I don't know what to do!

[Socalx45]

Well I have had my 125g tank since may. I fully cycled it. I started with just 2 clowns. After cycle then 2 weeks after that I added a flame angel and yellow tang. Also two zoas frags. In beginning of July my nitrates spiked to 50 and I haven't been able to get them down. I added a gfo and carbon reactor. I have a refugium with chaeto growing like crazy. My skimmer (sca 302) seems to be working well. I have been dosing red seas NOPOX for a week and no budge in the nitrates.
I came home today to find that my flame died. It was sudden because it never acted weird and it was eating yesterday. My clowns and tang are acting normal.
My salinity is 1.026, ammonia and nitrites are 0. Alk is 10. Ca is 300 and Mg 1600.
I'm just running out of ideas to lower nitrates. I have been doing 20-25% water changes every 2-3 weeks. I was told to run bio pellets. Any other suggestions would be helpful.

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[Dogshowgrl]

Sorry for your loss.

I doubt it was due to nitrates. Nopox is a great product. But it does take 6-8 weeks to be effective. (Nitrates are absorb in the rock, they leach it out until it is all used up) gfo takes some time too, but it doesn't touch nitrates it only does phosphates. It will eliminate algea. No phosphates, no algae, but that doesn't address the nitrates. Slow is the goal. Yes 50 is high but it is not even close to eminent danger high. Keep up WC (maybe more often) and doing what you are doing you are in the right path. Are you feeding frozen foods or adding any supplements? If you are feeding frozen try rinsing it before feeding. They are packed in nasty water. Make sure you are not over feeding.

Bio pellets are fine but it is doing the same thing NoPox does but "automated" it should be one or the other in most cases.

Just stick with the program. You are on the right track, it takes time.

Btw you Ca is a very low. Retest or cross check it. At that level the water starts striping it from corals. I see you only mentioned softies, but it is easier to figure out now than when you have more invested. Shoot for 420-450.

Take a breath, this hobby is fun. Most days. Good luck. Enjoy.

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[Socalx45]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I was reading some reviews on NOPOX and people were saying in a week their nitrates were cut in half. So I was like what the hell am I doing wrong. I'll increase my water changes.
I feed a half cube of frozen mysis and a small pinch of new life spectrum once a day. I also have a bunch of snails and 3 peppermint shrimp and 3 emerald crabs. All seem to be doing fine.

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[Sk8r]

THat's likely half of 'not much." I worked through 2 bottles and several months getting down 20-30 points.

If the problem persists, take a look at your skimmer efficiency.

 

[Xxero]

If you're looking for a significant reduction in Nitrates, small water changes are a waste of salt, water, time, and energy.

50% or larger if you're trying to reduce Nitrates using water changes or you will only be spinning your wheels.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

FYI, Flame Angels are routinely collected using cyanide and thus have this sudden death syndrome from a few weeks to a month or two after they're collected. More than likely this is what you experienced. There is a lot of reading about it if you do a search.

NoPox is a great product and works well. Just the instructions are a little vague. I agree with Xxero small wc's don't do a thing to lower nitrates, need 50% min to make a decent impact.

 

[billdogg]

I agree 100% about the demise of your Flame Angel. They either die in a month or so for no apparent reason or they live for years.

As for the Nitrates - I am not a fan of adding any chemicals I don't have to, especially for something that can be taken care of without. I would just do, as suggested, 50% water changes a couple times a week - not every 2-3 weeks as you are. You will be on top of them in no time at all, and without having to add any chemicals. As a added bonus, it will bring your Calcium level up to where you want it assuming you are using a decent brand of salt.

hth

 

[Dogshowgrl]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yeah I was reading some reviews on NOPOX and people were saying in a week their nitrates were cut in half. So I was like what the hell am I doing wrong. I'll increase my water changes.
I feed a half cube of frozen mysis and a small pinch of new life spectrum once a day. I also have a bunch of snails and 3 peppermint shrimp and 3 emerald crabs. All seem to be doing fine.

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That's true it can drop them quickly but the rock has the be free of nitrates, or not have absorbed much in the riser place.

Your cuc and your fish shouldn't have any issues at the level of nitrates, except long term exposer (years.)

Big water changes, more water changes, check the skimmer, rinse your food!

 

[fishchef]

Are you using any absorption media like GAC, Purigen, or Poly-Bio Marine products? Also do you have any corals? Your CA seems low with all those PWC''s. We battled NO3 in our 125 for years, how are you testing? Keeping it clean is the only answer.

 

[nmotz]

You can also try vinegar dosing. That helped me drop my nitrates big time. Here is a good article: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium.

I followed that method and reduced my nitrates significantly over a few weeks.

 

[mcgyvr]

Nothing good happens quickly in reefin'

 

[Xxero]

I want to expand on my comment a little bit because I know the frustrating feeling that comes with Nitrates being stuck:

The 10-20% routine partial water changes that we (most) perform every 1-2 weeks are one weapon to help "stay on top of" Nitrate removal --- after they are already in a low'ish range. If yours are stuck at 50, you need to make sure that you have enough weapons in place to keep them low before you start to try to bring them down:

* Protein skimmer - You have one (and a good one IMO), and like Sk8r said, make sure that it is performing well.
* Do you have enough Live Rock/sand or other bacteria populating surfaces such as Marinepure Block? If not, make sure that you do. Don't skimp on the rock.
* And I would also suggest that you have at least one more weapon in place, as has been previously suggested: Carbon dosing (Vodka/Vinegar), an Algae Turf Scrubber, NoPox, a de-nitrator, Deep Sand Bed, Macro Algae, etc.

If all of these are in place, then you need to attack your current 50ppm Nitrate situation:
1. Clean everything. Pumps, sump, siphon/tumble 1/3 of your sandbed, blow off your rocks, etc. Manually stir up and remove as much junk as you can.
2. Then, perform as large of a water change as you possibly can. Drain your tank as low as you can, leaving just enough water for your fish to swim in, and then re-fill your tank with new RO/DI saltwater with excellent parameters. Make sure that the temperature and salinity (probably alkalinity as well) match what your livestock is used to.

This might sound dramatic and like a lot of work (and it is): Making up that much water, cleaning, stressing the fish, etc., but if you're looking to knock the Nitrates out right now, then I would follow the layout above. It works and I never saw a single negative effect from doing it. Afterwards, my Nitrates went down to <5ppm (after being stuck at 30 for months), and they have stayed down ever since. But if you don't have enough weapons in place to keep the Nitrates down afterwards, they will bounce right back up every single time. Grrrrr. :mad2:

If you have the time and the patience, then just stay steady on the NoPox path, and perform a couple of 50%+ water changes until the Nitrates eventual decline. As mentioned, fish can tolerate higher Nitrates but you definitely need to increase means of exportation.

HTH

 

[sil40sx]

Like other people mentioned, your parameters looks fine and in range. (75deg is on the low side though)

The angel probably was sick to start with. Don't be too hard on yourself, you're already doing the right things.

On a side note, I didn't noticed if you mentioned you QT your fish or not,. if you dont, you should consider QT'ing

 

[Socalx45]

Thx for all the help. Well I'm in the process of blowing off all my rocks and vacuuming the sand. I removed my skimmer and cleaned that out along with vacuuming the bottom of my sump. I'm going to raise my sump a little bit because I think it's to deep, according to the manual anyways. I took a few pics. Maybe if you guys spot anything else wrong.
Oh I do have 130 lbs of LR. I think that's enough for a 125g or should I add more? Also my friend gave me this reef foundation. Should I start dosing that to raise my CA. I know my Mag is high and I think this would raise it as well.

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[NS Mike D]

Nopox, vinegar, vodka and bio-pellets are all carbon dosing, so stick with the no pox and don't start the others.

Reef Foundation is for tanks with corals that are using up a group of elements - you don't need to raise the KH, Mg etc so stick with just CA dosing for now. Only dose what you need.

Once you add corals, you'll probably only need to do 2 part dosing (CA & KH). Keep an eye on Mg, if it's not keeping up with water changes, then ABC Reef foundation.

Speaking of corals, add some more soft corals, they will help bring down the nitrates (corals consume N&P).

+1 on adding an algae turf scrubber or macro algae to your sump.


It's a marathon, not a sprint. It's going to take time to develop the desired life that will consume the nutrients that come from fish waste.

 

[Socalx45]

Did a 50% water change and all the maintenance I mentioned above, nitrates were cut in half ! I will continue to dose NOPOX.
I was just curious and tested my salt water that was in a 55g barrel. The Nitrates were 5. Should there be any nitrates in my "clean" water?


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[Xxero]

Did a 50% water change and all the maintenance I mentioned above, nitrates were cut in half ! I will continue to dose NOPOX.
I was just curious and tested my salt water that was in a 55g barrel. The Nitrates were 5. Should there be any nitrates in my "clean" water?


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That's so weird...I discovered the same thing whenever I was battling high Nitrates. My new water was reading 5ppm.

The answer is 'No'. Your new water should read 0 Nitrates. I was purchasing my make up water from the LFS, and stopped right after the discovery. I believe they were behind on their filter replacements.

Do you have an RO/DI unit?

 

[Socalx45]

Yes I have a six stage. I make a barrel once a month and get 2 water changes out of it. So the water was sitting for about a month but it's sealed. So I'm in the process of cleaning it all out.

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[Socalx45]

Well that deep clean and water change really helped. My nitrates are hanging out around 5! How long should I continue to dose NOPOX?

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[Sk8r]

Until you get results. HOwever, if you stall out, go for the big water changes again. THis is a long haul problem, quite often. It's a 'system' problem, meaning that your chemistry is out of adjustment and needs to be worked with up and down the board. I just got through this, with water changes, major sump overhaul, and a new skimmer, plus two bottles of NoPoX. There is another shore to this vast problem, but getting there is just a matter of gaining ground on several fronts.