Need advise on nitrate issues

gfo reactor I have bio pellets in it right now lol. I can dump the pellets and you can get some gfo and put in there and hook it up. guaranteed to drop the nitrates then lol
 
Ahhhhh well money is tight til the weekend, Thanks Ill get you know, I might just give in a buy a gfo this weekend. Wonder if phishy sells them. How fast do you think it will drop the nitrates. Are there negatives on this?
 
did your nitrates start to go up after you bought your Ro/Di System? if so you might want to see if your City water started to use chloramines and stopped using Chlorine.if so you will need a chloramines RO/DI system.
 
Ive always had a small amout of nitrates. I tested every bucket of water b4 it hit the tank and they all tested at 0. Im gonna keep fighting. Brs has a product that will help with nitrates and phosphates in a reactor. However im going to do both water changes and a reactor of some sorts. Phishy had a couple on their clearance rack. Ill talk to aaron wednesday to see what he has
 
I would suggest slowly removing your sandbed.
Its my understanding that sandbeds can harbor phosphates and nitrates. Im fighting green hair algae right now and since I'm in the middle of a tank swap I'm going bb.
 
I know they do. But to each his own i feel sandbeds make it look natural. Some people like jason h 's tank look awesome without sand however i just cant do it. In a smaller tank i think i could but not a large one
 
Have you checked for Ammonia in your makeup water and/or the fresh SW you are using for your water changes? When your carbon block gets old, (or if your water source containes Chloramine) the RO membrane can become damaged and you can have some ammonia slip past. You can also develop ammonia if your topoff water becomes stagnant in the holding container from a lack of flow. As we all know in this hobby, ammonia is the first building block toward nitrates.

Also, you said you were gone for a few days. Did you confirm that the person taking care of your tank used RO and not tap water for top off?
 
IMO. No. Do not do this. You are jumping the gun. This is where the patience comes in. You are getting a high number. But your corals are showing no signs of stress right now, correct?

5. 300 Gallons of water changes in 2.5 weeks (roughly)
Click to expand...
I think multiple water changes and listing the tank for sale are both over reactions and a lack of patience. That amount is just obscene. If one large water change made no decernable difference the others were expected to do what.

You do not need to tear down and sell stuff off.

Wrasses dissapper. Do not flake over it. I would not add anymore live stock but there are a few reasons for that. I can expand on that later if you want. That does not matter for this post anyways.

A solution you have not looked at is your rock work. It is setting up against 3 walls it looks like. Bring it to the center of the tank away from the walls and get water blowing all around it. You likely have a dead zone back there.

Also the food. Switching to pellets only is a complete overreaction. IMO go back to frozen. Yes use pellets some too but you should be feeding multiple foods. I primarily use the mix of frozen fresh seafood. That has so many different things it qualifies as multiple foods. I then add Mysis to it.

If the tank was empty(which I do not think you should do) why would you pay for water if you have a RODI. Make your water and wait patiently.



bucksfan1976 said:
Well Ive hit a crossroad and I have absolutely 0 answer to and believe me I have tried everything to get this nitrate road figured out. As some of you know (mods do not earase this is not promoting my sale) I put my tank on a website for sale. This is how far at wits end that I am. Its making it not fun any longer and I feel that the only way to get it all under control is to empty the tank and just start over. Here is what I have done so far

1. Removed sump- washed all debris completely out of it with Rodi
2. Cleaned skimmer
3. Cleaned pump
4. Replaced drain with new (cleaned in rodi)
5. 300 Gallons of water changes in 2.5 weeks (roughly)
6. Bought a new test kits
7. I check nitrates of every bucket I dumped in the tank and they were 0.

This is what has died in my tank that Im aware of in the last month (not due to nitrates I hope)

Red Tail Tameron Wrasse and 3 emerald crabs

Its getting super expensive trying to fight this. 2 buckets of salt, 2 DI canisters and not to mention how much water ive wasted and hours of brain storming trying to get it figured out.

I do not know where to go except for trying to catch the fish , remove all the corals , empty all the water and see if RS can deliver me 150 gallons of water again. Any thing else you can think of?
Click to expand...
 
I also like the idea of chloramines. An Ammonia build up. If there is Ammonia that could be leading to your nitrate issues.
 
i see some people telling you the samething i did or the things that helped them.for me years ago i found myself in your shoe not knowing what to do with my nitrate going up.so i thought what the h@!! i will move my rock around to make more cave's and that what it took.i'm like you i like my sand to much to just pull it out. i have always had my sand bed at 2" or 3" and every week i clean half of it.it is some work to have in your tank.for some people sand it is just a pain and i can understand that.so for them it is best to pull it all out.think of your tank as a old person you need to help up the stair and that can't walk to well.you have to take you time and go one step at a time. macchicks
i agree with what she said.if i was you i would open up the rock work to let more water flow throw it.see if your City water started to use chloramines and stopped using Chlorine. start feeding frozen again just wash it of in rodi water so you don't put thing in your tank you don't want.this is what i would start with. there is not fast fix.i'm just tring to help you out.i know what it feel like to not to really to do.
 
macchicks said:
IMO. No. Do not do this. You are jumping the gun. This is where the patience comes in. You are getting a high number. But your corals are showing no signs of stress right now, correct?


I think multiple water changes and listing the tank for sale are both over reactions and a lack of patience. That amount is just obscene. If one large water change made no decernable difference the others were expected to do what.

You do not need to tear down and sell stuff off.

Wrasses dissapper. Do not flake over it. I would not add anymore live stock but there are a few reasons for that. I can expand on that later if you want. That does not matter for this post anyways.

A solution you have not looked at is your rock work. It is setting up against 3 walls it looks like. Bring it to the center of the tank away from the walls and get water blowing all around it. You likely have a dead zone back there.

Also the food. Switching to pellets only is a complete overreaction. IMO go back to frozen. Yes use pellets some too but you should be feeding multiple foods. I primarily use the mix of frozen fresh seafood. That has so many different things it qualifies as multiple foods. I then add Mysis to it.

If the tank was empty(which I do not think you should do) why would you pay for water if you have a RODI. Make your water and wait patiently.
Click to expand...

+1...added bonus, you can repurpose some of the rock you remove to your sump! I think it was you looking for more rock

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
 
lowscooby76 said:
i see some people telling you the samething i did or the things that helped them.for me years ago i found myself in your shoe not knowing what to do with my nitrate going up.so i thought what the h@!! i will move my rock around to make more cave's and that what it took.i'm like you i like my sand to much to just pull it out. i have always had my sand bed at 2" or 3" and every week i clean half of it.it is some work to have in your tank.for some people sand it is just a pain and i can understand that.so for them it is best to pull it all out.think of your tank as a old person you need to help up the stair and that can't walk to well.you have to take you time and go one step at a time. macchicks
i agree with what she said.if i was you i would open up the rock work to let more water flow throw it.see if your City water started to use chloramines and stopped using Chlorine. start feeding frozen again just wash it of in rodi water so you don't put thing in your tank you don't want.this is what i would start with. there is not fast fix.i'm just tring to help you out.i know what it feel like to not to really to do.
Click to expand...

And i'm like you guys, i really like sand. Not only for the looks but the biodiversity living in it, media for nitrifying bacterial, and my burrowing animals. I know there are some really successful reefers out there with BB or faux sand, but this is a part where we have to agree to disagree. Now another thing may be to examine WHAT KIND of substrate you are using. Finer sand is somewhat easier.with regards to not allowing food/detritus to remain and spoil, where larger particles (i.e. Crushed coral) traps particles more. That is the one of the reasons that proponents of BB say that sandbeds are nitrate traps.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
 
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