Continuing nitrate issues

[cjohnson2]

I have a 120 gallon tank we set up in November. 240lbs of live rock, 120lbs of sand. 2 canister filters( fluvel 406) and a reef octopus classic 2000 hob skimmer. Carbon dosing with vinegar 45ml. I alternate cleaning the canisters every week.

I have been trying to get our nitrates down with only minimal success. It hovers around 20-30 according to red Sea test and api test kits.

We have 4 sponges in the tank. My wife insists that's why we can't get the nitrates lower. Is this possible? Any other ideas on lowering the nitrates? Picture is after initial setup.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

What are you doing to clean out the canisters? Also, what is your feeding schedule/livestock situation?

 

[Flippers4pups]

What are you doing to clean out the canisters? Also, what is your feeding schedule/livestock situation?

This^. Also the best way to reduce them is water changes.

Tank looks good, I like.

 

[cjohnson2]

Cleaning out the canisters, I remove the filter media and replace it. I then wipe out each compartment and the walls of the actual canister. Inside each I run chemipure elite, and in one canister I have bio pellets and on the other I have phosguard.

Livestock consists of a yellow tang, 2 clown fish, orchid dotty back, a wrasse, pink spotted goby and a bunch of cuc. ( pistol shrimp, peppermint shrimp, brittle star, serpent star, 3 cucumbers, snails and hermit crabs.

I feed one cube of frozen food and a half sheet of Nori for the tang each day.

 

[cjohnson2]

Oh and I do a 15- 20 gallon a week water change.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Rinse/ drain your frozen food before feeding.

Vacuum your sand once a month, may help.

 

[mcarroll]

That's a lot of live rock for you to be having denitrification issues, IMO. Something isn't working correctly.

And high nitrates are not a problem for anything per se, so I'd back off on the carbon dosing completely and try to relax. We'll get to the bottom of it!

Can you tell us the rest of your parameters?

Can you post a current pic of the tank?

 

[John S.]

Get a bio pellet reactor. This would be my first move.

Another one is an algae scrubber. They work real well.

I use both on different systems and I have issues keeping some nitrates in my system.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Get rid of the canister filters and get a sump. Canister filters are a nitrate factory it holds poop and uneaten food for a week that's your problem. What is the flow like do you blow off your rocks from all the poop?

 

[Ty Hamatake]

Cleaning out the canisters, I remove the filter media and replace it. I then wipe out each compartment and the walls of the actual canister. Inside each I run chemipure elite, and in one canister I have bio pellets and on the other I have phosguard.

Livestock consists of a yellow tang, 2 clown fish, orchid dotty back, a wrasse, pink spotted goby and a bunch of cuc. ( pistol shrimp, peppermint shrimp, brittle star, serpent star, 3 cucumbers, snails and hermit crabs.

I feed one cube of frozen food and a half sheet of Nori for the tang each day.

This has actually got me pretty stumped. You are lightly stocked, you feed light, and you have a massive amount of rock... Where did the rock come from? Have you checked your results with any other tests (i.e. lfs, friend, etc)? The reason I ask, is maybe you're in the weird situation where you actually have a bad red sea kit and when you go to crosscheck with the API you are expecting to see a number already.

 

[cjohnson2]

I will get all the tank parameters today after work. I normally check with the api kits because they take less time and if something seems off I double check with the red Sea.

I do blow off the rock to remove the detritus.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

I am willing to bet if you changes your canisters every 2 days in a week you nitrates would be super low.

 

[McMullen]

Are their problems in the tank?

If not, let it ride! Your livestock will not be affected by nitrates at this level.

I also suspect the canister filters, but it's fine.

 

[cjohnson2]

Here is the current tank specs
Alkalinity 9.5
Phosphate .25
Nitrate 25
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Ph 8.2

Current pic of tank