HUH? I have a 240g tank, with extremely big Tangs, using a HOB Skimmer, and I only dose 30mls a day of vodka.
Dealing with high nitrates and phosphates
- Thread starter AaronOB82
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DrBoxedWine
Community Member
I'm a fan of my salifert nitrate test kit, and i really did not like my API test. Even if the APIs are accurate (which i never found them to be) they're a pain to use and not shaking the heck out of the test vile for the full time can throw the results off. It's worth the extra $10 for just an easier test, let alone accuracy.
You could also look into a more powerful fuge light? I uae one of these on my QT tank and it keeps nitrates pretty close to zero: http://www.amazon.com/Finnex-External-Refugium-Breeder-Hang/dp/B008CGWKKM. Granted my stocklist on my QT is nothing compared to what you have going.
What are you using for your filter and how often do you clean/change the pads? The longer pads sit in there, the more poop breaks down and eventually turns into nitrates. I'd try changing them out every 2-3 days or cleaning the foam block.
Do you blow off your rocks? I use a turkey baster from time to time on mine and it's surprising how much stuff i find resting on them. Give that a whirl once a week and see what happens to your nitrates.
What sort of flow pattern do you have? Do you have dead spots? Ever since i put two MJ1200s on the top part of my tank blowing across the top to create sort of a poor man's Gyre effect, my dead spots have basically completely gone away and the tank is much cleaner (and i notice my filter pads are much dirtier).
Vodka/Vinegar dosing are not bad options either, from what I hear, but there are bunch of different ways to achieve the same thing. If you go that route, a $70 BRS dosing pump could automate this except for filling up the container every so often.
When i first set my tank up, i had high nitrate issues as well. I found i hadn't tuned the skimmer properly and it wasn't working to it's full effect. Correcting this made a massive difference.
You could also look into a more powerful fuge light? I uae one of these on my QT tank and it keeps nitrates pretty close to zero: http://www.amazon.com/Finnex-External-Refugium-Breeder-Hang/dp/B008CGWKKM. Granted my stocklist on my QT is nothing compared to what you have going.
What are you using for your filter and how often do you clean/change the pads? The longer pads sit in there, the more poop breaks down and eventually turns into nitrates. I'd try changing them out every 2-3 days or cleaning the foam block.
Do you blow off your rocks? I use a turkey baster from time to time on mine and it's surprising how much stuff i find resting on them. Give that a whirl once a week and see what happens to your nitrates.
What sort of flow pattern do you have? Do you have dead spots? Ever since i put two MJ1200s on the top part of my tank blowing across the top to create sort of a poor man's Gyre effect, my dead spots have basically completely gone away and the tank is much cleaner (and i notice my filter pads are much dirtier).
Vodka/Vinegar dosing are not bad options either, from what I hear, but there are bunch of different ways to achieve the same thing. If you go that route, a $70 BRS dosing pump could automate this except for filling up the container every so often.
When i first set my tank up, i had high nitrate issues as well. I found i hadn't tuned the skimmer properly and it wasn't working to it's full effect. Correcting this made a massive difference.
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JoseNovoa
Community Member
How long have your tank been running? Do you use RO/DI water for water changes?
Before taking any actions you should found the source of the problem, maybe too much livestock...vodka dosing works, but you should start slow...1 ml every day, see how it goes...if nothing changes increase the dose and so on...you could use Absolut, but I'll go cheaper, Smirnoff work's just the same.
Good Luck
Before taking any actions you should found the source of the problem, maybe too much livestock...vodka dosing works, but you should start slow...1 ml every day, see how it goes...if nothing changes increase the dose and so on...you could use Absolut, but I'll go cheaper, Smirnoff work's just the same.
Good Luck
ayhanyildiz
New Member
large refugium
I am pretty new in this but I have been doing pretty good for over 1 year. I have tried few different system but best and easiest so far for me is large refugium with 24 hours light on and carbon and PhosGuard mix in bag. Only for once I got nitrates level going up that time my refugium was empty for month. I have pretty steady zero level nitrates and phosphate. My setup is almost 100 gallon with 20 fishes, tons of corals and many many inverts.
I am pretty new in this but I have been doing pretty good for over 1 year. I have tried few different system but best and easiest so far for me is large refugium with 24 hours light on and carbon and PhosGuard mix in bag. Only for once I got nitrates level going up that time my refugium was empty for month. I have pretty steady zero level nitrates and phosphate. My setup is almost 100 gallon with 20 fishes, tons of corals and many many inverts.
