Nitrate ?

[tsutherland]

I have a 55gal tank with
1 coral beauty
1 pink orchid dottyback
a few hermits
2 flame scallops
2 giant cup mushrooms
1 hairy mushroom
about 30# of live rock

I am using a protein skimmer and I am awaiting my coralife super skimmer 220, I am also using a mechanical filter that puts out around 300gph and I am having poblems getting my nitrates where they need to be. I don't have a test kit for ammonia right now but everything else is reading where it should be phos 0ppm, nitrites 0ppm, calc 430ppm, salinity 1.025, except for the nitrates which are at 10ppm according to my test kit. It doesn't seem to be effecting any of the fish or corals but I have no idea how to get it to 0ppm. I am doing a 25% water change every 4 weeks and 4gal every weekend. I am using RO water that is reading 10TDS on a purity tester. Nothing has died in my tank so I don't really understand the nitrate levels not going down. I just started using Kent Marine nitrate remover that you put in mesh bags. That has been going for about 2 weeks and I am seeing no improvement to date, I have been dealing with the problem as a whole for about 2 months now. Anything that I may have looked over or anything you all know that I don't would be great, not that I know much to start because I am still learning.

Thanks for the help!

 

[bertoni]

The mechanical filters can sometimes produce nitrate if not cleaned very frequently. The tank is also a bit light on live rock, but your fish load is very small, so I don't think that's the problem.

The nitrate reducer should work, but it might require a lot of media.

How much flow does the tank have?

Your new skimmer might help. Another idea to consider would be growing and harvesting a macroalga. That has worked for some people.

I don't think any of the animals listed will be harmed by 10ppm nitrate.

 

[tsutherland]

I clean the filter every satuday, I am running 2 CAP-800 powerheads along with the return from the pump and all have the rotating wave deflectors on them. Can I grown it in the main tank?

 

[szwab]

what is yourfeeding schedule like what and how much ? the 4 gallon water changes aren't doing much. IMO it would be more effective to do a larger change, maybe try 20 gallons every 2 weeks? or a 40-50 % change every 3 weeks and see if that makes a difference.

 

[bertoni]

The problem with water changes for nitrate control is that the nitrate level usually bounces back up quickly if the filtration or food input isn't fixed. If some extra food got dumped into the tank by accident, the water changes would be worth considering.

I grow Chaetomorpha in some of my display tanks. I like the way it looks, and it doesn't attach to rock, so it's easy to remove and keep under control. You could probably get some and try it for $15 or so. It might help.

Depending on what the 10 TDS in the RO water is, you might have a problem there. Most test kits for nitrate and phosphate will work in fresh water. You could check the labels on yours.

 

[AllenFord_SC]

I agree with Bertoni 99% except I grow the chaeto in a fuge.

 

[Teremei]

Here is the many things that reduce nitrate (and IMO every tank should have)

sand bed of atleast 3"
more live rock. Atleast 1# per gallon
Lots of Macro algea like calerpa, chaeto, and gracilaria
Protein skimmer (over skimming is good)
water changes

Don't to TOO much of 1. Just do a little of all of those. I have what is considered a "full" bioload. I feed regularly and even if I don't change my water for 2 weeks, my nitrates still test at zero. That's because I do all of those things above.

 

[AHBrit]

the nitrate reducers only work if fed at a rate of one drip per second, and they take weeks to get the bacteria working in them.
it's just what i read.
Phoban reactor would be the easiest way for that method....also the biggest PITA to setup. You would have to feed it from the return pump.