So Nitrates....

[Capsle]

Hey Reefers,

So I've been trying to get my nitrates down over the last two-three weeks. I've started feeding only once a day.

I started skimming dry instead of wet.

I did a 15% water change last night.

My nitrates aren't extremely high 10-25 (difficult to say exactly with Salifert test) but I would like to get them below 10.

I only have 4 fish so I don't think it should be that difficult.

I have a fuge but nothing setup in it at the moment. Will Chaeto have a big impact on my Nitrates? I plan on adding some in the next 2 weeks. Just need to get down to my LFS to pick some up and a light as well.

What are some other options I could try?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[fishgate]

More water changes. Daily 9 gallons (2 homer buckets) until they come down. Then 20%/week.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

To get your nitrates down by using water changes you need to do a very large WC, something like 50% and that in turn would decrease them by about half. But nitrates of 10-25 are not horrible. Having nitrates of 10 are actually very good and preferred for keeping LPS corals. If keeping SPS then nitrates of around 5 are good. SPS corals need nutrients to thrive too.

It seems that there are a lot of new to the hobby people that have the notion that nitrates need to be 0 and that just isn't the case.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

most soft corals are hard to kill. You can run high nitrates without issue with them. I can't give you any specific numbers but can tell you that I've seen them with nitrates over 60 and doing well. Fish also can live in these conditions once they are acclimated to it.

 

[ScienceRulez]

If you really want the nitrates down, you could try setting up a refugium with some macro algae. We set up a 40 gallon tank with two kinds of macro algae, chaeto and one that has what looks like grapes on vines, and within a few weeks nitrates went down to zero.

As an added plus, the 'pods and misys shrimp and other critters very quickly set up shop and are doing quite well in there too.

 

[JZinCO]

Capsle, I don't think I've been at this reefing game much longer than you and I don't have tons of experience to draw from. That said, I'll give you something to chew on.

Nitrates in the 20s aren't a problem in and of itself.
Why do you want nitrates to be lower than they are now?
I don't recall hearing that. Anything in your tank that is sensitive to nitrates in the 20s? Are you planning on stocking certain coral? Is it holding steady in 10-25 or creeping up?

I have a fuge but nothing setup in it at the moment. Will Chaeto have a big impact on my Nitrates? I plan on adding some in the next 2 weeks. Just need to get down to my LFS to pick some up and a light as well.

What are some other options I could try?

Could try ATS? You could try some nitrate adsorbers, biopellets, vodka, etc

That said, if nitrates aren't harming anything now, I'd not do anything until the refugium is set up. Then see what happens. You may find that macros can do the job for you. And you know, the bigger the fuge, the more you can stock macros, the more nitrates can be converted in carbs and then exported.

 

[Capsle]

So Nitrates....

Capsle, I don't think I've been at this reefing game much longer than you and I don't have tons of experience to draw from. That said, I'll give you something to chew on.

Nitrates in the 20s aren't a problem in and of itself.
Why do you want nitrates to be lower than they are now?
I don't recall hearing that. Anything in your tank that is sensitive to nitrates in the 20s? Are you planning on stocking certain coral? Is it holding steady in 10-25 or creeping up?


Could try ATS? You could try some nitrate adsorbers, biopellets, vodka, etc

That said, if nitrates aren't harming anything now, I'd not do anything until the refugium is set up. Then see what happens. You may find that macros can do the job for you. And you know, the bigger the fuge, the more you can stock macros, the more nitrates can be converted in carbs and then exported.

Thanks man!

Nitrates have been steady between 10-25 except 1 week they got up to 50 as my skimmer stopped skimming properly (my wife probably touched something while I was on a business trip). She was also in charge of feed and she's Italian so the fish probably got a 7 course meal with deserts and lunch for the next day.

That being said I know that 10-25 isn't bad but it isn't great either. Ideally I would like to get them between 5-10. I do have lps so I know I need nitrates.

I have been having more algae / film build up on my glass quicker the last 2 weeks. No hair algae just a greenish brown film and I'm thinking it might be because of my nitrates. Phosphate is less than 0.03 so I don't see that being and issue.

I also have orange diatoms that show up on my sand bed everyday which is annoying. They blow off easy and I do suck them out when I do my WC.

I'm a perfectionist and pay great attention to detail so it's more of a personal thing I guess and the algae and diatoms bother me.

Just trying to figure out how to get rid of it and have a pristine tank. [emoji16]

Oh and I picked up some chaeto today [emoji1]

It's in my fuge. Now just need to get a light for it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JZinCO]

Cool. In my year of reefing I just get the feeling that alot of reefers are always chasing problems to the point of chasing ghosts. Every detail won't be perfect but as long as my pets are healthy, I'm happy.
Macros will probably never outcompete your microalgae completely but maybe you'll find some nitrate competition yields a tolerable level of microalgae.
Attacking po4 might also help. Its my opinion that po4 doesn't last long in solution so rather than testing water, I go by the rule of thumb that mucho algae means mucho phosphates.

 

[Tanthaitrung]

Thanks man!

Nitrates have been steady between 10-25 except 1 week they got up to 50 as my skimmer stopped skimming properly (my wife probably touched something while I was on a business trip). She was also in charge of feed and she's Italian so the fish probably got a 7 course meal with deserts and lunch for the next day.

That being said I know that 10-25 isn't bad but it isn't great either. Ideally I would like to get them between 5-10. I do have lps so I know I need nitrates.

I have been having more algae / film build up on my glass quicker the last 2 weeks. No hair algae just a greenish brown film and I'm thinking it might be because of my nitrates. Phosphate is less than 0.03 so I don't see that being and issue.

I also have orange diatoms that show up on my sand bed everyday which is annoying. They blow off easy and I do suck them out when I do my WC.

I'm a perfectionist and pay great attention to detail so it's more of a personal thing I guess and the algae and diatoms bother me.

Just trying to figure out how to get rid of it and have a pristine tank. [emoji16]

Oh and I picked up some chaeto today [emoji1]

It's in my fuge. Now just need to get a light for it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For your cheato, you need >20w 6500k led running 18 hours daily. It will grow crazily.

Just do not know why you are running skimming dry

 

[Capsle]

For your cheato, you need >20w 6500k led running 18 hours daily. It will grow crazily.

Just do not know why you are running skimming dry

Skimmer is not necessarily dry but I have a lot more foam and less water than before. I would get about 2" of water a day. Now it's about 1/2" a day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[the_OG]

Thanks man!

She was also in charge of feed and she's Italian so the fish probably got a 7 course meal with deserts and lunch for the next day.

In that case that's not algae, it's "gravy".

I'd skim a little wet for a while just get the canoli cream out of the water.

 

[kevin21]

I dosed NoPox from seachem to get my nitrates in my 28g down. I used very little, maybe 2 mL Daily for 10 days and it worked no problem. Granted I still did my weekly water changes, I saw a big difference after dosing this. I stopped dosing it daily, I now dose about 3 times per week at 2.5 mL and everything seems stable. Have no seen a nitrate spike yet.

 

[DSMreefer]

I've used vinegar dosing with good results. That and heavy skimming. My nitrates and phosphate are undetectable, per salifert nitrate test kit and a hanna ulr phosphate checker. IMHO I think heavy skimming with an overrated skimmer, set to run a little on the wet side will do wonders for high nutrient levels. I had problems with nutrient levels and upgrading the skimmer helped a ton. The vinegar just really let's me fine tune the system and feed more. I'm no expert by any means, still new to the hobby but this has been my experience so far. Good luck!

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[Potatohead]

Carbon dosing is pretty simple, usually the easiest route.