Nitrates and how I can stop them..
- Thread starter BrandonFlorida
- Start date
BrandonFlorida
New member
I have been running kalkwasser for about 2 months now, and the reactor has been in for some time now. The NPX bioplasics was just put in tonight, just want to try another product. I didn't mean bioballs. sorry.
The sand sifting star fish was added a few months ago. I was having problems prior to his arrival.
My cheato is receiving light opposite my reef tank, with it running about 12 hours a day. I feed every other day now. I run the t5 ho lights for 12 hours a day. I have some flourscent lights on the fuge right now, but plan on running a 55 gallon planted tank with Power compact lights.
I did a test with the new kit and it has spiked once again. It tested around 40 after the change then back to 80-160 color.
The sand sifting star fish was added a few months ago. I was having problems prior to his arrival.
My cheato is receiving light opposite my reef tank, with it running about 12 hours a day. I feed every other day now. I run the t5 ho lights for 12 hours a day. I have some flourscent lights on the fuge right now, but plan on running a 55 gallon planted tank with Power compact lights.
I did a test with the new kit and it has spiked once again. It tested around 40 after the change then back to 80-160 color.
BrandonFlorida
New member
I will post pictures tonight when I get home. Maybe you can pinpoint what im doing. I will take pics of the fuge, sump, tank and powerheads. Thanks again for all your time and help.
krzyphsygy
Active member
Sound to me like the rock you added could be a problem because you said it was not live? Was it dry rock? If it was dry, what was the procedure you used to place it in the tank?
The live sand you added should not have posed a problem at all, I have done this numerous times.
The sandsifting star fish is fine also.
Cut back the ceato in half as said before maybe even more.
Get a new test kit if you havent already, which one are you using? Get a salifert and a second opinion on the test results.
20 gallon water changes every week is excessive, what are you mixing the water in? You must clean this regulary what ever it is.
Test your water source after mixing and before it is placed in the tank.
Get a strong clean up crew also, 25 hermits, 15 nasarious snails, Brittle star fish, 20 Bumble Bee snails. This clean up crew will be needed to help with the remains of the starfish that the harlequin shrimp are eating. Are you feeding them starfish? If so, that produces alot of waste.
Set your skimmer to run wet also.
This is what I would do, I have zero nitrates in my tank and have had this on most of my tanks. HTH
The live sand you added should not have posed a problem at all, I have done this numerous times.
The sandsifting star fish is fine also.
Cut back the ceato in half as said before maybe even more.
Get a new test kit if you havent already, which one are you using? Get a salifert and a second opinion on the test results.
20 gallon water changes every week is excessive, what are you mixing the water in? You must clean this regulary what ever it is.
Test your water source after mixing and before it is placed in the tank.
Get a strong clean up crew also, 25 hermits, 15 nasarious snails, Brittle star fish, 20 Bumble Bee snails. This clean up crew will be needed to help with the remains of the starfish that the harlequin shrimp are eating. Are you feeding them starfish? If so, that produces alot of waste.
Set your skimmer to run wet also.
This is what I would do, I have zero nitrates in my tank and have had this on most of my tanks. HTH
BrandonFlorida
New member
BrandonFlorida
New member
Here are some more. 5 was the limit.
The last photo is where my chainlink eel will be living, will be a nice predator tank. Need to add more live rock and it will be ready soon.
See any issues in the reef tank? I tried to get the best possible pics but my htc phone isnt the greatest. Thanks again.
The last photo is where my chainlink eel will be living, will be a nice predator tank. Need to add more live rock and it will be ready soon.
See any issues in the reef tank? I tried to get the best possible pics but my htc phone isnt the greatest. Thanks again.
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BrandonFlorida
New member
When I added rock the the tank, just just rinsed it off in a bucket of old water. This was added about six months ago as well. I was one huge rock. Could it still be leaching out if indeed it was the problem?
Cheato was hacked away pretty good as the photo shows. I had about 5 times more before.
I just purchased another test kit but it was another API kit, and tested the same as the old kit. I will find a saferts and see what there results are.
Ive been doing these water changes since my nitrates are so high. Should I stop them? I mix it in a 55 gallon barrel that is rinsed out and cleaned. It a clean barrel and I test 0 Nitrates after salt is mixed. Test out just a little low on ph but easily adjustable.
I have a pretty good sized CUC. Lots of snails and starfish with 15-20 hermits.
I dont have harlequin shrimp, I have a Harlequin Starfish, actually two. I feed them some fish about once every two weeks or so. Just bought a cleaner shrimp today as well.
The Skimmate is running very wet now, I had it set to dry. We will see how it goes but as you can see in the photo, there is some wet nasties.
Maybe it comes down to the rock.
krzyphsygy
Active member
The rock very well could be a problem until you cycle through the drt and whatever else was on that rock. I pressure cleaned all my dry rock , dried it with a towel, then let it dry in the sun for a few hours. Not that you needed to do all that, but pressure cleaning dry rock removes the dirt, dust, and loose pieces of grime. Then I soaked it in 3 different buckets of R/O.
Def get a salifert kit, API is ok, but IMO, you get what you pay for. They are cheap. Go to one of our sponsors and get the kit you are looking for.
I dont think you should stop the water changes.... but use a turkey bastor and blow off the rocks during the water change and maybe increase flow via powerheads or atleast create a new flow pattern to suspend hidden detritus. I do this every couple months to keep things clean.
It might be leaching from the rock, or something like that.
Def get a salifert kit, API is ok, but IMO, you get what you pay for. They are cheap. Go to one of our sponsors and get the kit you are looking for.
I dont think you should stop the water changes.... but use a turkey bastor and blow off the rocks during the water change and maybe increase flow via powerheads or atleast create a new flow pattern to suspend hidden detritus. I do this every couple months to keep things clean.
It might be leaching from the rock, or something like that.
BrandonFlorida
New member
I do have a turkey baster but rarely use it, I will start to incorporate it in my cleaning habits. I have a wave maker and I change up the time difference between the two powerheads as well, but I will change up the powerheads and move them to another direction on the next wc as well. Thanks for the advise.
krzyphsygy
Active member
The rock very well could be a problem until you cycle through the drt and whatever else was on that rock. I pressure cleaned all my dry rock , dried it with a towel, then let it dry in the sun for a few hours. Not that you needed to do all that, but pressure cleaning dry rock removes the dirt, dust, and loose pieces of grime. Then I soaked it in 3 different buckets of R/O.
Def get a salifert kit, API is ok, but IMO, you get what you pay for. They are cheap. Go to one of our sponsors and get the kit you are looking for.
I dont think you should stop the water changes.... but use a turkey bastor and blow off the rocks during the water change and maybe increase flow via powerheads or atleast create a new flow pattern to suspend hidden detritus. I do this every couple months to keep things clean.
It might be leaching from the rock, or something like that.
Def get a salifert kit, API is ok, but IMO, you get what you pay for. They are cheap. Go to one of our sponsors and get the kit you are looking for.
I dont think you should stop the water changes.... but use a turkey bastor and blow off the rocks during the water change and maybe increase flow via powerheads or atleast create a new flow pattern to suspend hidden detritus. I do this every couple months to keep things clean.
It might be leaching from the rock, or something like that.
I had nitrates off the charts when I got my 8 year old tank. I am just learning so can't definitely tell you how I did it, but nitrates have been 0 for months (api test). Was changing 25% per week with perfect water and got nowhere. Added a purigen bag rated for 125g to my 27g and continued large water changes weekly. This wasn't working fast enough so after a month or two of only slight improvement, I used a dose of instant ocean natural nitrate reducer that came with the tank and another a week later. Either this product is magical or the purigen just took a long time to do the job because nitrates started to drop pretty rapidly. That was about four months ago and nitrates have stayed at 0 without any further doses. I only tried the io product out of frustration, but I suspect that was the magic solution. I now do smaller water changes every other week and even had to go a month without one when I ran out of salt. Nitrates still at 0. I believe the natural nitrate reducer is bacterial. I know chemicals are bad, but doubt it's as bad as peroxide or other extreme methods. Deep sand beds are supposed to be the most effective way to keep nitrates down and I definitely went that route on the new tank I just set up. On a side note, die off will cause huge spikes in nitrates like what you're describing. Either something is dying or you are adding too much food or possibly bad food. I tried killing some mushrooms and tiny nems, when nitrates were finally down to 20ppm. The next day they spiked to 40ppm, 80ppm the next day, and 160ppm the next. Very frustrating since it took months to get them down to 20ppm in the first place, but after a few days and a water change they started dropping again rapidly. Like I said I'm just learning, but with the results I have, something must be working. I'm sure persistance is also a huge factor, nothing changed at first, then the combination of purigen, water changes and literally two half doses of the natural nitrate reducer seems to have fixed my problem. Probably took about 4-5 months before it started to really drop, and was right after adding the instant ocean product that results started to be noticed. I probably wouldn't have even tried it since I'm against adding chemicals, but figured previous owner used it a lot since the tank came with a full and apartial bottle. Good luck, hope this helps! Happy reefing!
Drae
RAIDER NATION!
Nitrates are easy ( not a wise crack). 1. fresh made saltwater should be 0 tds and 0 nitrates from jump. 2. Balance. system should be stocked and fed properly. 3. Nutrient export. macro, water changes, skimming, etc... easy as pie. calurpa algae, a well balanced skimmer, added water flow, and test test test. that worked for me.
BrandonFlorida
New member
TDS and nitrates of fresh salt water test 0. System has cheato and skimmer always gets crud out. I wish it was that simple or it would be fixed already. Hopeing some biopelets and some chemipure will help.
Drae
RAIDER NATION!
nitrates are FOOD! Find something that will consume it. chaeto DID NOT work for me. TRY different macros, bigger skimmer, ??? Okay, in retrospect, it was pretty tough actually. It tought me some diligence actually. hmmm. I want to know whats causing this. Try the chemist forum ( one of rc best).
Good point about the macros, most are feeding predominantly on phosphate. Careful with other macros though or you could end up with an even bigger problem. Risk of spreading to the display or even crashing a tank. A remote deep sand bed could also be considered if you don't want one in the display and can greatly reduce nitrates.
The purigen I use is more targeted at absorbing organics before they become nitrates and I suspect was a big part of my success. The instant ocean natural nitrate reducer could still be helping still but I doubt it since I only used one full dose administered in two half doses a week apart. I do believe this product was a huge factor in getting the nitrates to start dropping rapidly on it's own.
I haven't been able to find much information on this product aside from a few people who say it's great stuff and a few others who are too against it to provide any valuable information. A huge variety of stuff in my reef (no sps though) and experienced absolutely no ill effects with this product. I guess I'm just lucky this product came with the tank because I wouldn't have even considered it otherwise. Good luck and happy reefing!
The purigen I use is more targeted at absorbing organics before they become nitrates and I suspect was a big part of my success. The instant ocean natural nitrate reducer could still be helping still but I doubt it since I only used one full dose administered in two half doses a week apart. I do believe this product was a huge factor in getting the nitrates to start dropping rapidly on it's own.
I haven't been able to find much information on this product aside from a few people who say it's great stuff and a few others who are too against it to provide any valuable information. A huge variety of stuff in my reef (no sps though) and experienced absolutely no ill effects with this product. I guess I'm just lucky this product came with the tank because I wouldn't have even considered it otherwise. Good luck and happy reefing!
coralsnaked
New member
Sounds like in the tank switch you lost your de-nitrifying bacteria count somehow. Seems you have lots of nitrifying bacteria eating the ammonia and converting to Nitrates but not enough de-nitrifying bacteria to convert the Nitrates to harmless nitrogen gas to escape naturally into the atmosphere. Until they repopulate you will continue to have this issue no matter how good your cleaning habits are. You can try to run a bio pellet reactor or do some carbon dosing IE Vodka method or vinegar method or a combo of both to increase the bacteria in the tank to eat them. How ever if you eshaust all PO4 in the process it will stop reducing the Nitrates as both are needed for process to work. personally I would go with an agressive live bacteria supplimentation approach in addition to good housekeeping skills. IMO Smart Start fior saltwater is best and use the dosing instructions for problem tanks. Past that keep doing what your doing and it may take a while
Merry Skerry
Merry Skerry
