nitrate control

CMcNeil

CMcNeil

New member
ok guys i have a problem with high nitrates.i did a water change last night but it doesnt seem to have dropped the nitrates much at all.i am doing a BB setup,i change my filter sock every other day and have a nice sized skimmer.what if any steps can i do to lower my nitrates?also i do have a nice sized ball of cheato in my sump.i dont even want to say what the test kit said my nitrates are at,its almost embarrassing :confused:
 
my 2 suggestions...1) change the filter socks daily and 2) If u still have that scrap acrylic cylinder, make yourself a sulfur denitrifier. John is carrying the sulfur now. It will drop them to nil within a month and keep them there, plus it tends to keep the Ca up at the same time.
 
actually there was a third thing i thought of ... if u didnt want to do the sulfur route...you may want to turn a 5gal bucket into a DSB and plumb it...seems to be alot of folks out there with setup.
 
i still have pipe but its 8" diameter,that may be a little large for the denitrifier.i may be wrong but i find it hard to believe the sock is making my nitrates high after only 48 hours but i suppose it is possible.i do kind of feed on the heavy side which may be part of the problem so im going to cut back on that.
 
The sulfur denitrifier i am using is the one made by midwest aquatics. Mine i believe is 6", but they do make a larger one.
 
i may have to look into one of those ben.any other ideas on what may be causing it and how to remedy it?
 
hmmmmm. do you really think so?i had a cycle about 2 weeks into the initial setup then nitrates dropped to almost nothing.i did a 15g water change last night and plan another 15g tonight,hopefully this lowers the numbers down.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11043114#post11043114 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by benf
from what he listed in first post how did u know come up with cooked rock?
Click to expand...

ESP :D

Chris, I will see you soon and we can talk about it. I am leaving work now.
 
Chris,
It sounds totally logical. To cycle a tank with no live rock in it can take MONTHS. Nitrate will be the last of the bacteria to populate the densest darkest parts of your rock. The value of live rock is the anaerobic bacteria deep in the rock, that bacteria will be the very last to develop, and the slowest to produce once they start.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11043114#post11043114 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by benf
from what he listed in first post how did u know come up with cooked rock?
Click to expand...

That is the fun of RC...insider info.
 
Chris,
How is your flow? Do you have enough that detritus won't settle anywhere in the tank? You have starboard, so are you sure none is collecting underneath? With bb, you have to have as much flow as possible so detritus has no collection areas, even underneath the rockwork. I seriously doubt it is the filter sock, I change every two days, and run >2ppm on Salifert. Last pic I saw, you have quite a bit of live rock, which can inhibit the indirect flow from stirring up detritus that has settled. This would be why I have removed so much live rock, and gone with a limited amount. Just a thought, sounds to me like detritus has settled somewhere in the tank and is the cause. If all else fails, plumb a rdsb or rdsb fuge, they will surely drop.... Perry
 
I had nitrates creep up on my old tank that was setup for years. I found water changes didn't help much in bringing them down due to dillution and what little I lowered raised again days later.

I used a product called AZ-NO3 to bring then down to zero in about 4 days then was able make some changes to keep it stable again (added cheto you gave me to the system & lightly disrupted sand and blew out beneath the rocks per John's rec.) Worked for me. I have about 1/2 bottle left if you want to try that for reducing it back down in a timely manner but you'll still need to address the 'cause'. The corals didn't seem to be bothered by the product and was labeled as "reef safe" I was concerned about bring then down too fast but a few people I asked said it was more of a concern with the ongoing elevated nitrates on the corals.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11043395#post11043395 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarDaddy
Chris,
It sounds totally logical. To cycle a tank with no live rock in it can take MONTHS. Nitrate will be the last of the bacteria to populate the densest darkest parts of your rock. The value of live rock is the anaerobic bacteria deep in the rock, that bacteria will be the very last to develop, and the slowest to produce once they start.
Click to expand...

brian,i had the rock in for the cycle after i cooked it.about 2 weeks after adding all the rock i saw i normal spike in nitrates that fell to almost nothing about a week later.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11043705#post11043705 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by plyle02
Chris,
How is your flow? Do you have enough that detritus won't settle anywhere in the tank? You have starboard, so are you sure none is collecting underneath? With bb, you have to have as much flow as possible so detritus has no collection areas, even underneath the rockwork. I seriously doubt it is the filter sock, I change every two days, and run >2ppm on Salifert. Last pic I saw, you have quite a bit of live rock, which can inhibit the indirect flow from stirring up detritus that has settled. This would be why I have removed so much live rock, and gone with a limited amount. Just a thought, sounds to me like detritus has settled somewhere in the tank and is the cause. If all else fails, plumb a rdsb or rdsb fuge, they will surely drop.... Perry
Click to expand...

perry the flow is good i think,but maybe im wrong.i have 2 darts with a total of 10 outlets plus the wavebox.i dont believe anything is getting under the starboard but there may be some areas that collect detrius,i need to go really look the tank over .i have only about 100-115lbs of rock(if that)so it really isnt that packed and the whole back wall has no rock on it(i have one big island right now)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11044029#post11044029 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SoundsFishy2me2
I had nitrates creep up on my old tank that was setup for years. I found water changes didn't help much in bringing them down due to dillution and what little I lowered raised again days later.

I used a product called AZ-NO3 to bring then down to zero in about 4 days then was able make some changes to keep it stable again (added cheto you gave me to the system & lightly disrupted sand and blew out beneath the rocks per John's rec.) Worked for me. I have about 1/2 bottle left if you want to try that for reducing it back down in a timely manner but you'll still need to address the 'cause'. The corals didn't seem to be bothered by the product and was labeled as "reef safe" I was concerned about bring then down too fast but a few people I asked said it was more of a concern with the ongoing elevated nitrates on the corals.
Click to expand...

darin ill do a little research on the product you stated above.
 
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