Can't get nitrates down

[goodoleboyz250]

I've had my tank setup for almost 4 months and all parameters are good besides the nitrates..there staying around 20..I check it everyweek before I do my waterchange when its the dirtiest..I change the filter weekly, do a 20 percent wc and blast the rocks.. its a 10 gallon fowlr right now with 2 clowns and a clown goby.. really want to get a couple soft corals but want to get this right first.. I got about 8 pounds of live rock and. And 2 inch sand bed..the sand bed was new and live when I started the tank..any suggerstions
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[Dustin1300]

Be patient and new a couple larger water changes. If you do a 50% water change, nitrates should be 10 and another 50% water change should get you squared away unless you've got something contributing a lot of wastes which breaks down in trates. How much do you feed?

 

[goodoleboyz250]

Once daily..couple small pinches..

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[Reefing Madness]

8lbs of LR, hoping you have a 4g tank, or you don't have enough rock to sustain enough bacteria to remove those Nitrates from your system. 1lb per gallon is minimal, 2lbs on the other hand would be ideal. The bacteria in the rock is what filters your tank instead of using a mechanical filter.
Next, 20 Trates is actuall pretty good, i wouldn't worry about that number, but if you still are heres what you have to look at, if you did a 50% water change, your Nitrates would come down by half, so if you did a 50% on your tank your number would come down to 10.

 

[goodoleboyz250]

Ok I will check it out..I'm not sure if the wieght is exact.. I got some similar rocks in size I can weigh them to see..if I want to add some more of my dry rock that's been sitting for 6 years it shouold be fine shouldn't it?..beings everything is dead on it I don't think there will be any spikes

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[Reefing Madness]

The rock won't be a problem, but if you add to much at one time, you will throw your tank into a mini cycle, from the bacteria growing back.

 

[goodoleboyz250]

So would it be better to get some live rock from a lfs

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[mike007]

What type filter are you using? With the proper amount live rock and a good skimmer you don"t need any other filters. Filter pads and such will cause nitrate problems. Most problems are caused by excess nutrients in water column. Liquid coral foods and overfeeding are the most likely cause. Be stingy with your feeding and keep performing your water changes. I do carbon dosing myself and have very low nitrates.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Only if the Live Rock is Cured, that will make the difference.

 

[mike007]

Yes sir i agree.

 

[goodoleboyz250]

I got a hob filter with standard carbon filter that I change weekely

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[Reefing Madness]

Get rid of the carbon and put cheato in there, with a light on it. That'll help ya out some.

 

[NanaReefer]

What test kit are you using?

 

[goodoleboyz250]

Api master test

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[Reefing Madness]

Oh, dog gone it, I keep forgetting to ask that question. Take your reading and divide it by 4.4, your Trates are already down, you just didn't know it. =)

 

[goodoleboyz250]

Why is that

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[beaslbob]

Get rid of the carbon and put cheato in there, with a light on it. That'll help ya out some.

+1.

 

[howaboutme]

Oh, dog gone it, I keep forgetting to ask that question. Take your reading and divide it by 4.4, your Trates are already down, you just didn't know it. =)

My understanding is that "nitrates" are measured as total nitrate, NO3, which is what API, Salifert use. Other's like Red Sea measure it as NO3-N. The 4.4 is used if you need to compared numbers from 2 different tests. In other words, you don't divide API by 4.4. The number you get from the chart is "correct". It's in quotes because you will probably get different results w/ different tests.

 

[goodoleboyz250]

This is confusing now..

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[howaboutme]

This is confusing now..

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If you look at the API instruction manual under "Nitrate" test and just above where the actual instructions are, you will see a paragraph regarding dividing by 4.4. This means that if you compare the API results to a test that tests Nitrate as NO3-N (total nitrate-nitrogen), you will need to divide by 4.4 to accurately compare the tests. From what I understand, when we talk about "nitrates", it's NO3, therefore the result you get from API (in this case its 20ppm) is your nitrate result.

Yes, it is confusing.