Nitrates = 250+

[FREAKABHISHEK]

Hi


Today i tested my water and i got shocking results
my aquarium i a year old now
Its a FOWLR setup
the livestock are
its a 120 gal

1 Yellow Tang
1 Brown Tang
1 Maroon Clown
1 Butterfly
1 Scooter Blenny
1 Clarkii Clownfish

The fishes are looking great no sign of stress
and the are eating normally

The question is that is it possible that the fisses survive with this much of Nitrates in the water
I use Red Sea Test Kit



Help me guys

 

[t-bone2]

wow i thought mine was bad at 160+ my fish seem fine too

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

what all fishes do u have

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

What is your filtration?

I am suprised the maroon and clarki have not killed each other!

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

and by the way my test kit shows results only upto 250 so it may be much higher

 

[t-bone2]

cowfish and blue throut trigger

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

they are living with each other from last six months

and for filteration i use wet dry filter with no bio balls
and a protien skimmer and DSB

 

[awestruck]

Here are some things to consider:

1. When you feed the fish, does a lot of the food just blow away and decompose?

2. Are you running a protein skimmer and can it acommodate the size of your tank?

3. Do you have a sand bed, and how much rock do you have?

4. Do you have refugium?

5. Are you using any type of sponges in your tank and not rinsing them on a regular basis?

6. How often are you doing water changes?

In a very over simplified explanation, what goes in must be broken down or removed. If the inport is more than the export you will have high nitrates.

 

[Sk8r]

Start a program to lower that reading as close to zero as possible. Don't make any rapid change in a tank that has problems on the horizon, but that is still functioning ok---this tank, if that reading is correct, is a bit of a ticking timebomb, not to the good of your fish.

The program: 20% water change now.
10% a week after that.

Install a much better protein skimmer as soon as you can afford it.

Start cleaning filters when you do water changes: squishing them out into the buckets of old water is a good way to wash them.

Change the carbon part of your filter when you wash-out.

Watch your feedings, and see if you can install some 'protected' areas of rockwork where you can have such things as brittle stars [the black/brown/white sort, not the green] and some bristleworms to help clean this out. This would be some blowthrough areas too small for your fish to get into and clean out the cleaners.

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

No i only feed the fish once a day that too the amount that they can consume in 2 - 3 munites

i have deep sand bed arount 4 inch

rocks are around 50 lb live and 50 dead

i change the sponge every 30 days

i change about 50 % water every 30 days


hope this should help you guys

no i dont have refugium

 

[rbursek]

My LFS nitrates run off the scale on there FO tanks, and I have a friend who has a 40 inch ell and 2 big Wrasses in a 36 bow front and it is off the nitrate scale and all are happy!!! Low nitrates are for Corals, not fish.
Bob

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

and can i keep anemone

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

No way would I put an anemone in there!

 

[Sk8r]

Clean those sponges weekly. That will immediately take it down a bit. So will weekly water changes. Change carbon at least every 7 days.

 

[MalHavoc]

Obvious question. Are you reading your test kit right? Have you tried a different test kit? Have you brought a water sample into your LFS to confirm?

And no, keep the anemone as far away from your tank as possible. Your butterfly fish will probably eat it anyway.

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

i have tested it at lfs
and getting same results

and now no anemune
thanks

 

[fishyvet]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10631273#post10631273 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rbursek
My LFS nitrates run off the scale on there FO tanks, and I have a friend who has a 40 inch ell and 2 big Wrasses in a 36 bow front and it is off the nitrate scale and all are happy!!! Low nitrates are for Corals, not fish.
Bob

Corals are more sensitive to nitrates but they can harm fish as well. Some effects of nitrate poisoning include:
- Poor growth
- Loss of appetite
- Lethargy
- Chronic stress
- Increase in gill rate and gasping
- Delayed wound healing

I would guess that your nitrates have been like this for quite some time and your fish are somewhat coping with the poor water quality. Lowering them too quickly could shock your fish. Just remember, poor water quality is the number one cause of disease and death in aquarium fish. Sk8r gave some great maintenance tips to bring the levels down safely. I also think that you are overfeeding. For instance, my fish eat their alloted daily meal in about 30 sec.

I would have your LFS double check your results to make sure your test kit isn't giving you false results. How are your nitrite and ammonia?

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

havnt checked it will check it it and post the results

 

[Mavrk]

One of the worst things about high nitrates is dealing with algae. Do you have a lot?

Fish are much more likely to remain healthy with nitrates no higher than 40 ppm. Aiming for 0 is always good, but try to at least keep it under 20 if you can.

If you want an anemone, then you need to get the nitrates to 0.

Try switching to 10-20% weekly water changes and see if that helps.

 

[FREAKABHISHEK]

i have got the results

my Nitrite are .2
and Ammonia are 0

and Mavrk i have some brown algee