Nitrates thru the roof

[Optionman]

I don't think you can carbon dose without a skimmer. I successfully reduced nitrates in my 150g from over 50 to 2.5 in approximately 100 days by vodka dosing but I don't think that's an option for you. My other observation is that your tank is only 7 months old and some significant coral/fish loss early happened to me as well.

Can you post any photos of your tank?


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[sde1500]

Shouldn't be too hard to correct. Simply you have a ton, even after the deaths, of bioload in the tank. So are adding more than you are removing. 20% water change would reduce nitrates by 20% obviously but then a week goes by where they go right back up. You can carbon dose without a skimmer if the tank is very mature with a lot of filter feeding organisms in it. This is not the case for your tank so I'd get at least a HOB skimmer. A sump wouldn't be too bad to add on with a HOB overflow to get the water there.

 

[reefgeezer]

This is how you solve your problem..
There is NO need to "restart"..
Relax..
Do exactly this..

#1- Turn off the fluval 406 and remove it from the system now.. It is not needed and not doing anything beneficial.. Remove it..
#2- Stop feeding your corals.. They do not need food (you may want to return the dendro as it does need food or just sparingly target feed it only)
#3- Perform a few large 50% water changes.. <--This is the most important.. do not skimp on this step.. water changes are the absolute best/fastest/proven method to fix your problem..
#4- Start adding vinegar to your tank following the chart amounts as shown here..
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
#5-Purchase a HOB (hang on back) skimmer.. Something like the Eshopps PSK100h or one of the Reef Octopus .
#6-Stop vacuuming your sand bed
#7-possibly reduce feeding of fish.. start by simply feeding the same amount but every other day assuming you are feeding daily now..

Do all of that.. Do not Pass Go.. Do not collect $200..

A 50% water change "should" reduce nitrates by 50%.. another by another 50%..
But you are in the blood red so you are quite high and may not see a reduction until after the 3rd change or so.. If you don't then post back..

This is a sound course of action. If you can add a sump & better skimmer instead of the HOB skimmer, that would be even better. Remember, nothing good happens fast in a reef tank.

 

[nereefpat]

Sand and rock can bind phoshates, but not nitrates. Those are just in the water. Water changes, big ones.

Get rid of canister.

Too many fish, including two that shouldn't be in a 75 gallon anyway. 10 fish is too much, and the blue and sailfin tangs need a tank that's 3-4 times that size.

 

[mcgyvr]

At this point I see no point in recommending a sump..
A sump just allows you to increase water volume and give you a place to put your equipment out of sight.. Other than that it will not "solve" this problem at all.. Certainly not in a way that you can't solve without out..

 

[d0ughb0y]

have you tested with a new or another test kit?
if not, you can verify your current tester by testing rodi water and the reading should be 0. this is just to make sure your nitrate test is valid.

 

[reefgeezer]

At this point I see no point in recommending a sump..
A sump just allows you to increase water volume and give you a place to put your equipment out of sight.. Other than that it will not "solve" this problem at all.. Certainly not in a way that you can't solve without out..

Good point. My though was that if the OP felt the need, it would allow for a better skimmer. IMO, even high quality HOB skimmers are somewhat limited in capacity but are way better than nothing. A sump & higher capacity skimmer could be a later upgrade though and shouldn't delay what you prescribed.

 

[Misticl]

The sump will have to wait for now. Today I ordered reef octopus 1000 HOB skimmer. I am going to change out 40 gallons of water as well. The nitrate test seems to be correct. I have checked it against my LFS with the same results. Even took my kit in to compare to theirs with the same results. They even tested my water with my test kit, just to make sure I wasn't having a brain fart when testing, same results. The problem I see at the moment is I am testing so high that I don't know if anything is making a difference. Is there a test that goes higher than the API kit? At least if I see some change, whether good or bad, at least I know I am doing something right or wrong.

Thank you everyone for the great information. I will continue updating with info as I progress, hopefully.

 

[d0ughb0y]

as someone already suggested, you can dilute your water 2.5ml + 2.5ml rodi, then double the test reading. not sure if this will work, as I have not tried it. dilution works for titration type tests.

 

[mcgyvr]

The problem I see at the moment is I am testing so high that I don't know if anything is making a difference. Is there a test that goes higher than the API kit? .

High is high.. No point in knowing a real(ish) number..
Do what I said a few posts back... Do it.. No.. seriously.. Do it.. Do it ...Do it..
:beer:
Large water changes will be your friend for now..

 

[d0ughb0y]

I think he wants to know if after the water change if there is improvement.
if before water change is off the chart, and after water change is still off the chart, there is no way to tell if it made a difference.

 

[bertoni]

Okay, a lot of posts here.

I would be careful about shutting off the Fluval suddenly. It might be doing a lot of the filtration, and removing it might cause an ammonia spike. I might taper off the amount of media slowly, and then use it for filtration or to run activated carbon.

Some large changes would reduce the nitrate level, but if the animals are all okay, I would keep to a reasonable water change schedule, maybe 10-20% twice a month. If there's an underlying cause for the nitrate level (which there certainly is), the reading can bounce back up very rapidly after water changes. Also, large water changes sometimes cause problems.

Cutting back on the feeding probably is appropriate. I agree that adding a protein skimmer would be a good idea. I assume that the Eheim unit is just a water surface skimmer? That's very different. More live rock would help, too, as I stated.

How much food is going into the tank per day? I'd try diluting a cup of the tank water with a 2 cups of fresh saltwater, and check the nitrate in the result. That might give some idea of how much nitrate is in the system.

Nitrate isn't particularly toxic, so there's no need for rush solutions. I'd be careful with the tank.

 

[josephxsxn]

I vote for the sulfur denitrator, its simple to build for about $100, but you will need a return pump and it works alot better with the sump... I agree with everyone, you need a skimmer too. I run a skimmer, a HUGE ball of ceato, and a sulfur denitrator. I used to carbon dose with vodka but have stopped that completely in favor of the sulfur... Personally my tank was up over 50 ppm nitrates when I installed it, and over time its dropped me down to below 4ppm where it now remains rather constant.

Here is a photo of the first one I made. A simple search should fine you many designs.
http://josephniemiec.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/sulfurprototype1.jpg

PS - Just be aware that if you go the denitrator route it can take a couple of weeks for the bacteria to grow that will perform the deniration.This will also consume alkalinity from your tank, but not calcium.

 

[Misticl]

Well my water change is on hold until tomorrow. It appears everyone buys all the water from all the LFS around me. Which I need to pullnthe trigger on getting my own unit. There are so many to chose from and they all seem to claim and do the same thing. So for some reason I have my mind set on this SpectraPure unit. This probably isn't the best place to ask, so I'll post the question in another forum, but anyone have an opinion on this or any other unit.

https://www.amazon.com/SpectraPure-...806&sr=1-13&keywords=rodi+system+for+aquarium

 

[bertoni]

That unit should be very nice. You can get a unit that will deliver similar water quality for less, at the price of more water consumption, and like more DI resin. The Silica Buster cartridge might or might not be needed in your area. Personally, I think it'd be a reasonable choice, but California is shorter on water than many other places.

 

[reefgeezer]

Well my water change is on hold until tomorrow. It appears everyone buys all the water from all the LFS around me. Which I need to pullnthe trigger on getting my own unit. There are so many to chose from and they all seem to claim and do the same thing. So for some reason I have my mind set on this SpectraPure unit. This probably isn't the best place to ask, so I'll post the question in another forum, but anyone have an opinion on this or any other unit.

https://www.amazon.com/SpectraPure-...806&sr=1-13&keywords=rodi+system+for+aquarium

Money well spent.

 

[Pedro86]

I'm in the same boat as you, green hair algae removal has become a weekly chore and i was about to nuke my rock and start from scratch but I've picked up a RODI system, two reactors which are fairly cheap the phosban ones and run gfo in one and carbon in the other and then a bio pellet reactor. I found everything used for under 350 and finally have my levels down. No easy solution except for spending more money haha like everything in the reef game. Time and money. I also agree with everyone else here get a proper skimmer running [emoji6] and imo ditch the 406

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[danikels2012]

Carbon V/S

 

[hegeh]

I'm in the same boat as you, green hair algae removal has become a weekly chore and i was about to nuke my rock and start from scratch but I've picked up a RODI system, two reactors which are fairly cheap the phosban ones and run gfo in one and carbon in the other and then a bio pellet reactor. I found everything used for under 350 and finally have my levels down. No easy solution except for spending more money haha like everything in the reef game. Time and money. I also agree with everyone else here get a proper skimmer running [emoji6] and imo ditch the 406

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Probably your phos is 0.. thus unable to bring down no3

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[Misticl]

Sorry it has been a few days. Kids and all. So on Friday I attempted to do a 50 gallon water change. That didn't happen. I did a massive vacuuming , which I'm sure I'm pulling more water than waste due to my acclamation to everything, and pulled out 25 gallons of water. That put me below the top of my live rock and was exposing some corals. So I called it good and refilled the tank with 25 gallons of newly mixed water. I probably could have fit another 5 gallons but figured it was time for bed. So I ended my water change with buffering the Mg and called it a night. I should have dosed phosphate Rx but figured everything hard been stressed out enough, so it can wait until tomorrow.

Now rewind one day. I went to the LFS and had them run a test on my water on Thursday. This is usually when i get my RO, but also an excuse for me to check out the new live stock. I never walk out empty handed. Whether it is a new addition to the tank or some fancy new dew dad. The conversation and time spent there is always top notch. So here are my stats from the last 2 tests.

1-27-18
Alk 10
PO4 .5
No3 immeasurable on API
Mg 1380
Ca 490

2-1-18 (before water change)
Alk 9.6
PO4 .75
No3 immeasurable on API but took longer to go to red and not as deep red as before
Mg 1320
Ca 455