Man Vs Nitrate
- Thread starter prashanth
- Start date
Triggerfish
Active member
Okay.Im pulling up an old thread of mine to update.
Brief - High nitrate issues . Coral sand was being used and was determined to be the source of nitrate issue.
Now - I pulled the tank apart and took out all the LR and fishes. I then took out the crushed coral sand bed and replaced it with fine sand. The LR were covered with green hair algae which I had to scrub off. The only thing I did not do is change the water. I pulled and cleaned everything else. Its been about 3 weeks and the Nitrates are still at the same level. Ive done two large water changes ( 50 %) to no avail. I genuinely dont seem to understand whats happening.
On the other hand, I've witnessed growth in all the animals Ive had in my tank. I have 2 clowns and 2 blue damsels along with a red serpent star and a green carpet anemone. Except the star everything else has shown growth including the Carpet anemone. The nitrates have always been high ( in excess of 160ppm) . The number of animals vs the tank size is fairly small. I can easily have more animals but I want to get this sorted before I get any more. I do not feed in excess. I make sure none of the pellets go down as waste . So what in the world is happening??
What more should I do? Im going to continue with the large water changes but this is frustrating !! Im considering building a nitrate reactor but then I dont want to do that as its a temporary relief measure. I want to get to the root of the issue and I cant seem to find that out!!
Oh and yes, Ive had a ball of chaeto in there for about two months now and nothings happened...neither growth of the chaeto ball nor reduction in nitrates!!
Any and all inputs will definitely be appreciated.
Brief - High nitrate issues . Coral sand was being used and was determined to be the source of nitrate issue.
Now - I pulled the tank apart and took out all the LR and fishes. I then took out the crushed coral sand bed and replaced it with fine sand. The LR were covered with green hair algae which I had to scrub off. The only thing I did not do is change the water. I pulled and cleaned everything else. Its been about 3 weeks and the Nitrates are still at the same level. Ive done two large water changes ( 50 %) to no avail. I genuinely dont seem to understand whats happening.
On the other hand, I've witnessed growth in all the animals Ive had in my tank. I have 2 clowns and 2 blue damsels along with a red serpent star and a green carpet anemone. Except the star everything else has shown growth including the Carpet anemone. The nitrates have always been high ( in excess of 160ppm) . The number of animals vs the tank size is fairly small. I can easily have more animals but I want to get this sorted before I get any more. I do not feed in excess. I make sure none of the pellets go down as waste . So what in the world is happening??
What more should I do? Im going to continue with the large water changes but this is frustrating !! Im considering building a nitrate reactor but then I dont want to do that as its a temporary relief measure. I want to get to the root of the issue and I cant seem to find that out!!
Oh and yes, Ive had a ball of chaeto in there for about two months now and nothings happened...neither growth of the chaeto ball nor reduction in nitrates!!
Any and all inputs will definitely be appreciated.
dkeller_nc
New member
The first thing I'd advise is to make sure that you actually do have very high nitrates in the water. I didn't read through everything, but API kits are notorious for yielding spurious high-nitrate readings, particularly if they're used on a tank that has been dosed with Prime or uses water that's been dechlorinated with Prime.
swclown
New member
This^^. The ceramic balls in your sump would be my first guess along with the crushed coral. For a long time bio-balls have been called nitrate factories for a good reason. Years ago I pulled mine completely and that alone solved my nitrate problem almost overnight.
Im going to pull the ceramic balls off my sump tomorrow and see what happens.
In the mean time, I tried testing my "test kit"!! I made some fresh SW and used the test kit on the freshly made water. The test results show 0 nitrates. Does'nt that mean, the test kit is working fine? Or does it require a very mild amount of nitrate for it go bonkers?
In the mean time, I tried testing my "test kit"!! I made some fresh SW and used the test kit on the freshly made water. The test results show 0 nitrates. Does'nt that mean, the test kit is working fine? Or does it require a very mild amount of nitrate for it go bonkers?
swclown
New member
Yes that means exactly what you think it does. The test is functioning properly.
A dechlorinator usually gives you false low readings, not high readings with API's nitrate test kit.
The instructions for the API kit require that you vigorously shake bottle #2 prior to using. If you don't I'm not sure if your readings increase or decrease as you consume the test kit. I had consistent readings between the end of my old test kit and a brand new test kit following API's instructions.
What is the source of your water? If you are using tap water with a dechlorinator, it may give you a false zero reading on your new saltwater mix.
swclown
New member
5 stage RO/DI. I haven't used dechlorinator in 20 years!!! I didn't think anyone did.
I also use a 5 stage RO/DI, but my question was for the OP, who indicated they were measuring 160 ppm nitrates (post #1) that they couldn't reduce, even with a couple of large (50%) water changes (post #23). The question is if the nitrates are real or not, and whether the test kit is accurately measuring such high nitrates.
I would suggest mixing a cup of new SW and a cup of tank water and test this. It should be 1/2 the concentration (80 ppm). If it is, I think it confirms the high nitrates, and that issue needs to be dealt with. If not then there is a problem with the test's precision.
Now this is a brilliant idea. Im going to try this out in a weeks time when I do my next water change and see what happens. I do not have a kitchen weight measure to measure very small quantity of salt so Im going to have to wait it out till the next change.
As for the water, I dont make my own RO/DI water. I buy 20 liter cans of RO water meant for human consumption. Its costs 50 cents per can . I believe its RO but Im not sure if its DI'ed! Im am thinking of getting my own 5 stage RO/DI kit and Il probably pick one up the next time Im in Europe or the USA. I did test the water with my test kit without mixing salt and I got zero nitrates.
Finally, I pulled out all the ceramic balls from the sump last night and then did my third 50% WC in three weeks now. I tested the water this morning and its the same story ...160ppm + !!! :headwallblue:
Im now left to wonder if the live rock is actually leaching nitrates into the water. I have done my online research and I believe Nitrate is not something that LR can leach into the water but if you read my first post, you will get an idea of what my LR were subjected to. It is the only item in the tank that has not been changed. This then HAS to be the source of nitrates because my sand bed was completely changed only three weeks ago. The water should pretty much be new because Ive done three 50% water changes and there are no ceramic/bio balls in the sump.
:strange:
Has any one else had issues or resolved issues by changing their LR?
I agree that this seems to be highly unusual. Any chance somehow plant fertilizer got into the tank? That's the only thing I can think of that's loaded with nitrates high enough for these readings.
Is the skimmer producing skimmate? Did it produce more when you carbon dosed? From what I understand, carbon dosing is good for the 'last mile', e.g. getting nitrates down from 20 or less to even lower. If you are starting at 160 ppm, I don't think the test kit has enough resolution to tell it has gone down 10 ppm to 150 ppm.
In terms of chaeto (or other macroalgae), it only reduces nitrates through growth. If its not growing, it wont reduce nitrates. Obviously, this takes time (like it seems for everything in this hobby except for livestock mortality!).
Is all your LR pretty much the same rock type? If so, when you make your new salt water next week, consider taking a piece of LR out and setting it aside in a bucket soaking in some of your newly made salt water. Let it sit for at least a day at room temperature and then test the water for nitrates. If leaching rock is the problem, then you will see the high levels of nitrate in this bucket test. If you don't have high nitrates, you have at least eliminated the rock as the nitrate source.
I do have a ball of chaeto that seems like it is actually dying!!:eek2:
I will try out the experiment with a piece of rock. Thats definitely worth trying.
And finally, I just noticed a layer of dark purple, almost black, thick and slimy layer growing on the live rock. It looks I have a cyano outbreak now!! why am I not surprised!!
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Sorry about not keeping this thread active! In a nutshell, NO, nothing I did to the tank has dropped the nitrate reading yet! I'm still having issues with cyano !!
I have changed the substrate to fine sand! That has not helped either! I finally gave up and picked up some JBL Phos Ex to take care of any excess phosphate! When I checked the water for phosphates before using the product, guess what reading I got - almost zero!!!! Now what the heck is causing all the algal bloom is beyond me!!
I do notice one thing! Every time I switch on my light, I can see hundreds of tiny air bubbles rising from the sand and also from the live rocks! I'm guessing that it's the algal photosynthesis that's causing the bubbles! Il try and get a video up soon! Let me know what you think it is!
Finally, I've given up and I'm getting amquel plus! I'm gonna have to see if that helps!!
Cheers,
Prashanth Tharani
I have changed the substrate to fine sand! That has not helped either! I finally gave up and picked up some JBL Phos Ex to take care of any excess phosphate! When I checked the water for phosphates before using the product, guess what reading I got - almost zero!!!! Now what the heck is causing all the algal bloom is beyond me!!
I do notice one thing! Every time I switch on my light, I can see hundreds of tiny air bubbles rising from the sand and also from the live rocks! I'm guessing that it's the algal photosynthesis that's causing the bubbles! Il try and get a video up soon! Let me know what you think it is!
Finally, I've given up and I'm getting amquel plus! I'm gonna have to see if that helps!!
Cheers,
Prashanth Tharani
https://vimeo.com/125723501
Here's the video! Do take a look at it and you will find tiny air bubbles going up! Anything you see going up looking like bubble ARE the air bubbles that I'm talking about!
This happens ONLY when the lights are on and hence my assumption that it is caused by the photosynthesising of something !!
Here's the video! Do take a look at it and you will find tiny air bubbles going up! Anything you see going up looking like bubble ARE the air bubbles that I'm talking about!
This happens ONLY when the lights are on and hence my assumption that it is caused by the photosynthesising of something !!
