Help, nitrates through the roof!!!!

[beaslbob]

Forgot to mention the tank is 2 years old, and only algae I have in there is the cheato, no other hair, slime or diatoms anywhere in the tank. Cheato is growing like a weed on steriods in the sump, but everything looks amazingly healthy.
I suppose it is possible that the new parrotfish, that came in at 7" long, and the added overfeeding might have caused my spike. I am planning on continuing the water changes, and getting other people to test my water and we will see. Thanks for the response.

Bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Give it a little time and see if nitrates come down.

Better to have a nitrate spike then an ammonia spike.


my .02

 

[ReeferBill]

Yeah, I am sure that caused the nitrates to spike, but the nitrates are so high, they must have been up there before. Just strange that it doesnt affect anything, even a new addition into the tank. Going to order more salt, because let the water changes being. I am planning on 20% every 3 days, does anyone think that is too much or too little? I would do them more often, but I only have a 50GPD RODI and I like to heat the water and mix the salt for a good 24 hours to ensure pH and temp is right.

 

[mike007]

Water changes are great but i Don't think that will solve your problem. You need to find the source of nitrate. Water changes will only be a temporary fix and if you don't find the cause you will be fighting a loosing battle. Believe me i have been down that road. Once i figured out the problem i have had great success. Water changes only dilute the water but the nitrates will keep coming back if you don't find the source.

 

[peterthegamer]

Maybe get a phosban reactor.

 

[ReeferBill]

Mike, I know the problem. Its 4 huge fish in a tank that I havent done a water change in for 6-7 months. Plus a new 7" fish, coupled with overfeeding so he got some food. I think that might be the issue really. Nothing else can be a problem. Sand is not sour, or dirty. Thanks for the reply. Thinking about getting a reactor of some kind. Whats the difference between a phosban and denitrator? I dont have any phosphates, is that what the phosban removes?

 

[Budman's Corals]

Mike, I know the problem. Its 4 huge fish in a tank that I havent done a water change in for 6-7 months. Plus a new 7" fish, coupled with overfeeding so he got some food. I think that might be the issue really. Nothing else can be a problem. Sand is not sour, or dirty. Thanks for the reply. Thinking about getting a reactor of some kind. Whats the difference between a phosban and denitrator? I dont have any phosphates, is that what the phosban removes?

yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupppppppp

 

[ReeferBill]

Ha bud

 

[mike007]

I have once had a fish only tank and i overcrowed it and overfed and ended up killing some awesome fish . They are so cool but i went overboard. I have learned through the years to keep things simple. Now i have a reef going on many years and i keep things very simple. I don't use reacters nor do i put alot of supplements in my tank. Recently i have started carbon dosing in small quanities which keep my nitrates and phosphates in check. My personal opinion is the overfeeding causes most of the problems people have with ther reefs. Then then they try all the quick fix stuff that companies sell to fix your problems. I have learned from others that have beautifull reefs and you would be shocked to how they feed there fish. My first thought was my fish are going to starve but not so. Be patient and things will improve my friend.

 

[ReeferBill]

Thanks for the info. I have really reduced the feedings for the fish. They are all quite fat so I am sure the overfeeding was really bad. It is scary because the nitrates are so high, but none of the fish seem to mind. I am going to do the routine water changes until things are in check, and then keep up with them. I hope my fish dont die, and I caught it in time. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

 

[mike007]

Good luck buddy hope every thing turns out okay. Is your tank a reef or fish only? Fish can handle high nitrate levels better than corals. You may have to reduce bioload if things don't get better.

 

[ReeferBill]

Fish only. There are a few RBTAs, tube nems and some leathers, but mostly just fish.

 

[reef life]

Ok, here is my dilemma. I have a 180 gallon FOWLR with a 75 sump. I have a reef octo skimmer, rated for 250 gallons, 2 stage carbon reactor, and half the sump full of cheato that grows on a reverse light cycle from the tank. Probably 350lbs of LR and a 1" sand bed. In habitants are 8" french, 6" queen, 4" naso, 7" parrotfish, 4 chromis, flame angel, sand sifting goby, 2 clowns, sixline wrasse, royal gramma. I checked nitrates and according to my test they are over 160. I use an API test kit. I have to admit I dont do as normal of water changes as I should, but did one 2 weeks ago. before that I did one a few months ago(I know, I know). Anyway, all my fish looks great, soft corals(all leathers) look fine, GSP are good, and my RBTAs look amazing. Also have some tube nems that dont have a problem. I also have an urchin and sea cucumbers that are perfect. I also have zero algae growth in the tank, no slime, or hair or anything. I used the test kit on new water that I mixed up yesterday, and nitrates came back zero. Then tested my nano tank that has 5 fish in there that I feed regularly, and again zero. But my 180 gets red within 30 seconds of starting the test. So here are my 2 questions..
1. Do you think there is something wrong with the test kit? It seems weird that with nitrates that high, nothing is having a problem.
2. I did a water change last night, of 10%, and am planning to do another water change tomorrow night(48 hours later) of 20%. Is that too fast, or will that cause problems, or should I worry about getting my nitrates back on the scale?
Thanks for any advice.Bill

I have a 180 gal with 75 sump also. I used to have higher nitrates also untill I reaquascaped removing aprox 100 lbs of rock and about 1 gallon of crud trapped under rock.(BareBottom). I now have good flow under rock with only a slight nitrates detected.

 

[mike007]

I did the same thing. I had way to much rock and it was cool for a while untill them nasty nitrates showed up. It is too hard to get good water flow and too many places for debris to hide inside rock where you can't get to when cleaning. Things are great now ,as they say less is more.

 

[ReeferBill]

I got a sulfer reactor online tonight. Hope it brings those nitrates down sooner than later. I dont think lots of rock is a bad thing. Sumps are full of liverock and detritus, but also little critters. My problem was lack of water changes, and massive bioload. Now I will have a sulfer reactor online, and keep up with water changes. Hope it works.