nitrate

[asherjj]

how do I keep my nitrates low. my nitrate level is about 80 but everything in my tank is doing well.I have a 75 gal RR tank and I do a water change of 20-25 gal. a week just to keep them in check.I know that a lot of people will think I feed to much but I only feed every two to three days and it is a small amount of frozen mysis or brine. So my question is how to lower nitrate and keep it there.

 

[Reefing102]

what kind of filtration do you have? I'm presuming you have sump since the tank is RR.

Do you have any bioballs in the sump? These will lead to nitrates.

You want to clean any sponges you have as they might be clogged with detritus.

Also WELCOME TO RC

 

[xenon]

Nitrates should be kept under control if you have enough sand, live rock and your skimmer is sized properly for your system and is working effecently.

If all that fails you are over feeding and or your bioload is too high. Try adding a 60lb 5g rdsb in your sump.

 

[briangg57]

Do you use RO-DI water. Even tap water can contain nitrates

 

[SEAN888]

get a denitrator

 

[IslandCrow]

It doesn't sound like you're feeding too much, so it's most likely an issue with exporting nutrients. A good protein skimmer is the best way to do this. Shane asks some good questions. Before you go adding a DSB and denitrifier, let's get to the root of the problem. Although both of these things help keep nitrates down, neither are necessary in a well run system.