nitrates

[cxr133]

SO.... i have had my tank running for one week now

and i just went to the LFS to get my water parameters checked and they told me the nitrates were > 100...


what can i do to reduce this?
massive water changes?
new filtert sock? ( the one in there was placed brand new one week ago.


i bought this tank established.. i broke it down and set it back up in 2 days could this nitrate spike be from the bio-balls??


the tank currently has
8 chromis
4 clarkii clowns
1 bar goby
1 sailfin blenny
the fish appear healthy


THANKS

 

[sidneybrooksjr]

IMO and from what I've learned from this site, its way too early for you to add any fish at all, especially that many. I could be wrong though. Good Luck !!!

 

[cxr133]

ok thanks.....

but this was an established tank.. the lady i bought it from had it running for years.
i saved 80% of the water and had it set back up the next day

 

[sidneybrooksjr]

oh ok, i miss understood you. i could be wrong. you might be feeding too much. there was an interesting thread in the reef discussion forum on adding vodka to lower nitrates. you might want to check that out. go to reef discussion and put in vodka/nitrates on the searh engine, then click the thread title Look what i did to lower my nitrates. there is strong research on this. i've recently started to do it, and i've seen a small difference

 

[Maxxumless]

Before going to drastic or more advanced methods, it would be wise to retest your water with a quality test kit. LFS often rush or have out of date testing equipment and should never be trusted. 100 is pretty high though. Did you check the water before the tank was moved? Often moving a long established tank will cause detritus and nitrates to escape the sand bed and pollute the tank in which case yes, doing water changes (20% every two days for a week and a half) will help dramatically.

 

[PatMayo]

Typically nitrates will not hurt fish unless they are really skyhigh. I would do normal partial water changes and I would reduce feeding. If you don't have a good skimmer I would get one. Additionally I would read the following articles they should be able to help you as well.

Regards,

Pat

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

 

[cxr133]

thanks for all the info guys!!!


i just did a 35 gallon water change!!!
added some Amquel.

i think i have a good skimmer i like its a ASM G2.. with a eurofil sump
i have activated carbon and live rock in the sump