High nitrate

M

mardigras

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my nitrate is high in my reef tank ammonia and nitrite are both 0 I have done and 10% water change and have another 20% change ready for in the am any ideas on how to lower it more do I need a different slimmer?
 
Mardigras, how old is the tank? How big is the tank (gallons of water)? What skimmer are you using? What lights are you running? Is there algae growth?
 
Tank is about 6 years old no page growth at all it has a reef octopus but it just don't seem to be pulling much skin mate and have had trouble out of the pump before so idk if maybe that was it all led lights and yes pretty sure results are right I have tested several times and same result each time 
 
Did you use a different test or same test? Petsmart tests water for free. "[Protein ]<strong style="max-height: 999999px;color: #222222;font-family: Roboto-Regular, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 18px">skimmers</strong>[ help maintain low nitrate levels by retarding nitrate buildup. They ]<strong style="max-height: 999999px;color: #222222;font-family: Roboto-Regular, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 18px">remove</strong>[ organic waste before it has a chance to break down and release nitrogen compounds. The use of a protein ]<strong style="max-height: 999999px;color: #222222;font-family: Roboto-Regular, HelveticaNeue, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 18px">skimmer</strong>[ is essential in reef aquariums where a very low nitrate level is crucial for coral health."] I've been wrong before but, if I am reading that correctly you should have higher nitrite rates or at least had if it were the skimmer....
 
yes it's the same test but one of my corals don't look to good all the rest look fine which is y it sparked confusion and concern 
 
Step 1 make sure the test is right.Step 2 test the skimmer in an alternate environment or turn off the skimmer for a few days and see how the results change... Some other things that come to mind is there are 2 bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle... Is it possible some event happened to disturb them? Like a toxic event or sand bed upheaval. Have you been dosing any antibiotic? Have you added anything new to the system? Has anything died recently? Skimmer is the easy answer but if it was working last week why is it not working today? My previous tank had a toxic episode due to sulfur build up in the 4+" sand bed with plenum.... It wiped the good bacteria out first....
 
It is about 2 inches thick I would say and one of my other tangs was picking on them! I will try vacuuming it tomorrow with the next water change 
 
How many fish total do you have?I found out my nitrates were very high recently and started doing 20% water changes every other day and testing every other day and they are going down slowly. I also started up a biopellet reactor but hoping that will take care of the long term. I have also started to dose MB7 each week as well.
 
Well, I read about Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter years ago and the importance of a 4"+ sandbed. One of the bacteria is anaerobic meaning no air. I believe that is the one that breaks down Nitrate??? Not really sure on that but, you could read:  http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/rs/feature/index.phpAnd look up DSB (deep sand bed). 3 things1 find the fish remains2 check your skimmer3 read up on the bacteria.If your sand bed is not large enough you can either scrap your tank and make it deeper/ start your cycle all over or go with a mechanical filter - filter floss or sand filter... I'm sure there is another fix but, it's a little early for me...
 
You say "high".  What is the actual value?  I've seen people panic at 5 PPM, and others say 40 is normal.  A picture of the tank would help as well.
 
20ppm-40ppm is normal for a reef. 0-60ppm isn't toxix per say but not ideal... More than 60 is time to look at fixing something... But, this good just be some dead fish taking too long to break down or a bad test...
 
It was super high like darker than the highest mark I did water changes it has came way down I have it down to about 15-30ppm now I got a new skimmer and it is pulling out some nasty skimmate so I'm thinking that was 90% of my problem it has pulled out more over night than my other one did in 3 weeks I will keep updated
 
<hr />Nitrate levels down below 20ppm now with new skimmer and lots of water changes and the leather is looking good once again luckily I look at my tank closely all the time and noticed the behavior change before I lost everything thanks guys 
 
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