cant get nitrates to come down'

[chrisechh92]

For some reason that i can't figure out why my nitrates are high and wont go down' i did a water change yesterday they were at 25 (used salifert test) And test again today and it stayed the same also have brown algae that wont go away on sandbed i dont feed alot, i feed mysis once a day, i have about 4 fish 1 sandsifting star, 1 urchin, 6 snails'

Alk 7.5
calcium 380
phosphate .02
nitrates 25

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

What kind of filtration are you running? Have a skimmer? Carbon dosing can help lower your Nitrate but go slow.

 

[Jekyl]

For some reason that i can't figure out why my nitrates are high and wont go down' i did a water change yesterday they were at 25 (used salifert test) And test again today and it stayed the same also have brown algae that wont go away on sandbed i dont feed alot, i feed mysis once a day, i have about 4 fish 1 sandsifting star, 1 urchin, 6 snails'

Alk 7.5
calcium 380
phosphate .02
nitrates 25

How large of a water change? A 10% change will only bring them down 2.5

 

[RibbonFish]

use Chaeto with strong light on it in your sump. It will reduce the nitrate fast. If no sump, buy a hang on refugium. Hight nitrate will kill everything, if it keeps going up.

 

[Spare time]

What test kits do you use? Could you take pictures of the algae? Do you use rodi water and if so what is the outgoing tds? 25ppm isn't that bad.

 

[Biglew11]

Phospates at .02 might limit natural nitrate reduction. I try to keep mine aroun .05 to .1 ppm.

 

[chrisechh92]

What kind of filtration are you running? Have a skimmer? Carbon dosing can help lower your Nitrate but go

What kind of filtration are you running? Have a skimmer? Carbon dosing can help lower your Nitrate but go slow.

i have a AIO. one side I'm running filter floss the other side i have GFO and carbon. have a skimmer running 24//7 and cheato refugium i have never did carbon dosing but i was thinking about trying red sea nopox

 

[chrisechh92]

How large of a water change? A 10% change will only bring them down 2.5

yeah i did about 10% should i do larger water changes till it comes down?

 

[chrisechh92]

use Chaeto with strong light on it in your sump. It will reduce the nitrate fast. If no sump, buy a hang on refugium. Hight nitrate will kill everything, if it keeps going up.

i am running chaeto at the moment, the light is on during the night how long should i keep the refugeium light on? will keeping it on 24/7 kill the chaeto?

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

Hight nitrate will kill everything, if it keeps going up.

I'm sorry but that this is just factually untrue. Nitrate toxicity levels to fish are so high, i've never seen them reported in those levels by anyone. Last report I read was 900 plus PPM for sensitive fish..

High nitrates can have a negative effect on some coral. 25 is Well within a healthy range and what a few of the Big Name acro Boutique houses run constantly.

Nitrates here were between 80 and 100.

 

[chrisechh92]

What test kits do you use? Could you take pictures of the algae? Do you use rodi water and if so what is the outgoing tds? 25ppm isn't that bad.

i have hanna checker and salifert kits. i can upload pictures later. i have a rodi system outgoing tds is zero

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

yeah i did about 10% should i do larger water changes till it comes down?

What number are you chasing and why? Are you having adverse effects other than algae? How long is the tank been up? Are we sure this algae isn't just part of the normal uglies?

 

[Jekyl]

yeah i did about 10% should i do larger water changes till it comes down?

2, 30% changes a week would be the most you should do.

 

[Neuratox]

So a few things - questions first.
How long have you been reefing? How long has the tank been up? Has anything potentially died in the tank recently? that you may have been unaware of? This may sound stupid, but have you tested your RO water to make sure that you're not accidently adding nitrate to the tank? I'd recommend checking 2 hours after a water change to see if the levels came down. If not then somethings fishy [ <- see what I did there ].

There have been mentions of not worrying about the nitrates and that the levels are fine. I will point out that, based on post numbers, those who are saying that have a TON more experience than I do in this hobby. With that said, I think it may be possible for VERY experienced reefers to ignore those parameters, but that is because they know the ins and outs and every possible thing that they need to look at to make sure it does not BECOME a problem. For those of us (myself included) who don't have such experience I would never allow my nitrates to climb that high. I would have done exactly what you have here and search for guidance on bringing it down.

I'm sorry, but I don't know how to quote multiple people within a single comment, but for those of you who said that this isn't a problem I would ask you to reconsider based on the OPs response to some of these questions and potentially provide an explanation / rationale.

 

[chrisechh92]

I'm sorry but that this is just factually untrue. Nitrate toxicity levels to fish are so high, i've never seen them reported in those levels by anyone. Last report I read was 900 plus PPM for sensitive fish..

High nitrates can have a negative effect on some coral. 25 is Well within a healthy range and what a few of the Big Name acro Boutique houses run constantly.

Nitrates here were between 80 and 100.

What number are you chasing and why? Are you having adverse effects other than algae? How long is the tank been up? Are we sure this algae isn't just part of the normal uglies?

the tank has been up for 11 months and im trying to lower them becouse im thinking thats why i have algae on my sand bed and want to fix it,

So a few things - questions first.
How long have you been reefing? How long has the tank been up? Has anything potentially died in the tank recently? that you may have been unaware of? This may sound stupid, but have you tested your RO water to make sure that you're not accidently adding nitrate to the tank? I'd recommend checking 2 hours after a water change to see if the levels came down. If not then somethings fishy [ <- see what I did there ].

There have been mentions of not worrying about the nitrates and that the levels are fine. I will point out that, based on post numbers, those who are saying that have a TON more experience than I do in this hobby. With that said, I think it may be possible for VERY experienced reefers to ignore those parameters, but that is because they know the ins and outs and every possible thing that they need to look at to make sure it does not BECOME a problem. For those of us (myself included) who don't have such experience I would never allow my nitrates to climb that high. I would have done exactly what you have here and search for guidance on bringing it down.

I'm sorry, but I don't know how to quote multiple people within a single comment, but for those of you who said that this isn't a problem I would ask you to reconsider based on the OPs response to some of these questions and potentially provide an explanation / rationale.

I've been in the reef hobby for a little over a year so I am new and I would like to learn as much as i can so that i don't give up and sell everything lol I haven't noticed anything that has died. would dead snails raise nitrates that high? maybe i should check the tank today for anything hiding that has died. also, I have tested my rodi water 2 days ago and it doesn't have any nitrates in it

 

[Neuratox]

the tank has been up for 11 months and im trying to lower them becouse im thinking thats why i have algae on my sand bed and want to fix it,

I've been in the reef hobby for a little over a year so I am new and I would like to learn as much as i can so that i don't give up and sell everything lol I haven't noticed anything that has died. would dead snails raise nitrates that high? maybe i should check the tank today for anything hiding that has died. also, I have tested my rodi water 2 days ago and it doesn't have any nitrates in it

I'm sorry that I don't have any more ideas, but hang in there. My son's tank went through an ugly phase starting at about the year mark and lasted 6 months. We powered through doing weekly water changes, using a turkey baster to blow any crap off the rock that was accumulating, and watched the amount he was feeding... he was 11 at the time so he was really upset that it looked like crap for so long. However, now its a beauty and he has even taken, and saved, some of the corals that were in my own tank during my ugly phase (lasted over a year and I finally tore mine down and restarted). I'd say that as long as you continue to see even a little improvement each month, use that as the motivation to push through. I can honestly say that I don't think I could ever leave the hobby at this point. I hope that you're able to fix this and see your tank become everything you ever dreamed it could be.

 

[Lavey29]

Your numbers aren't bad at all. Some algae is still normal in 11 month tank and beyond. Healthy systems have some algae. Water changes are easy but I recommend PNS probio which is a natural bacteria supplement that breaks down organic waste and reduces nitrates. It's also great food source for corals. Dose once per week. It really helped my tank.

 

[xCry0x]

First, 25 nitrate isn't high.

Plenty of prolific sps tanks run higher than that.

I'd quit the gfo and then watch your po4 over a few weeks. You don't want to excessively strip po4, and having a bit higher can help with the nitrates.

If you want to lower them then just feed less, religiously change out filter pads/socks, make sure to clean your rear chambers/dump, I'm also an advocate of sand bed vacuuming. You could also be over stocked with fish if you already do all the above.

Can also skim wetter.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

I'm sorry, but I don't know how to quote multiple people within a single comment,

It's the same as replying to one person. You can reply your text then hit reply on the next comment and it will add it to your text field box and stack them.

but for those of you who said that this isn't a problem I would ask you to reconsider based on the OPs response to some of these questions and potentially provide an explanation / rationale.

What is there that should be reconsidered? 25 nitrates is not arguably High to begin with.

That's the goal level in my nem tank and below where the average sits in my large mixed reef.

Dissolved nutrients in water is a good thing. Our systems Need it. Too low of nutrients cause more issues with new tanks and posters coming here, than high does from my reading.

A few years ago, someone (Brs?) started the ULNS Fad. It came and went because it was causing way more issues than anticipated.

Seeing the number of 25 PPM NO3 brings me to the old adage Don't worry about something until there's something to worry about. If OP's nitrates had been steadily climbing at an unhealthy clip, there's something to discuss there. If it happened to be sitting at 25 with only 10% water changes, There isn't anything to worry about there. Nitrates are easily lowered with larger water changes. It's the input/output maintenance You can mess around with to get your levels steady.

 

[xCry0x]

WWC states 10-30 ppm nitrate.

Brs did a series on higher nutrients + higher alk and the positive effect on increasing growth rates but a negative effect on coloration.

Lower nutrients lower alk had a positive impact on coloration and a negative effect on growth.