can't get nitrate below 20PPM

ryujin · Apr 8, 2014

I have tried just about everything:

Reactors, water change 30% every week, Cheato.

Ammonia is at 0 ppm, nitrite 0 PPM, Phosphate 0 PPM. dynamic protein skimmer, which I have been paying with to get more skim mate...

Also can't get xenia to survive, which according to many thread my water is too clean...

Everything seems to be doing fine...

About to start a algae scrubber to see if i can get it past 20PPM

suggestion please.

PlumCrazy · Apr 8, 2014

size tank? how often and what do you feed? what CUC do you have in the system?

xenia is touchy... i can't keep it either with full a full sps reef

ryujin · Apr 8, 2014

220 gallon, 50 gallon refugium. Approxmitaley 200 gallons of water.
Dynamic reef INS250 protein skimmer.
Aquamax bio pellet reactor
Carbon reactor
Cheato, live rock refugium.
All water change is from RO/Di salt mix, with Tropic marine salt.

feed twice a day

Test kit is API. I have done a control test on the RO/di salt mix before going in the tank and it shows 0 PPM, so I can assume that it is accurate.
everything is 0 ppm, except the nitrate. no algae outbreak either.

mike007 · Apr 8, 2014

You might cut your feeding to once a day. Make sure all the food gets eaten. 20 ppm is not that bad. Are you housing sps or lps? Lps like the water to be a little dirty. I would not trust api test kits myself. Have someone else double check your parameters.

sawdonkey · Apr 8, 2014

What is your livestock load? How long has the tank been running?

RLM60 · Apr 8, 2014

I agree with Mike007 on your test kit. Do you have friend that can double check your nitrate level? If not maybe you can have your lfs check it for you. I've been the the victim of an inaccurate API calcium test that told me I had 540ppm calcium so I had my lfs double check for me with a salifert kit and my calcium was 420. Do you have any algae problems? If not, I'd lean towards an inaccurate test kit.