Can't get Nitrates down.

[Matt Winstead]

Say your system has 250 actual gallons of water. A bit less for air, substrate, rocks, etc. a bit more for the sump. A 40 gallon water change is 16%, so if you nitrates start at 100, then they would be 100*(1-0.16)^n afterwards, with n being the number of water changes you did.
So, 100>84>71>59>50>42>35. So, yes, 32 sounds about right.
Assuming you have sand in there, I’m going to guess it’s really dirty. You can test this by picking up a handful and releasing it back into the tank. If there is a cloud you fail, if things look normal after 5 seconds you pass. I mention this because if there is a large amount of organic matter in the sand it will keep pushing your nitrates up. Digging through the sand when doing water changes is the easy fix for this.

The bigger concern is phosphate. There will likely be a ton of it bound into the rocks, so if you want lower levels you may need to use some GFO to gradually absorb it as it leaches back out.

The good news is that I’ve seen a lot of really nice SPS tanks with 20 PPM NO3. Personally I like 5 PPM as a target. Bad things happen if you run short (ie a hard 0) and the majority of even acros out there will have no issues at 10 PPM. Running at 1 PPM is difficult if your tank runs an excess, and leaves you at risk of pale coral or STN if your system starts consuming it faster.

Assuming those values were correct, the Calcium and Magnesium levels alone would kill SPS faster than the nitrate and phosphate levels IMO.

My current calcium and magnesium levels or previous ? Thanks for that math! Phosphates are 0.4-0.7 running GFO. Siphoning my sand but it was really clean. I guess my Gobi and snails doing a decent job.

 

[Matt Winstead]

Looks like numbers are getting closer. One thing you can try is to run refugium lights longer, it may help reduce no3.

For me no3 was a slow process to correct. Took about 4 months to go from 50 pm to 10ppm. All I did was run refugium lights longer and 15% water changes weekly.

My fuge Kessil runs 24/7

 

[Matt Winstead]

Clearly SPS won't survive in the water with your original numbers. On the other hand you have to find out why your numbers were that high to start with.
Was it as a result of no maintenance or poor maintenance?
You have to slow down now and get a hang of the rate that the NO3 and PO4 increased in your tank and you might come up with an appropriate solution to address.
Please pay attention with the NO3:O4 ratio in your tank as there should be a balance there. Too high or low of one in compare to other could cause issues.
Please also look up on Ultra Low nutrient tanks and how to manage it. It seems thats what you are shooting for and some of your LPS's may not like it. Even a lot of SPS tank holders don't keep such a low NO3 numbers in their tanks.

Ok I was just grabbing numbers off BRSTV and some websites but sounds like 10ppm NO3 is a decent goal to shoot for. My numbers prior were the result of a negligent local shop who was contracted to manage my tank. Needless to say I fired them after I saw my first water tests I ever conducted.

 

[Pistondog]

Growing but really slow. I feed it to my fish. I wish it grew faster. Every time I tried Chaeto it died.

You might need a better light
I have this mounted on top of my fuge, with lego spacers for a little air gap to reduce condensation. I have live rock in the fuge to within 3" to raise the chaeto to maximize par.

 

[Pistondog]

My fuge Kessil runs 24/7

Which kessil, if not 360 get another light

 

[jccaclimber]

My current calcium and magnesium levels or previous ? Thanks for that math! Phosphates are 0.4-0.7 running GFO. Siphoning my sand but it was really clean. I guess my Gobi and snails doing a decent job.

The before numbers were very concerning. Far enough off that I would have assumed test error were it not for the after numbers being reasonable.
10 PPM NO3 sounds fine. I had read your post as targeting 1, not 10.

 

[1ByLand2BySea]

Ok I was just grabbing numbers off BRSTV and some websites but sounds like 10ppm NO3 is a decent goal to shoot for. My numbers prior were the result of a negligent local shop who was contracted to manage my tank. Needless to say I fired them after I saw my first water tests I ever conducted.

If the high numbers were as a result of neglect, regular maintenance should bring the numbers down to desired level with out any additional actions. You may not need to do much more beyond that. Try to get an idea that how much and how quickly the NO3 and PO4 builds up and then you can come up with a proper maintenance plan to address it. Stick with the basics like replacing your filter socks or any other mechanical filter you use frequently. removing the solid waste before it gets the change to break down is the best thing you can do. Tune your skimmer propely and clean the neck and the cup frequently. beyond that and if needed you can utilize the refugium, carbon dosing and chemical filtration keep the NO3/PO4 in check.
Slow and steady is the key.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@Matt Winstead, I used the below link and followed their directions. All I had was Titos on hand, theres different charts for different proofs

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

[elysics]

Growing but really slow. I feed it to my fish. I wish it grew faster. Every time I tried Chaeto it died.

Why do you have your refugium? For pods, to feed the fish etc? Or do you want it to reduce nitrate? Because it wont remove anything if you feed the algae back to your fish, it will just sequester it for a short time before the fish digest the algae and put the nitrate right back into your water.

If you want it to reduce nitrate, throw the algae that you harvest in the trash.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Why do you have your refugium? For pods, to feed the fish etc? Or do you want it to reduce nitrate? Because it wont remove anything if you feed the algae back to your fish, it will just sequester it for a short time before the fish digest the algae and put the nitrate right back into your water.

If you want it to reduce nitrate, throw the algae that you harvest in the trash.

Well, yes and no.

I very often used the algae from my refugium to feed my herbivores. If that algae replaces other foods you would otherwise feed to fish (like commercial nori, etc.) then it will result in reduction of nutrients relative to the alternative.

 

[Matt Winstead]

Which kessil, if not 360 get another light

 

[Matt Winstead]

Why do you have your refugium? For pods, to feed the fish etc? Or do you want it to reduce nitrate? Because it wont remove anything if you feed the algae back to your fish, it will just sequester it for a short time before the fish digest the algae and put the nitrate right back into your water.

If you want it to reduce nitrate, throw the algae that you harvest in the trash.

It doesnt really grow fast enough to do much harvesting it basically stays the same.

 

[Matt Winstead]

@Matt Winstead, I used the below link and followed their directions. All I had was Titos on hand, theres different charts for different proofs

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

Thanks! This is great. Any thoughts on Vinegar vs. Vodka?

 

[Matt Winstead]

The before numbers were very concerning. Far enough off that I would have assumed test error were it not for the after numbers being reasonable.
10 PPM NO3 sounds fine. I had read your post as targeting 1, not 10.

I lost hundreds if not thousands of $ in corals due to crappy maintenance contract service.

 

[Pistondog]

Try the $55 light above. More light for growing.

 

[Darrell Brady]

Have you looked in to a sulfur reactor it really helped my nitrates.

 

[ReeferWarrant]

@Matt Winstead, I just went with Vodka since I had some on hand. I havent really researched the use of vinegar but I definitely saw a positive change with the Vodka.

 

[jccaclimber]

There's a lot of "You need to make this change/buy this equipment" going on in this thread right now.

What we know:
1. The OP's tank was poorly maintained (assumption), and water parameters were off, very off.
2. A series of water changes were performed, and at least for nitrate the results were as expected.
3. The OP would like to successfully grow corals that he was not able to previously.

I don't think we have enough of a history on this system to say if high nitrates are or are not an ongoing concern. If a week from now we get to "My nitrates keep going up and I do not wish to reduce feeding" then we can start to draw that conclusion.

Personally I grow chaeto (not great, but I have to dose nitrate to keep it above 0 and my phosphate is too low) under an H80, so I'm disinclined to say that an H160 is incapable of growing macro, or that another piece of equipment is required (or will make a significant difference) in solving this particular puzzle.

Just because the OP has been stung with the aquarium service classic of "I'll sell you coral I can't keep alive in your tank" doesn't mean he needs to throw more equipment at the problem. Personally I think some time to stabilize, and a bit more data to guide us all, is what this tank needs most.

 

[Sdot]

My fuge lights

 

[fnlyreefready]

LPS tank. Anytime I bought SPS they all died. I'm trying to hit 1.0 or less and .05 or less.

Do you have bio balls in the sump? If so take them out put them in a bucket with a lid lol tank water , shake the crap out of them. Rinse them off with ro water and return them to the sump