my nitrates are really high

[steelhead77]

If it's a FOWLR system nitrates of 40 are not bad. I would not even worry about it at this point. As already stated, you just finished the cycle (maybe). Let it go for another week or two and see how it looks. In any case 40 is not a bad number for your tank. If you are really worried about it, you can do a 50% water change and bring them to 20 immediately with no ill effects to anything whatsoever. Wait three days and do another 50% and your down to 10, again with no ill effects to anything.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Wait until you get your RO/DI unit and then do a 50% water change making sure to match the salinity, PH and temp of the tank water. Since you have no sensitive inverts this should bring your nitrates down to 20ppm without harming anything.
Two weeks later do another 50% water change, this should bring your nitrates down to 10ppm and so on.
Providing you are not overstocked and/or overfeeding.

Where are you running your salinity by the way?

 

[mitch303]

i have done 2 water changes since i got my rodi unit and my reading now is between 10-20 for the first water change just did another one yesterday and i have not checked the nitrates after that water change yet so im hoping its close to 5 or 0

 

[mitch303]

ok so i have done 3 water changes this week, my nitrates read between 5-10. just got a new test kit also to see if my last one was faulty and it reads the same as my other one. my nitrates were around 40 pppm before these last 3 water changes. the last one i did i tested before i did water change and it read around 10 and now it is about the same after doing the 10 gallon water change last night. so my question is will one more water change bring them around 0. should i do like a 20 gallon water change?

Also i was wondering if i should put new carbon filters on my hob filters could there be stuff in the filters keeping my nitrates higher also i plan on getting my cuc here soon should i wait till my nitrates are zero or is 5-10 okay to add them in and ill do another water change in the next day or so. Also should i add some kind of algae in my display tank to help reduce nitrates? if so what kind should i get? I would like to get something that wont take over my entire tank.

 

[mitch303]

my salinity is between 1.024-1.025

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Any sort of media in an HOB filter should be rinsed weekly in RO/DI water to keep it from becoming biological and contributing to your nitrate problem.
I have seen tanks with Caulerpa Prolifera in them and it looked quite nice.
It cannot "take over", you just pull it out as needed. (always throw what is pulled in the garbage, never flush any algae)

 

[mitch303]

alright thanks for the info and is the Caulerpa Prolifera the only kind of macro algae you would recommend putting in the display tank? and will this help lower nitrates?

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

No there are many types of macro algae you can put in your tank but the CP is the one I am most familiar with.
Any plant that grows in salt walter removes nitrates and phosphates from the water column as it grows.
I would stay away from Caulerpa Mexicana, it can "take over".
I wouldn't recommend using chaetomorpha in a DT either, you can wind up with little bits of it everywhere. You do not want to keep tangs in a tank with live plants as they will eat them and make a mess.
Hope this helps.

http://live-plants.com/

 

[mitch303]

so if i do a 15 gallon water change tonight should i be safe to order the first part of my cuc today and then they will be here tomorrow. will i be ok doing that?

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

You should be, but with a new tank there are just too many variables for me or anyone to garauntee everything will go smoothly.
What type of CUC are you planning?

 

[wilky9393]

dont do 50% water changes,keep up on regular maintenance and they with work them selfs out. you shock your system if you replenish 50% fresh mixed water. thats more damaging then your nitrates readings.fowlr 40 ppm is on the high side but workable. gradually step it down with water changes.

 

[freetareef]

it sounds like you are still in the tail end of your cycle, do you have a sump? cheato? skimmer? here fill this out and post pics of your complete setup so we can help you!!!


Help, please, with my problem:[describe]

Size of tank: [in gallons]
Amount of live rock: [in lbs]
Age of tank [days? Weeks? Years?]
Sump?
Skimmer:
nitrate:
ammonia:
temperature:
Water source {ro, ro/di, tap}
Salinity: [eg, 1.024]
Alkalinity: [eg, 8.3]
Lights [mh/T5/LED, other]
Calcium: [eg, 420]
Magnesium {eg, 1500]
Dosing?[list other additives used, if any]
Specimen dipped [in what] or quarantined or previously treated?

Thank you!

 

[freetareef]

alright thanks for the info and is the caulerpa prolifera the only kind of macro algae you would recommend putting in the display tank? And will this help lower nitrates?

do not put this in your display tank!! It will take over!!! Sump only!!!

 

[kissman]

I brought my nitrates down from 160ppm to 5ppm by doing 50% water changes every 3 days and as long as I made sure my saltwater make-up was the same temp and salinty I lost nothing! Now my nitrates stay bewtween 2ppm and 5ppm.

 

[125G Reefer]

Man, your running around chasing your tail. Should do a 12% water change per week or 25% every 2 weeks. Start Vodka Dosing, this will keep your trates in control without spending a fortune on gear you don't need. Also, you can DIY Denitrator or Sulfer Denitrator, as these will remain on your system and keep them in check also. No algea in the DT to keep trates low, not necessary. You could do a last 20g water change, should put you at 0, then start your Dosing regiment. You could also make your sand bed much deeper, this will also help in your endevors. Bunch of things you can do.

 

[125G Reefer]

I brought my nitrates down from 160ppm to 5ppm by doing 50% water changes every 3 days and as long as I made sure my saltwater make-up was the same temp and salinty I lost nothing! Now my nitrates stay bewtween 2ppm and 5ppm.

Right on. But what for argument sakes say they don't come down? I've seen 75% water changes done 2 days in a row, not budge them.:eek2:

 

[tmz]

A few thoughts:

40ppm NO3 will not harm fish.

Removing the biowheel after cycling took out some of the biofilter( ammonia and nitrite reducing bacteria) and may have contributed to a rise in ammonia and nitrite.

Nitrate test kits can often be inaccurate. Some will show a little nitrite as a lot of nitrate.

Having both nitrite and nitrate and some ammonia too at the same time is common particularly when cycling.


Nitrate is an end product of nitrification, the breakdown of foods and waste products with organically bound nitrogen to ammonia>nitirte> nitrate. Denitrification follows later in hypoxic areas where bacteria take the oxygen from the nitrate leaving N which bonds to N2 nitrgen gas and bubbles out.

Water changes will remove nitrate but waiting it out can be better as anaerobic bacterial activity will ensue and serve to remove it consistently provided you are not adding more food and waste than the bacteria can manage .

Too soon for denitrifiers or organic carbon dosing ,imo. Denitrifiers can be diy'd inexpensively if you choose t make one. When dosing organic carbon it's a good strategy to reduce nitrates first and then use the vodka vinegar,etc. to maintain them.

I would not put macralgae in the display, it's too invasive . Caulerpa can sporulatge and tox a tank. Chaetomrpha will make a stringy mess in there.

Purigen and granulated organic carbon(gac) will help some. They remove some organics before they degrade to nitrate, nitrite, etc. I use both. If I had t chose one it would be gac.

 

[steelhead77]

dont do 50% water changes,keep up on regular maintenance and they with work them selfs out. you shock your system if you replenish 50% fresh mixed water. thats more damaging then your nitrates readings.fowlr 40 ppm is on the high side but workable. gradually step it down with water changes.

Sorry, this is flat out wrong information. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing a 50% water change and in fact, you can do several of them within a few days of each other. This is really the only way to quickly reduce nitrates. Last summer I did four 50% changes in my 180 in four weeks and my corals were never happier. The solution to pollution and all that......

And in FOWLR, nitrates of 40 are not high. In fact quite normal.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

do not put this in your display tank!! It will take over!!! Sump only!!!

The only way CP can take over is if your name is Rip Van Winkle and you take a 10 year nap. It is easily removed by hand.

 

[mitch303]

thanks for all the info my nitrates are down between 5-10ppm and i just did 15 gallon waterchange yesterday so havent tested since i did that change. will this be a safe level for my first part of my cuc i ordered. also will getting a skimmer help reduce nitrates and if i do get a hob skimmer can i replace it with one of my hob filters? and anyone know of a skimmer i can get online for my 55 gallon tank that is decent price?