never had high nitrates,until now!

[becki boggs]

i changed some power heads around today ,would that make the nitrates go high ? maybe i stired the water too much .Please tell thats why.My reef tank is about 1 1/2 years old ,and never had them before

 

[alexk3954]

Are you running a deep sand bed? Maybe nitrates are leaking out too quickly. Did the sand get stirred up at all? Is your skimmer working properly? Are you running any sort of mechanical filtration that you have forgotten to clean?

 

[becki boggs]

My sand bed is about 3-4 inches thick ,yes it got some stirred, my skimmer is working great,and i have cleaned

 

[becki boggs]

i put some nitrate sponge in tonight ,do you think it will help?

 

[alexk3954]

I am not sure on the depth needed for a deep sand bed, but it sounds like too much of the nitrate in the sand could have been realeased in a short period of time. You may want to get some second opinions on the nitrate source as I am no expert. I have never used a nitrate sponge, so I am not sure how effective it will be. Over the next few days I would do a few smaller water changes.