Yet another Nitrate question

[jfl14609]

I have a question is there anything in a tank that could make a salifert nitrate test kit give false readings? I have taken the exact kit I am using to a friends and got a reading of 0. every time I test my tank I am at 25+. But I have great coral growth and absolutely no algae problems I am lucky to get a dusting every 3 days on the glass

 

[bertoni]

Nitrite will tend to interfere with a nitrate test kit. You might want to check into that. What kind of corals do you have? Many are fine with 25 ppm of nitrate.

 

[Aquarist007]

Do a 20 gal water change and remeasure

 

[jfl14609]

I have ton tons of water changes and it always seems to have the same reading right around 25. I even did w/c's every third day for two weeks with no difference. as far as corals I have some acros millies lps softies a little of everything

 

[Aquarist007]

are you running a sump and or refugium?

 

[bertoni]

The Acropora corals might have an issue with the nitrate, especially with respect to coloration, but I'm not sure I'd worry much.

 

[jfl14609]

its really blowing my mind the growth and everything looks great but it doesnt make sence. I guess if it isnt broke dont fix it haha. I have a sump asm g-2 modded. and a refigium with macro. like I said everything looks perfect

 

[Aquarist007]

alot depends on flow too--- as a suggestion try for a tank flow of 40 times gph and a sump flow that is much less and matches the output of your skimmer
If you are cranking water through the skimmer faster then it can skimm then unskimmed water is being returned to lower areas of the tank where it can accumulate, etc before making the trip up to the surface overflow again
I also baste the surface area and live rock once a week to get stuff back up into the water column where it can be filtered out
Consider running a filter sock also

 

[jfl14609]

currently I have a 90 gallon I am running a Korrillia 4 in it with about 1500gph I beleive. its not direct flow as I want it to really keep the surface rocking to keep from accumiltating proteins. My sump is a 60 high witha filter sock in compartment #1 then Compartment #2 has my g-2 recirc modded being fed by a mj1200 thats really not pushing much water as its got about 1.5 foot of hose attached to it. then into the refugium area I have debated on adding a dsb here but for not its just macro and a pc light. then finaly in Compartment #3 there is my mag 18 return pump dialed to about 75% after calculations its pushing about 898 gph. doing bi-weekly water changes. when I do the water changes I put a powerhead in the bucket and a heater set to 78 degrees mix it up to proper salinity (with refractometer) and allow it to sit overnight. I check pH prior to ading it back into the system as well. when I syphon the water out I always make sure to aim a powerhead at the rocks and behing them to stir up any nasty stuff.

 

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11674674#post11674674 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jfl14609
currently I have a 90 gallon I am running a Korrillia 4 in it with about 1500gph I beleive. its not direct flow as I want it to really keep the surface rocking to keep from accumiltating proteins. My sump is a 60 high witha filter sock in compartment #1 then Compartment #2 has my g-2 recirc modded being fed by a mj1200 thats really not pushing much water as its got about 1.5 foot of hose attached to it. then into the refugium area I have debated on adding a dsb here but for not its just macro and a pc light. then finaly in Compartment #3 there is my mag 18 return pump dialed to about 75% after calculations its pushing about 898 gph. doing bi-weekly water changes. when I do the water changes I put a powerhead in the bucket and a heater set to 78 degrees mix it up to proper salinity (with refractometer) and allow it to sit overnight. I check pH prior to ading it back into the system as well. when I syphon the water out I always make sure to aim a powerhead at the rocks and behing them to stir up any nasty stuff.

a korilia number 4 is rate at 1200 gph

you could deal with alot more flow in your tank--the flow in your sump is good but you have to address low flow areas in the tank so that you get nitrates, detrius, phoshates etc etc back into the water column where they can be filtered out instead of accumulating

for comparison in my 110 I have three korilias--2 4's and one 3 plus and maxi1200(on a variable timer)

 

[Aquarist007]

just curious here---how often are you changing the filter sock and the skimmer cup?

 

[bdare]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11669153#post11669153 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jfl14609
I have ton tons of water changes and it always seems to have the same reading right around 25. I even did w/c's every third day for two weeks with no difference. as far as corals I have some acros millies lps softies a little of everything

Have you tested the nitrate level of your makeup water?