

You could buy a hang on the tank type.Aqua c remora pro comes to mind.They work great. a good skimmer goes a long way at helping with this sort of thing.Poly filters help too.

 

[beefcake]

Actually I was just looking in to that very thing. I found a Red Sea Prizm Hang-on Protein Skimmer (http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=RS1131) thats rated up to 100g. I had no idea these things worked well. I could actually hang this in my fuge under my tank.

 

[mg426]

How much are you going to pay for the prizm.The Remora c is about 215 dollars and is a much better skimmer IMO.Check out www.marinedepot.com they have a pretty good rating chart for skimmers

 

[mg426]

Also make sure that tyour skimmer receives raw unfiltered water

 

[beefcake]

Ok ill see if I can get a remora to work I found it for $163.95 at marine depot. Sounds good.

 

[mg426]

You have a 110 right??? it is rated for up to 75.If this id the case get the remora pro up to 120

 

[beefcake]

Oops was looking at the specs for the Red sea one there. I have a 92gallon corner tank. I'll check the pro one out.

 

[old salty]

I'm using the same type of filtration as you are, and nitrates are always at zero. When you do water changes, do you take a powerhead or a turkey baster and blow off the rock and the substrate?? I do this in conjunction with a filter sock.