Dealing with high nitrates and phosphates

[AaronOB82]

How do you guys deal with high phosphates and nitrates? I have a 55 gallon tank with a Haitian Nem in it and 11 fish, 10 hermit crabs and 2 turbo snails. Im running a 14 inch hang on refugium/skimmer setup with a 3 inch sand bed and cheato. I do weekly water changes of 15 gallons every week with RO that tests for 0 phosphates and 0 nitrates. But yet when i test my water, my phospahtes are at 2.0ppm and my nitrates are at 40ppm. Im getting super frustrated.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Vodka dosing for Nitrates and SeaKlear for Phosphates. Thats how I roll.

 

[AaronOB82]

"Vodka Dosing" sounds pretty sarcastic.

 

[omykiss001]

Vodka dosing is a real way to deal with nitrates. It adds a carbon source to grow bacterial that in turn also eat your nitrates and phosphates and then the bacteria can be removed by your skimmer. You could also use bio pellets, or GFO to deal with phosphates.

 

[AaronOB82]

Im more concerned with my nitrates. Theyre pretty high.

 

[nicodim55]

Im more concerned with my nitrates. Theyre pretty high.

I'm gonna tag along I'm battling the same issue my Nitrates at 80ppmoh:

 

[AaronOB82]

Everyone i talk to says something different or says to do major water changes which i do and the problem is still not solved. How many fish are recommended for a 55 gallon?

 

[omykiss001]

Carbon dosing, I.e. Vodka or biopellets, or larger biomass in your refugium. You can try to reduce the amount you feed so you generate less organic waste. Or massive water changes 50% or more weekly. Remember if you change 1/2 the water it should cut the level in half, if you did another 50% water change it would reduce the new level by half again. In your case you'd go from 40 to 20 to 10, etc. the other thing that would be good to know is your weekly nitrate production. Test then a week later test again the difference is the production rate assuming nothing changes. If you are generating 10ppm of nitrates a week and you do 15 gallon changes you will at best remove 30% of the nitrate you produced so your nitrates will continue to rise. A bigger refugium that can hold a larger bio ***, and or carbon dosing probably your best bet unless you want to do frequent large water changes.

Also is your tank fairly new?

 

[nicodim55]

Everyone i talk to says something different or says to do major water changes which i do and the problem is still not solved. How many fish are recommended for a 55 gallon?

Believe me I share your frustration I have done a complete 100% water change in 2 weeks and Nitrates is still high I'm currently using NoPox as someone suggested to me and so far no help. I'm in my 4th week so I'll see next week if it goes down a bit.

 

[AaronOB82]

Just recently upgraded it so?its been up for a few months. I cant afford a new system at the moment so im looking for another way to deplete this problem. I might try these bio pellets for sure. They sound pretty promising

 

[omykiss001]

Biopellets will require a reactor to run them and a month or 2 to see results. Vodka dosing might be the cheapest, buy vodka that is as cheap as you can get, then Google vodka dosing or search this forum for it lots of folks do it and can give lots of advice on best methods, I don't do it personally. For a tank your size once dialed in will probably require at most 0.5-2ml per day, but get advice from those who do on how to find the right dose. Biopellets and vodka are pretty much growing the same stuff just in different ways. Carbon dosing takes a month or 2 to really get results so it's not a quick fix. It should provide a good long term nitrate control, which is what you want.

 

[Shep]

I would try carbon dosing first, its easier and costs a lot less.

 

[AaronOB82]

What do i need for carbon dosing? Ill pick some stuff up tomorrow.

 

[JimWelsh]

What do i need for carbon dosing? Ill pick some stuff up tomorrow.

You need this:

Vodka dosing for Nitrates and SeaKlear for Phosphates. Thats how I roll.

 

[Reefing Madness]

"Vodka Dosing" sounds pretty sarcastic.

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com
Reefkeeping Magazine - Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium
Vodka dosing | Melev's Reef

 

[afamousjohnson]

Don't quote me here but - do you have to get your nitrates at a lower level or gone to have phosphates start dropping? Or guess I should say - do you have to remove nitrates in order to get phosphates to drop

 

[Reefing Madness]

No, they get eaten also, but its just at a much lower rate than the nitrates are eaten. Thus the reason most would use a GFO or Lanthanum product to eliminate the phosphates.

 

[jasonandsarah]

Vinager dosing and gfo.... just to clarify so to not add on to the confusion, vinager dosing is the same as vodka dosing just vinager is "weaker".
I'd go with vinager or vodka if I was you. Not only do you not need a reactor but you can fine tune your dose down to almost an exact amount so you can have a little nutrients that stay well balanced at low levels. Plus bio pellets have been known to cause cyano and that's never a good benefit....
Carbon dosing will consume nitrate 16 parts to 1 part of phosphates. This is why you need another means of removing the phosphates. Don't drop your levels to quickly! That could be a way worse problem..... Good luck

 

[AaronOB82]

So let me get this straight im using vodka? Like actual absolute vodka? Im stressing out. I may need a bottle to myself after this.

 

[Z06-Hec]

I vodka dose, it works.
Frustrating part is getting the correct dose, it takes time to follow the time table to find the correct amount slowly so that you dont over dose and harm anything.
So read up the time table and start trying it... in the first week you most likely will not see any changes, its once you start testing the higher dose that you see results. week 2-3 usually, even then your still "testing" so your not sure whats the exact dose. Eventually you will get it.
I also use GFO in a canister for the phosphates.