nitrates

[moongoddesss007]

ok here we go i had a sea hare that died last week so i decided to test my water everything normal except nitrates which were at 160 they are normaly around 0 to 20. so i did a 50% water change and there has been no change in the nitrates at this point i thought it was a bad test so i tested the store water and it tested at zero. anybody have any ideas what could be causing this or how to get them dowm before they kill anything e,se. also the tank is 29 gallons 7 months old

 

[Ghumbee]

Try another large water change BUT test your "New" water and see if there are any nitrates.


Using tap water or RODI to make up new saltwater?


Chuck

 

[moongoddesss007]

We've tested the water which we buy from a trusted LFS and it is 0 nitrates.

 

[markandkristen]

i think we need a little more info on system.
like protein skimmer
if bio balls are used
feeding habits.
etc.
what kind of test kits are you using

 

[alizarin]

Either you have a bad test kit, your source water has nitrates, or something is replenishing the nitrates quickly - 160 is really high. Do you have much live rock? Uncleaned filter media, wet dry filters, allot of fish-per-tank, overfeeding, and things dying will contribute to nitrates - any of that ring a bell? It's possible the initial spike is causing a die off that's adding to the nitrates.

 

[moongoddesss007]

Well we have a suncoast protein skimmer which is rated for a 75 gallon tank and had been working quite well until the last couple of weeks only pulling out a "tea" like consistency rather than the "muddy" kind it had been. We have appx. 30-35 lbs of live rock and no, we don't have a wet/dry.
Also our inhabitants are:
1. BTA
2. Yellow Watchman
3. Bi Colo Blenny
4. Yellow tail damsel
5. 2 perculas
I know we are overstocked for our tank but things have been running well until now and we always maintain the water changes and maintenance routinely. We also have planned to upgrade to a 75 or 90 soon.
We did notice our carbon media was very dirty, so that could have contributed to it, but I'm wondering what the chances are of it being the substrate. I mean we have quite a few snails, about 3 turbo and 4 margherita and 2 scarlet crabs who typically keep things clean, but we have about 1" crushed coral and 1" live sand on top of that. I'm just wondering if that is the root of the problem.

 

[moongoddesss007]

The test kit is aquarium pharmaceutics that granted, is not the most accurate but give us enough of heads up if something is off. we tested the LFS water and it was a yellow color, our water turned a deep red color, so I'm not exactly sure it was 160, but it was certainly in the 80 range or higher.

 

[alizarin]

80 is what you'd expect it to read if you did a 50% water change I believe - so maybe all is as it should be except for finding the cause - this is what I'd do to test both problems:

1) Put a half gallon of tank water in a bucket.
2) Test it for nitrates
3) Make up a 1/2 gallon of new water with your RODI
4) Test your new water for nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia (see comments below)
5) Pour the new water in with the 1/2 gallon of tank water
6) Test the 1 gallon for nitrates

Those nitrates should be 40 unless you found nitrates in your new rodi water. If not, it's a bad test kit or the rules of chemistry function differently at your house - in either case I'd ask your local fish store to test a sample.

As for the cause I was thinking either
a) The nitrates are so high that microfauna are dying and putting ammonia/nitrites/nitrates into your water. It would smell awful though.
b) You've got ammonia in your water from chloramine and a faulty or expired rodi filter. We have chloramine in Tampa and St.Pete and from what I understand RODI filters first break the Chlorine/Ammonia bond in chloramine then either the carbon or DI pulls out the ammonia. The ammonia might not all be getting pulled out and eventually it will turn to nitrites then nitrates in your tank. I don't know if that's enough ammonia to cause the problems you're having.

You might consider adding a refugium or deep sand bed to your tank. You'd be able to get away with allot more nitrate wise.