Help with High nitrate levels

[Asantiago]

Hi everyone

I’m new to the page, I have a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium using a pen plax 1000 cascade canister filter with a engineer goby fish, clown fish, esmerald crab, 3 Nassir Snails, and about 6 hermit crabs and some live rock. I’m having problems with my Nitrates as they are around 160ppm. I cleaned the the canister filter on Sunday and didn’t change the pads just rinsed them on some aquarium water that I put to the side. I’m looking to add a sump in the near future but I just bought this filter so I gotta try to make it work. Could someone help me with this as I’m trying to learn everything on my own and have done a lot research without any success ? Do I replace the pads in the chambers of the canister Filter or what should I do ? Any help would be really appreciated!
Thanks

I also attached a picture of the tank in case helps ‍

 

[myinvalidname]

Think about where the nitrates come from... uneaten food and fish waste. So the nutrient input to you tank is food. Fish waste is unavoidable, since they have to eat. But the uneaten food will decompose. If you flow is high enough, then all the uneaten food will in up in the canister filter. You can’t see it but it’s still there decomposing and raising nitrates. That’s why canister filter get a bad reputation. I have one and it works great. But you have to make sure you are cleaning it regularly if you have any mechanical filtration in there. Some people use a canister filter as a media reactor for carbon, gfo, etc. so cleaning it isn’t as much of a regular thing.

The next thing to think about iswhat do you have that consume nitrates and phosphates. And in your tank you have nothing. Macro algae and corals use those to grow. I’m a bit surprised that there isn’t any nuisance algae.

Long story short you probably need to feed a bit less and clean the mechanical filteration within the canister more often. For now you have to do some water changes to bring those concentrations down.

 

[PatW]

Good advice from above. The canister filter takes particulates out but they will break down. You need to clean it about twice per week for it to work at controlling nutrients.

Given your resources, massive water changes are about the only thing that will work. Doing a 50% water change will halve your nitrate levels to 80 ppm. To get to 10 ppm, you need four 50% water changes. Of course, doing a super massive water change will get you there faster, but it might shock the system if the new saltwater is not close to your current temp and parameters like ph, ALK, and salinity.

 

[Asantiago]

Thanks Guys, do I need to change the media pads or should I add something to them or switch them for something else ? What would be the perfect set up with 3 chambers ? Again thanks

 

[Asantiago]

Good advice from above. The canister filter takes particulates out but they will break down. You need to clean it about twice per week for it to work at controlling nutrients.

Given your resources, massive water changes are about the only thing that will work. Doing a 50% water change will halve your nitrate levels to 80 ppm. To get to 10 ppm, you need four 50% water changes. Of course, doing a super massive water change will get you there faster, but it might shock the system if the new saltwater is not close to your current temp and parameters like ph, ALK, and salinity.

How often I need to do these 4 big water changes ??

 

[Opalmoon]

Yo6u also need to change the filter floss (white pad) once a week at the very least. If you have more than one white pad I suggest removing the extra pads. If you're not replacing the filters I suggest rinsing with ro/di water and not your tank water.

 

[RiversideReefer]

i started my first salt water tank almost 2 months ago and once i had it cycled i was reading about 50-70ppm in nitrate.

did about three 20% water change over a period of 3 weeks - that barely dropped the nitrate to about 30-40.

most recently i tested nitrate again (while continuing to perform 20% water change every week) after having introduced seachem matrix and 11oz chemipure blue for about 2 weeks, and now its at 5ppm.

for more info i have a 45 gallon tank with 2 clownfish, 1 blue-green chromis, 1 fire red shrimp, 8 nass snails, 5 hermits, and 5 astrea snails... i feed once a day and feel i do not excessively feed... although once i test for nitrates again and it continues to go towards zero, i will start to feed heavily.

 

[Uncle99]

Your main filtration will be your live rock but since your rock is not yet mature, high nitrates are normal.
Your nitrates will start to come down once your rock matures but you can consider carbon dosing to increase beneficial bacteria population.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Think about where the nitrates come from... uneaten food and fish waste. So the nutrient input to you tank is food. Fish waste is unavoidable, since they have to eat. But the uneaten food will decompose. If you flow is high enough, then all the uneaten food will in up in the canister filter. You can’t see it but it’s still there decomposing and raising nitrates. That’s why canister filter get a bad reputation. I have one and it works great. But you have to make sure you are cleaning it regularly if you have any mechanical filtration in there. Some people use a canister filter as a media reactor for carbon, gfo, etc. so cleaning it isn’t as much of a regular thing.

The next thing to think about iswhat do you have that consume nitrates and phosphates. And in your tank you have nothing. Macro algae and corals use those to grow. I’m a bit surprised that there isn’t any nuisance algae.

Long story short you probably need to feed a bit less and clean the mechanical filteration within the canister more often. For now you have to do some water changes to bring those concentrations down.

Hey man I read this thread as Im kinda in the same boat. Funny thing I went to a hobbyist aquarium store and was schooled (as I have an Eheim Cannister filter as well) about how ****** cannisters can be (need to clean it out more etc), and he mentioned to me about using mine as a "media reactor"... is this how you use yours? And if you do, what do you put in? And if not, what part in the filter requires cleaning more frequently. I bought mine from a local fish store, which is great, but now that Im learning more and talking to more hobbyists Im realizing how not so great cannister filters can be.

My nitrates right now are 25...Im planning on testing phosts but the test kit is in the mail.

Any tips?

Rob

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Hi everyone

I’m new to the page, I have a 55 gallon saltwater aquarium using a pen plax 1000 cascade canister filter with a engineer goby fish, clown fish, esmerald crab, 3 Nassir Snails, and about 6 hermit crabs and some live rock. I’m having problems with my Nitrates as they are around 160ppm. I cleaned the the canister filter on Sunday and didn’t change the pads just rinsed them on some aquarium water that I put to the side. I’m looking to add a sump in the near future but I just bought this filter so I gotta try to make it work. Could someone help me with this as I’m trying to learn everything on my own and have done a lot research without any success ? Do I replace the pads in the chambers of the canister Filter or what should I do ? Any help would be really appreciated!
Thanks

I also attached a picture of the tank in case helps ‍♂

Hey man, Just reading your thread you made. Kinda in the same boat. May I ask what you did since posting? An update?

Robert

 

[Asantiago]

Hey man, Just reading your thread you made. Kinda in the same boat. May I ask what you did since posting? An update?

Robert

Hey, sure!
I started doing water changes every other day! I clean the canister filter weekly. My canister filter is setup with Matrix Bio (this are Little Rock’s that you place inside your filter or sump and creates bacteria that help you eliminate a lot of your nitrates) and a Poly filter ( I replace it weekly as well ) which also help you with it. I also make sure to do water changes and cleaning the filter on separate days to not kill the bacteria in the water. So far my nitrates are at 5-10ppm. Here is a picture of it

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Hey, sure!
I started doing water changes every other day! I clean the canister filter weekly. My canister filter is setup with Matrix Bio (this are Little Rock’s that you place inside your filter or sump and creates bacteria that help you eliminate a lot of your nitrates) and a Poly filter ( I replace it weekly as well ) which also help you with it. I also make sure to do water changes and cleaning the filter on separate days to not kill the bacteria in the water. So far my nitrates are at 5-10ppm. Here is a picture of it

Do mean you clean the filter floss on seperate days? I'm looking to use my canister as a media reactor...i was told to remove the floss and foams and just use carbon...adding a protein skimmer will help to filter more, but i don't have that yet. Dude says I can still keep the mech, but to mostly run just activated carbon...and if I need add things like chemi pure. This would apparenly reduce me having to clean the floss or foams 3x a week...

I dunno...if anyone can confirm that is correct...but that's the jist of what I understood...that way I can replace and maintain the filtration every 1 or 2 weeks as opposed to 3x a week...as I was informed that canisters aren't really good (I didn't know this when I purchased) for marine aquariums as they house nitrates if they are cleaned several times a week (which is not fun)

 

[RobertTheNurse]

*aren't cleaned

 

[Asantiago]

Do mean you clean the filter floss on seperate days? I'm looking to use my canister as a media reactor...i was told to remove the floss and foams and just use carbon...adding a protein skimmer will help to filter more, but i don't have that yet. Dude says I can still keep the mech, but to mostly run just activated carbon...and if I need add things like chemi pure. This would apparenly reduce me having to clean the floss or foams 3x a week...

I dunno...if anyone can confirm that is correct...but that's the jist of what I understood...that way I can replace and maintain the filtration every 1 or 2 weeks as opposed to 3x a week...as I was informed that canisters aren't really good (I didn't know this when I purchased) for marine aquariums as they house nitrates if they are cleaned several times a week (which is not fun)

Yes, I clean my canister filter on Sunday’s that’s means I replace the floss pad, the poly filter and clean my carbon or change it. I don’t touch the matrix bio unless is to rinse them if they are dirty. On my water changes the tank is 55 gallons so I take out about 20 gallons and replace it. So far this seems to be working for me. Once everything normalize I would do water changes every Thursday.

 

[Asantiago]

Do mean you clean the filter floss on seperate days? I'm looking to use my canister as a media reactor...i was told to remove the floss and foams and just use carbon...adding a protein skimmer will help to filter more, but i don't have that yet. Dude says I can still keep the mech, but to mostly run just activated carbon...and if I need add things like chemi pure. This would apparenly reduce me having to clean the floss or foams 3x a week...

I dunno...if anyone can confirm that is correct...but that's the jist of what I understood...that way I can replace and maintain the filtration every 1 or 2 weeks as opposed to 3x a week...as I was informed that canisters aren't really good (I didn't know this when I purchased) for marine aquariums as they house nitrates if they are cleaned several times a week (which is not fun)

I forgot to mention I also I added a reef octopus 100 HOB protein skimmer after my first post. Maybe that helped as well with my results

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Yes, I clean my canister filter on Sunday’s that’s means I replace the floss pad, the poly filter and clean my carbon or change it. I don’t touch the matrix bio unless is to rinse them if they are dirty. On my water changes the tank is 55 gallons so I take out about 20 gallons and replace it. So far this seems to be working for me. Once everything normalize I would do water changes every Thursday.

Oh ok. Some dude told me I should clean the floss 3x a week. That's what got me all confused and stuff. I still have the eheim material running as it was from day 1...tanks been running almost 5 months. I have the mech, filter blue pad, substrat, floss pad and carbon filter pad on top still. The guy at the store told me i only need to service the thing every 3 months. So the first "service" I did was just rinse the white pad under the drained aquarium water. Im so confused. Help lol. This is the pic of how my canister looks lol I just want to get in a routine, know what to remove, what to replace...each week lol

 

[Asantiago]

Replace floss weekly, clean the inside of the canister filter with RODI water Weekly, get a Poly filter 12x12 so you could cut it to fit your filter and replace it weekly. Also get some Matrix Bio and place them inside that canister filter.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Replace floss weekly, clean the inside of the canister filter with RODI water Weekly, get a Poly filter 12x12 so you could cut it to fit your filter and replace it weekly. Also get some Matrix Bio and place them inside that canister filter.

What is poly filter lol. And keep the mech? Take away the eheim balls that are inside and replace with matrix? Also, I still have the carbon pad in. Eheim says to remove after 2 weeks. I left in because isnt carbon good to have? And put the poky filter under the floss? I just bought these...see attachment. Really appreciate this.

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Replace floss weekly, clean the inside of the canister filter with RODI water Weekly, get a Poly filter 12x12 so you could cut it to fit your filter and replace it weekly. Also get some Matrix Bio and place them inside that canister filter.

So...in essence...should I keep the mech and sponge pad on the bottom...change the bio media that came with the canister and replace with Seachem Matrix...use those eheim pads on top of that and put the poly filter on the very top...and replace as you mentioned? Just need to understand how to place everything. And how often should I change that sponge that's on top of the mech? Like I said, I just need to get into a routine and i'm good to go!

Really appreciate this. Its frustrating being so new to this. I can bring a person back to life but I can't figure out marine aquariums right now lol

 

[Asantiago]

Mine is setup: Bottom chamber is Mechanical ) ( Sponge pad and floss pad), Middle chamber is Chemical ( activated carbon and Poly filter on top of it, The top chamber is Bio and that’s where you would put your Seachem Matrix.