high nitrates

[smitten with ocean life]

hi. can someone help me out with some ways to lower nitrates? it seems like they keep slowly climbing and im not sure at what point i should do something. it seems like there are all kinds of opinions on what is acceptable. mine is currently at 50.2. im not seeing an algae problem at all. but maybe im heading for that?

 

[Lavey29]

Simple weekly water changes will reduce them and increase your filtration export.

 

[Jekyl]

Water changes, removing uneaten food, growing macro.

 

[gbroadbridge]

hi. can someone help me out with some ways to lower nitrates? it seems like they keep slowly climbing and im not sure at what point i should do something. it seems like there are all kinds of opinions on what is acceptable. mine is currently at 50.2. im not seeing an algae problem at all. but maybe im heading for that?

How much water are you changing each week?

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

Add a ton of SPS... and use TM bacto-balance. Say goodbye to your nutrients... or at least this is my issue.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Water changes would solve your issue, or maybe you could give me some of your nitrates haha

 

[smitten with ocean life]

ok thanks guys! i had backed off on my water changes the last while to make sure some of my other numbers were steady. i dont dose anything yet. my skimmer has kind of been acting up lately. it worked great for months then just started pulling real watery stuff that didnt smell bad anymore. now it just foams in the bottom part and doesnt really pull anything. so im hoping my fleece roller is picking up the slack!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I suggest lots of ways to decrease nitrate here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

Nitrate is an ion that has long dogged aquarists. It is typically formed in aquaria through the digestion of foods, and in many aquaria it builds up and can be difficult to keep at natural levels. In the past, many aquarists performed water changes with nitrate reduction as one of the primary...

www.reefedition.com

 

[Doctorgori]

I can’t add a whole lot to RHF’s post except to say that outside of water changes (which I hate) biopellets and/or carbon dosing for me was the only sure fire reduction and it is excruciatingly slow IME

 

[cdemoss01]

I suggest lots of ways to decrease nitrate here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION

Nitrate is an ion that has long dogged aquarists. It is typically formed in aquaria through the digestion of foods, and in many aquaria it builds up and can be difficult to keep at natural levels. In the past, many aquarists performed water changes with nitrate reduction as one of the primary...

www.reefedition.com

Mine are over 100. Can't get a skimmer quite yet although I'm planning on doing my 2nd 10% water change. Any tips?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Mine are over 100. Can't get a skimmer quite yet although I'm planning on doing my 2nd 10% water change. Any tips?

100 ppm nitrate is not an emergency. Some great tanks have that level.

But water changes are a good short term solution, and growing macroalgae and organic carbon dosing are good long term solutions.

Some folks like sulfur denitrators.

 

[cdemoss01]

100 ppm nitrate is not an emergency. Some great tanks have that level.

But water changes are a good short term solution, and growing macroalgae and organic carbon dosing are good long term solutions.

Some folks like sulfur denitrators.

Issue is my LPS HATES it. Hammer is losing color and has branched two new heads. My duncan never took off either still a frag. Had the hammer and duncan for about 2 months now?

 

[GARRIGA]

I wouldn't fix what's not broken. Could cause other problems.

Carbon dosing what works for me, otherwise. Just follow directions and consider starting at half the recommended dosage. Once bacterial slime shows then that's due to overdosing in my experience but luckily quickly goes away once dosing is stopped. No clue if detrimental and haven't heard others mention it is.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

oh wow! ok, thanks randy. i had actually just read that article right before you sent it .

 

[smitten with ocean life]

hmm. 100 makes my number look not too bad!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Issue is my LPS HATES it. Hammer is losing color and has branched two new heads. My duncan never took off either still a frag. Had the hammer and duncan for about 2 months now?

How do you know it is the nitrate and not something else? There’s a new poll I started about how often folks have issues of unknown origin.

 

[cdemoss01]

How do you know it is the nitrate and not something else? There’s a new poll I started about how often folks have issues of unknown origin.

Not sure. I've never tested magnesium LFS never really recommend it. But nitrates are for sure over 100PPM due to a test done.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Not sure. I've never tested magnesium LFS never really recommend it. But nitrates are for sure over 100PPM due to a test done.

Magnesium is not likely any problem. Lots of coral loses are not due to apparent chemistry issues at all.

 

[cdemoss01]

Magnesium is not likely any problem. Lots of coral loses are not due to apparent chemistry issues at all.

I'm not sure. Algae is constantly a problem and my softies are completely fine so are fish excluding my ocellaris not a active clownfish oddly.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Back to the OP's question...

I use a sulfur denitrator. Started using it after doing large WCs for many years, and then tried a couple years of macroalgae refugium that didn't help much.

The denitrator does reduce the need for WCs, for me (saves labor and salt). It works well to keep my NO3 at about 10, with pretty heavy feeding of fish and corals (LPS, NPS). It is easy to maintain.

I assume you're running a skimmer. If not, that's a good tool.

Back in the day, I ran bioballs and an airstone skimmer. Softies and mushroom loved it, and a yellow tang kept the algae in check. Nitrates were high (don't recall numbers) and WCs were frequent. Lower nitrates make softies and mushrooms not so happy. Tradeoffs.