nitrates

T

thumper

OK guys this may sound a bit stupid but, here it goes I have been perfoming water changes and changing filters and using amquel to kill my nitrates but my nitrates just keep soaring what do I need to do to fix this I cant seem to get a handle on all of this can someone please help I am so lost.
 
Can you give us a tad of information about your tank? I have the same issue with my small tank, but it's because I feed heavily.

I would suggest right off the back without knowledge of your tank, feeding, or anything a refugium. They are wondefully beneficial for the whole of the tank.

Give us some background though. :)
 
I have a 55 gal that I habe had up for about 18 months and without a sump, refugium or anything, I only feed 1 of the frozen caplets of the brine shrimp everyday until now and I am feeding 1/2 caplet. For fish I have:

1 yellow tang
2 green chromis
1 javanese damsel
1 blue damsel
1 false clown fish
1 b/w striped damsel
1 anthia

10 cleaner shrimp
1 turbo snail
2 blue leg hermits
 
do a search for a post with the word "Algone" it (would be recent to this past week). Forgot the person posting it but he this porduct removes all traces of Nitrates. No experience myself on the matter, but may be worth the try.
 
thank you spar but my next question would be what would cause them to spike the way they have it is way over the 160 (red) point and still today they are there and I have been doing water changes and such all week.
 
I am in the process of gathering the things to build a sump, but at this time I am running a dual biowheel carbon filter and a filter that a plain carbon filter that came with the tank when I purchased it brand new, and a berlin airlift protien skimmer.
 
Has anything in your tank disappeared. In other words has anything died that you know of or is missing in action?

If none of the above then I would continue what your doing 20% water change tell they get under control

I had the same issue awhile back and used algone and water changes and it knocked it out.

If you dont have a sump I would suggest using algone on a regular basis as it works as an excellent nitrates magnet. You will notice right away that it works like a skimmer. When its time to change the package it smells REAL GOOD. :lol:

But a long term answer for your problem would be to add a sump and a good skimmer to your tank.
 
nothing has changed, just lots and lots of nitrates not sure why tho other than I did start using that dual biowheel carbon filter and I have just learned that this is a nitrate factory. NOW what to do, I am in the process of getting the sump together so I can eliminate all the filters in my tank. I do know that all the corals and things that I do have in the tank all still look very healthy just very concerned about my nitrate jump
 
I am using the SALTWATER MASTER Liquid Test Kit for the nitrates and ammonia and the nitrite and nitrate, the Marine Aquariums Test Lab for the Magnesium and the pH-Alkalinity and the calcium
 
One thing that you can do is ditch the brine.. it has virtually no nutritional value, and the 'juices' that it's packed in will have both phosphates and organic chemicals that will break down into nitrates pretty quickly.

Well, not ditch them, but use them as part of a varied diet. For convenience sake, you could get one of those 'saltwater multi-packs' that has multiple foods in it. Personally, I have that, brine, clams, squid, formula one, formula two, krill, mysis, cyclops.. I take from a different one every day.

For foods like brine, you'll want to thaw the cube, pour the contents into a small dish with RO water, swish it around, then strain it through a net, and then put the solids in the tank, and throw out the water. That'll keep the packing juices from contributing to the problem.

You might also want to get a clip and feed the yellow tang small amounts of nori, since he's not meant to be a strict carnivore.
 
for the tang I do have the clip and he eats the the seaweed selects: green marine algea and i change it periodically to the purple marine algea as well
 
Thumper

Nitrates in the tank are coming from decaying organic matter. That could be too much food in the tank left over and rotting, a dead fish caught in the rocks and unnoticed or some type of filter that is acting as a nitrate factory. You dont say but with Nitrates that high I would guess you have some ammonia and some Nitrite too?

I had 25 reading for a longtime in my 55 DAS tank. I finally took out every single mechanical filter and got real serious about making the puny DAS skimmer works as well as it was able. DAS has an air pump to an airstone system that basically sucks, but it will pull some organics out if functioning correctly. Now I have Nitrate down to 3-5 and that is fine for LPS and actually better for my clam who uses some Nitrate.

Any chemical solution is only temporary. You need to find the source. Take out all mechanical filters or at least replace them with brand new ones. Any bio balls have to go. Blow off your rock and if the detritus does not stay in suspension, add enough flow from powerheads until it does.

Good luck
 
160 PPM nitrate is a dangerously high number and almost sounds like a cycle from a new setup or a long term build from poor water management. In the short term you should consider doing at least a 50% water change today and another in a couple of days and another a couple of days after that. This will get the nitrates to a manageble level, around 20-30 PPM in a week. Then do 10-20% water changes weekly for a month or so while you make the adjustments to the filtration/setup for a long term nitrate control program.

Strong skimming will help to remove organics before they can be converted to nitrates. Still nitrates tend to build up over time unless there is some type export system like a macro alagae planted refugium. Clams and xenia will also help export nitrates at lower levels. Periodic water changes will also reduce the nitrates (use RO/DI water to mix the replacement saltwater).


You are heading in the right direction by eliminating the bio-wheels as they do make/host nitrates. Does the skimmer pull a lot of skimmate? With your given bio-load and tank size I would think it should pull a lot, at least a 1/2 - 1 cup a day of dark stuff. Since you do not have a sump I am assuming that the skimmer is a HOB, some are effective but many are not. If you go to a sump consider an in sump like an ASM G2 for your size aqaurium. Adding a macro algae refugium area to the sump will help with export.
 
How much live rock do you have? I noticed you have a biowheel - those things are AWESOME at converting Ammonia->Nitrite->Nitrate, but therein lies the problem... They're notorious nitrate facroties...

If you have enough live rock, I'd try to remove that biowheel ASAP, I'm betting it's one of the biggest sources of nitrate in your system....
 
here it is I finally got my sump up and running my nitrates are down but there are a few things that i still need I need a powerhead for in the tank to help circulate the water and then I need a bigger than 700 gph powerhead to return my water to my tank this 1 just isnt quite big enough other than that I think all is well. THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your help today and the many suggestions I needed it.
 
Local Home Depot's have beckett pond pump 900 or 1150 gph for $60 or $70 I believe. Best prices compared to the LFS's selling rio's etc. If you are not in a hurry good prices can be found on pumps at E-Bay.

Couple of tips,1)Buy a pump rated higher than the flow rate from the tank to the sump and control the pump output with a ball or needle valve also at Home Depot (pump will slowy pump less due to stuff building up around intake) 2) before using the pump in the aquarium run it in a sink or 5 gal bucket large tub of hot tap water for 10 - 15 minutes to remove an oils used in manufacturing.
 
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