Nitrates Jumped from 0 to 30 PPM in two weeks?

[Brian Prestwood]

In ten years of reefing I've never had measureable nitrates. I think that's because of the deep sand beds I've always used. Now phosphates are another issue. That's probaby because of the deep sand beds too

I check nitrates every couple weeks to be sure. A couple days ago I tested and was surprised to find it was at 30 ppm!!!

I haven't verified that this isn't a defective API test kit yet but it seems unlikely because it reported zero just two weeks ago as it has since I bought it about three months ago.

A couple of weeks ago I was starting to see some color loss in my most phosphate sensitive corals. When I tested phosphate it was between 0.07 and 0.1 ppm. so I changed out my GFO. I normally use 1/2 cup of high capacity GFO per recharge but this time I stuck a whole cup in because it was climbing faster than usual. That zeroed them out within a day, as usual.

If this isn't a bad test kit I'm thinking that when I zeroed out my phoshates that it prevented my bio-filtration from removing nitrates.

I'm turning off my phosphate media reactor for a couple days and sprucing up the chaeto garden until I can verify the test kit.

If it isn't one d@^^n thing its another.

 

[matttaylor]

You missing a fish?

 

[Joes210gal]

Dang Brian, sorry to hear about that.

Someone just told me recently that when they up'd the amount of Phosphate removing media, it had a negative effect on their coral.

Before doing anything I would definately check out that test kit. I use API for certain tests but will never use it again for Nitrates. Too unstable!

I know you did your homework on Vinegar dosing. But didn't I read that if dosing vinegar, we shouldn't be using any Phosphate removing media? I've got the article somewhere...do you need it?

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Good point Matt. I did increase my fish load about that time and lost a couple of the new ones.

Hey Paul

Yeah, I should have known better than to double the dose. As for vodka dosing, it hasn't had any measurable affect on my phosphates. I've tried easing off the GFO while vodka dosing a couple of times. When I do the phosphates climb and my corals lose some color.

Like deep sand beds, once the bacteria reaches equilibrium with the nutrient source (vodka) it stops increasing in mass. The benefits of nutrient binding due to growth stop and you are left some extra coral food that is easy to skim out.

I'm decreasing my dose again.

You know me, I'm always tweaking one thing or another.

The good news is I have my calcium reactor working well. The controller is holding the pH where I want it and the dosing pump is delivering a very reliable amount of effluent that I can increase as the corals grow.

 

[jubjub]

i know this might not help but do you have any sort of algae in the tank at all?. i had alot of stuff that looked algae but it was actually sort of living matter garbage.... my nitrates went out of control few months ago when i was dosing vodka, and i stopped dosing. i think there was something in my cheapy vodka, so i drank it instead....

do you run carbon at all...this helped my tank tremendously.

 

[mpoletti]

I'd say the fish may have contributed Brian. How many fish did you lose? Did you find them all? Also, when ever I add more fish, I tend to feed more.

If not, 30 is nothing. You'll get those knocked out in no time

 

[Joes210gal]

Hey Brian, who's Paul? :lolspin:

 

[gem]

I have been having issues with either the API nitrate test kit or nitrates. My test kit came up with 160. Had an lfs test with an API kit and came up with 20. Had a different lfs test with elos and it came up 2.5 ppm. My guess is API is way off.

 

[tfp]

personally, i think the API kits are only good for 6-7 months tops. but thats just my experience...

 

[rmrjwieger]

I've had problems with the API nitrate test kits to I had two of them and they both came up with different numbers so i switched to sulifert and nitrates tested at .02 and with the API one tested at 20.0 and the other at 10.0

 

[Joes210gal]

Dang Brian, sorry to hear about that.

Someone just told me recently that when they up'd the amount of Phosphate removing media, it had a negative effect on their coral.

Before doing anything I would definately check out that test kit. I use API for certain tests but will never use it again for Nitrates. Too unstable!

I know you did your homework on Vinegar dosing. But didn't I read that if dosing vinegar, we shouldn't be using any Phosphate removing media? I've got the article somewhere...do you need it?

I meant Vodka!!

I'm cracking myself up....:lolspin:

 

[Paulca916]

Brian I just had this happen to me recently and I didnt change anything in my system.
After a few 25% water changes every 3 days it's now down to 5 ppm.
How old is your Deep sand bed anyway ?
OH and if it makes Joe feel better you can reply to me as Joe LoL ;-)

 

[Joes210gal]

Brian I just had this happen to me recently and I didnt change anything in my system.
After a few 25% water changes every 3 days it's now down to 5 ppm.
How old is your Deep sand bed anyway ?
OH and if it makes Joe feel better you can reply to me as Joe LoL ;-)

:lolspin:

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Everyone

I'm not familiar with the affects of nitrates on acros. At what level would I expect to see some color loss? How much futher to complete brown out?

jubjub

"Any Algae?"
Yes, it was a bit impacted so I thinned it. It looked very healthy which discredits my limited phosphates theory a bit.

"so i drank it instead..."
:beer:

"do you run carbon at all"
Yes, I recently increased from a fast stream of water through 1/2 cup of GAC which I changed monthly to a very slow stream of water through 3 cups which I change weekly. I tested the GAC for phosphates, it does release a very small amount. I'll for nitrates after I verify the kit.

Mark

"How many fish did you lose?"
I added a school of seven female and one male lyre tail anthias, gorgeous animals from AquaLife. I lost two of the five females over two days. No sign of them just gone. The body mass of each was about what I feed in frozen food in two days. That's probably a contributing, if not primary, factor.

Joe

Paul (Paulca916) is a great guy, very enthusiatic about reefing, why?
(I really thought that said Paul. That will teach me to post before coffee)

Ginger/Tim

I'm taking some water over to YourReef tonight.

Joe again

I knew what you meant Paul

Paul

"How old is your Deep sand bed anyway ?"

The oldest of my four removable 50 lb remote deep sand beds is about 18 mos old. They are all old enough to be saturated with bacteria but none are so old that they are releasing nutrients. Refreshing one would make lots of room for bacteria to grow. Perhaps I'll do that if the API test kit isn't bad.

"You can call me Joe"

You can call me Ray or you can call me Jay

You're old enough to remember that, right?

 

[gem]

..."but you doesn't hasta call me Johnson"

 

[tuanthoakhoi]

I got nitrate shoot up to 50ppm before due to the lack of water change. I could tell the lost of all the intense purple tip color and some color loss but not brown out. Now, I change water weekly so the corals getting better color. But the nitrate is still around 20ppm, the color of all my SPS are still not at the best.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

And the winner is...

And the winner is...

And the winner is...
Tim and Ginger for correctly answering bad test kit :dance:
Elos says 7 ppm which looks like nothing on a good API nitrate test kit. This also matches what my other nitrate test kits have said over the last ten years. My corals concur with no visible change in color or PE.

I wonder what makes an API nitrate test kits go so far off in just two weeks?

There is still the slim possability that when I test with the API test when I get home it will say 7 ppm too. If so, it dropped from 30 to 7 in a little over 24 hrs.

A rapid spike up and down is consistent with a fish dying in a tank that has enough bio-filtration to handle the load. We shall see.

 

[KMP]

Yep - my API had me freaked. Nitrates were off the chart. Elos rated the same water at 2.5ppm. I am thankful though; I had started slacking on my tank chores so in the 3 weeks it took to get the Elos read - I got back in the saddle on my cleaning and water changes.

 

[Paulca916]

Brian Im glad to hear it's the test kit and not your system :celeb1:
It's so much easier to fix the test kit problem file it in the round file.

 

[Joes210gal]

And the winner is...
Tim and Ginger for correctly answering bad test kit :dance:
Elos says 7 ppm which looks like nothing on a good API nitrate test kit. This also matches what my other nitrate test kits have said over the last ten years. My corals concur with no visible change in color or PE.

I wonder what makes an API nitrate test kits go so far off in just two weeks?

There is still the slim possability that when I test with the API test when I get home it will say 7 ppm too. If so, it dropped from 30 to 7 in a little over 24 hrs.

A rapid spike up and down is consistent with a fish dying in a tank that has enough bio-filtration to handle the load. We shall see.

Hey Brian, I guessed bad test kit also! But you didn't give me any credit...that's not nice.

By the way, this is Joe...but you can call me Paul or you can call me Sam...but ya doesn't has to call me Johnson!