I got high Nitrates!? New Tank?

[bhayduk]

I set up my tank 2 weeks ago and in the past week added a bit of a CUC because my ammonia levels and nitrate levels have been 0 for the past week. Tonight when I checked the tank my nitrates were 20ppm.

It is possible that one of my snails died and I had added an algae pellet and the hermits only ate half and there was some left over for the day. Would these be causing my high nitrates?
Should I do a water change? My tank is a 38G IM Nuvo.

 

[crock921]

it took me a few weeks to get high nitrates, and mine ended up being off the chart. I did about 3 water changes to lower them.
a 50 %, then a few days later a 75%. I just did a 20% today.

I would start with water changes if you are sure your cycle is over, which it may not be.

 

[Dr. Reef]

one or two snails dying will not cause high nitrates, Nitrates are the final part of the cycle. now that your tank has cycled which means it can process ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates thus you will always have nitrates now on. all food, all waste will break through that cycle and end up as nitrates.
Ways to reduce nitrates are water changes, chaeto in sump, using chemicals like no3-po4-x or using mechanical filteration like sulfur denitrators, biopellets etc.

 

[bhayduk]

one or two snails dying will not cause high nitrates, Nitrates are the final part of the cycle. now that your tank has cycled which means it can process ammonia to nitrites and nitrites to nitrates thus you will always have nitrates now on. all food, all waste will break through that cycle and end up as nitrates.
Ways to reduce nitrates are water changes, chaeto in sump, using chemicals like no3-po4-x or using mechanical filteration like sulfur denitrators, biopellets etc.

Thank you, well I just did a water change, so I will check it again tomorrow. So now I just have to wait until the nitrates go back down to zero for a period of time before adding fish?

 

[dkeller_nc]

Your nitrate won't go back to zero. Make sure that you understand the difference between nitrate and nitrite. Nitrite is produced mid-way through a cycle after the ammonia starts to come down; while nitrate is the end-product of the whole cycle.

It will gradually rise and build-up continuously unless removed by water changes, a denitrification reactor, or carbon dosing. These last two are advanced techniques not recommended for folks new to the hobby.

If you started your tank with actual live rock instead of dry rock and a bottle of bacteria, then there's a possibility that your tank is nearly cycled. However, 2 weeks is an awfully short period of time; I would wait at least 2 additional weeks before introducing fish. In the meantime, read up on quarantine tanks and procedures; this isn't optional in today's highly consolidated marine fish distribution supply chain.

 

[Dr. Reef]

i agree with dkeller_nc
nitrates are the final product of the cycle and will never goto 0 unless ur using mechanical or chemical ways to rid them, like mentioned biopellets, sulfur denitrator are some examples of that filtration. other wise they will continue to rise and build up.
water changes are ur best option at this time.

 

[fernalfer]

i agree with dkeller_nc
nitrates are the final product of the cycle and will never goto 0 unless ur using mechanical or chemical ways to rid them, like mentioned biopellets, sulfur denitrator are some examples of that filtration. other wise they will continue to rise and build up.
water changes are ur best option at this time.

Problem with water changes and big tanks is the cost of salt and time. What makes it worse is doing them and having little change in nitrates levels. Frustrating for me at this point with my 120 gallon.