Hey Guys, New to this.. I have a 50 Gallon Saltwater Tank, Been up 3 years, PH/Ammonia/Nitrite/Salt/Temp is great but I have very high Nitrate level, I have no fish in tank now, live rock only with hermit crab, I use faucet water before now I went and bought a Reef Aquarium 75 GPD RO/DI Reverse Osmosis Filter System, I replaced about 3/8 the tank with the filtered water (showing no Nitrate levels), I also have a Flu-val Canister Filter System with a Protein skimmer. after a week of letting it run through cycle and topping off with the RO/DI Filter System, the Nitrates are still high. Can anyone tell me what I may be doing wrong or maybe something I can do to fix this? Its getting irritating, so someone told me about this site, hope there is someone that might have answers. Any help would do.
Nitrates
- Thread starter WTH
- Start date
Reef908
New member
I am assuming its not a reef ready tank with an overflow. You can buy a hang on back overflow and use a sump with a filter sock, skimmer section, and a refugium section if you'd like and space allows. Then return the water back up with a pump. I converted my planted tank when I first got into saltwater and had this setup. You can do it pretty cheaply, just do not have to strong of a return greater than what the overflow can handle or you may overflow your tank! Good luck!
Have you ever siphoned your sand? If not I would start when doing water changes. The problem you may be facing is your rocks could have absorbed nutrients over the years and it may be a while before you can get them back out. At least you are taking steps to make things better for your future wet pets. The good news is frequent water changes will greatly improve your problem. Don't be so hard on yourself, when you say high Nitrates what exactly does that mean?
homer1475
New member
No fish or livestock in the tank besides a couple crabs. I would start with 100% WC(nothing in the tank to disrupt the balance), vacuuming the sandbed as you go. Get rid of the canister filter, they trap detritus and end up being nitrate factories if you don't clean them weekly. Your live rock is your chemical filtration. You want some mechanical filtration, then a simple HOB filter(Aqua Clear 70 works quite well) with some carbon and filter floss is all thats needed.
Certain types of live rock hold nitrates also the tap water could be the culprit. I am a HUGE fan on hang on back media reactors...run the granular (looks like kitty litter) nitrate absorber and carbon. Dont use this as a crutch and obviously look for causes of nitrates but nice to keep it in check.
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High as can be measured means they could be way over the max the test kit can read. Have had a similar issue in the recent past. I tried a number of things but the only thing that helped was weekly large water changes. I had an advantage as I had a pretty good idea why they were high. I had had a series of surgeries at the end of last year. I was not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds so maintenance suffered.
The key to solving the problem is finding the cause.
I agree with lose the canister filter. You can get a quality hang on skimmer. Along with your live rock you should be fine for filtration. If you want the ability to remove particulates hang on filters work fine and you can add media to address problems.
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CStrickland
New member
In addition to getting rid of the nitrate factory canister filter, your tank might benefit from spring cleaning. If you've got accumulated detritus in your sump, or overflow, that can drive up nitrates as it decomposes. Lots of people have seen significant reduction from vacuuming out those nooks and crannies. I wouldn't add the hob filter for the same reason you're taking the canister offline, they trap waste in high flow areas.
mcgyvr
New member
It didn't get like that overnight and won't go away overnight either..
Start with a few large water changes 50% every 4-5 days and see how it goes.. Don't over react.. Cheato won't do it and just be a waste of your time and a skimmer won't do it alone either...
You simply have a tank that hasn't gotten the maintenance it needs over time and its just all built up/filled with crap.. Expect a few months of diligent water changes to get it back under control..
And yes.. remove the canister filter (or just replace all filter media) and clean it regularly.. I would just ditch it for now and just use power heads for circulation along with the skimming and water changes and you should start to notice it lowering in a few weeks..
The solution to pollution is dilution.
Start with a few large water changes 50% every 4-5 days and see how it goes.. Don't over react.. Cheato won't do it and just be a waste of your time and a skimmer won't do it alone either...
You simply have a tank that hasn't gotten the maintenance it needs over time and its just all built up/filled with crap.. Expect a few months of diligent water changes to get it back under control..
And yes.. remove the canister filter (or just replace all filter media) and clean it regularly.. I would just ditch it for now and just use power heads for circulation along with the skimming and water changes and you should start to notice it lowering in a few weeks..
The solution to pollution is dilution.
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