High nitrates 160ppm+

[ZaydRossi]

Hey all, Im fairly newish to reefing i have had my tank for about a year and a half my tank is a mini reef 160L. My reason for posting here is because my nitrates have skyrocketed over the past 1-2 months to 160+ppm. I did not do a water change for 6-8 weeks so this is what caused it most likely. Unfortunately I had an emergency which meant i couldn't tend fully to the tanks needs, but everything is now better in life so i can tend to my tank full time again. I have been fighting this battle now for about 2 weeks with very minimal change in nitrate PPM. I started to dose daily Aquaforest -NP pro and Pro Bio S 8 days ago and haven't noticed much or any change. Also For 2 weeks now i have been also dosing Nitraphos minus to the tank daily (@recomended dose of 3ml per 100L if nitrates are over 10ppm) with little to no change in ppm. My protein skimmer is set to a wet skim and produces a heap of skimate in a day (i empty it every 3rd day). I have vacuumed the sand/rock to remove organic waste and cleaned all pumps + filter sock. I have been doing a 35% water change ever 2nd day (recommended by my LFS).

Livestock in tank:
1 Blue velvet damsel
2 Blue green Chromis
2 Pijama Cardinals
1 sixline wrasse
1 cleaner shrimp
2 Gold banded coral shrimp
1 Brittle star
A few zoas, 4 mushrooms and a blasto

Any Suggestions would be much appreciated because i feel like i have really failed here and dont want anything to happy to my tank mates.

 

[blaxsun]

I'd try NOPOX. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully.

 

[BadSquishy]

What test kit are you using?

 

[mdb_talon]

I would not dose nopox unless you stop NP pro.

You dont mention feeding, but reducing that is your best bet(with big WC) to significantly reduce nitrates in a short time. If you are doing large WC already and not seeing any significant change to nitrate over a couple weeks then my guess is either faulty tests or overfeeding.

I would cut back to just a very small amount of food for the next week.

 

[DinoMagnet]

Is it an aio tank? When you do water changes do you siphon the chambers in the back?

 

[ZaydRossi]

Thanks for your suggestions. To answer your questions. I have been feeding 2 cubes of frozen myasis for 2 weeks. Skip. Day every second day. My tank has a sump and I have cleaned that as much as possible. I am using an api test kit. I have also bought a new one and some results.

 

[Lowlandreef]

I think overfeeding is your issue. With 6 fish I would feed max 1/2 cube of frozen a day and maybe even less. I saw your tank is 160 liters (~42 gallons), so definitely cut back on feeding big time.
A general rule of thumb is feed as much food as the fish can eat in a couple of minutes. You can also divide the food over the day. For instance feed 2 times a day what the fish can eat in 1 minute.
Turning off all the pumps while feeding can also help in the fish eating everything. When the pumps are on, some food can be blown in the rocks and break down in nutrients.

You can also try to do a few larger waterchanges (of around 50%) the next week.
Hopefully this will help!

 

[ZaydRossi]

I will try and do a 50% water change today and see what that brings me. How long would you say to not feed the tank?

 

[Lowlandreef]

I will try and do a 50% water change today and see what that brings me. How long would you say to not feed the tank?

I would still feed the tank, but just a lot less and only one time a day. Try to feed as much as the fish eat it in 1 minute. You can always put in some more food if they eat it in 30 seconds, removing is harder to do when they don't eat it in 1 minute.

 

[ChaosAquaculture]

what test kit are you using and how often do you feed your fish? - kali

 

[lagnew904]

I had an issue similar around 60 ppm. I just did a 50% WC every 3rd day for a week and it put me where I need to be. I'd suggest doing larger changes to get ahead of it quick and save on salt cost.

I made the mistake of alot of 10% water changes and used almost twice the water it would have taken to do 3 large changes.

 

[ZaydRossi]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone. Its starting to come down.