Nitrates high

J

Jfountain179

New member
Will Nitrates come down over time without doing water changes (around 120ppm)? Just added 50lbs of new LR and already cycled once. Just curious if I should do water changes or wait for my Nitrites also to get to zero...currently at .5 thanks
 
You should definately do a water change. If this is your 50g tank, i'd say do at least 10 gallons.

But are you running any sort of canister filter, HOB filter, or wet/dry filter (with bioballs in the wet/dry)?
 
hm, was that rock cured or uncured when you got it? Maybe there's just a lot of leftover nitrates after the cycle? Either way, i still say to do that water change.

And you have 100lbs of rock in a tiny little 50g tank? :lol:
 
From what I have read it is 1 - 1.5 lbs. per gallon. But just as with any rule of thumb it really depends on how porous or dense your rock is. Got pics?
Oh yeah I agree 10-20% water change is in order.
 
I would go with 1.5-2lbs myself. Better chance of natural nitrate reduction in my opinion, but again, that depends on the quality of the live rock being used.

Nitrates do not go down on their own without some form of exportation. This can be done with a refugium w/ macro algae, a Deep Sand Bed (DSB), Nitrate removers, water changes, ect. ect. ect.

In my opinion, it's not going to matter much if you do the water change now or wait until the cycle is completed. I personally would wait and then deal with the nitrates afterwards with a very large water change, like 75% or so. But that's just me. Others may differ. You may notice a bit more algae growth by waiting, do to the large amount of nitrates, but you'll get algae eventualy anyways, might as well get it started now :D
 
your tank can only denitrify so much...it requires our help through water changes...i had a 12 gallon that i didnt do water changes on with nitrate readings of 300+ppm...thats why it probabally crashed so fast when the plug came undone from the socket...i was on vaca for 4 days everything died...had to recure the LR it was so bad...since then i do regular water changes
 
Yes, I believe i am going to do a 10% water change...some pics
GreenAnenomie.jpg

FullTankPic.jpg

Halftankpic.jpg

GreenCoral.jpg

IMG_0961.jpg
 
With the amount of stock and especially the anemone I would do water change now and check levels every day. I don't think 10% every other day or so would be unheard of until you get the trates down.

Someone else?
 
Your tank is still cycling and you have an anemone in there already with nitrates that high?

If you have any livstock in that tank at all and nitrites still showing up at all, start water changes today. Do not wait. Ammonia and Nitrites are both highly toxic to corals and fish.
Nitrates aren't the best thing either, just not as bad as teh other two. Some livestock actually does better with some nitrates present, but not in the amount you listed.
 
Jfountain179 you are on the road to a bad situation. I agree with papa go directly to the tank asap and perform water change(s) until you get the levels in line. Anemone's are not usally safe to add until 6 months + down the road as they need a fully matured and stable system.
 
Check again if you want to but I would wait until tomorrow to do a check and a water change. Let the tank settle from this one first.

Papa???
 
When doing a water change try to siphon the water closest to the bottom of the tank, I've been told that nitrates tend to be more concentrated at the bottom of the tank so I make sure and siphon as much of the lower portion as possible. Just an idea.

Also I would use a powerhead to try and move the debris on the rocks and substrate towards one area of the tank and siphon all that debris during the water change to remove it before it can break down any further and add to the nitrate level in the tank.
 
came down a bit...will do another 20% change tomorrow...Thanks for the help...and i will try to get to the bottow of the tank if that is where nitrates hide...hehe
 
when you do water changes you take out the same percentage of nitrates as you do water...thats why it takes many water changes to bring it down to zero

constant water changes
 
Justin - going forward I would definitely think about adding a refugium w/ some macroalgae - much better long-term solution to nitrate removal than doing frequent water changes (you'll still need to do some water changes)
 
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