Managing nitrates in a nano

[glb]

Hi everyone. I have a 12g nano without a skimmer. Filtration is 3 sponges, cleaned weekly, dr. G's nitrate remover and Seachem purigen. I have two clownfish only and a variety of soft and lps corals. I change one gallon weekly. I feed the clownfish daily only as much as they consume immediately. The tank is 4 years old. Corals and fish are happy but corals growing slowly. My problem is that my nitrates keep creeping up. They're between 10-20 right now. I over fed coral a while back which didn't help but I did a 3G water change then. I know the sponges don't help, but I need them to filter out the detritus. I threw in some more dr. G's yesterday to bring the nitrates down. Any thoughts on management of nitrates in a tank this small? I've seen posts about carbon dosing and nopox but I've also read that those are risky with a nano. I wish nano skimmers worked as that would make my life so much easier. More frequent water changes/sponge cleaning would be tough timewise but I'll do them if that's the only solution. Any and all suggestions would be helpful!

 

[MrDJeep123]

What do you feed them? And how much is as much as they'll consume? Fish overeat.
Where do you get your water for the changes?
How much and how often are you feeding the corals and what are you feeding them?


I think it's a mix of feeding too much and not cleaning out the sponges soon enough.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Another thing you can do is siphon out any detritus left laying around on the sand, rock, and any dead areas.

 

[Up2no6ood]

I run a tiny GFO reactor in my biocube and it works great. Made mine out of a large pill bottle from instructions i found online. CPR also makes one for about 50 bucks that has gotten some great reviews. If you have room in the back you could also setup up a tiny fuge with a light and some cheato to help with the nitrates.

 

[glb]

What do you feed them? And how much is as much as they'll consume? Fish overeat.
Where do you get your water for the changes?
How much and how often are you feeding the corals and what are you feeding them?


I think it's a mix of feeding too much and not cleaning out the sponges soon enough.

You're probably right on all accounts. I feed the fish spectrum plus about 3 pellets each twice daily. Coral is reef roids which I haven't done for a month. I have a few snails, one hermit and two peppermint shrimp for cuc's Maybe I need more to keep the rocks clean?

 

[glb]

Oh and I use ro water and reef crystals.

 

[Reefing Madness]

You are not going to be able to Carbon Dose, you don't have a skimmer, and this is vital when doing so.
Easy way to fix your water is to either change more frequently, or change more water a week.

 

[howaboutme]

detritus removal and either getting rid of your sponge or cleaning it every 2 or 3 days...you said it.

 

[glb]

detritus removal and either getting rid of your sponge or cleaning it every 2 or 3 days...you said it.

Thanks everyone. I was hoping there was a legit shortcut to more work but I guess that's what needs to be done. I'll start cleaning the sponges more often and see what happens. I'll step up to 2g water changes/wk or 2 1g changes/week. I'll keep everyone posted and thanks as always for great advice.

 

[glb]

I run a tiny GFO reactor in my biocube and it works great. Made mine out of a large pill bottle from instructions i found online. CPR also makes one for about 50 bucks that has gotten some great reviews. If you have room in the back you could also setup up a tiny fuge with a light and some cheato to help with the nitrates.

Could you tell me more about this? I'm intrigued. I checked out the CPR one and it seems it won't fit in the jbj 12g nano. I'm a DIYer so I'd like to hear more!

 

[Reefing Madness]

GFO doesn't pull out Nitrates.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Thanks everyone. I was hoping there was a legit shortcut to more work but I guess that's what needs to be done. I'll start cleaning the sponges more often and see what happens. I'll step up to 2g water changes/wk or 2 1g changes/week. I'll keep everyone posted and thanks as always for great advice.

Unfortunate downside to having a smaller tank. IMO.

 

[Small triggers]

Do larger water changes...it's no more work than changing your one gallon..I'd do 3g each week...
And if you also have high phosphate then think about something like biopellets...but you could also go to feeding the fish every other day...

 

[glb]

Unfortunate downside to having a smaller tank. IMO.

I totally agree. But everything else about a nano is awesome!

 

[glb]

Do larger water changes...it's no more work than changing your one gallon..I'd do 3g each week...
And if you also have high phosphate then think about something like biopellets...but you could also go to feeding the fish every other day...

That sounds like a good plan. On the plus side, the dr. G's I added yesterday dropped it to 10ppm overnight, so after the water change I'll keep it down where it belongs. I also added some new purigen to help. Thanks again everyone!!!

 

[glb]

GFO doesn't pull out Nitrates.

Oh ok. Only phosphates?

 

[Davesgt]

Ive been running a 10G nano for over 5 years now and have never had any nitrate problems at all. I do weekly water changes religiously every Saturday, and I use Seachem purigen as a skimmer since most nano skimmers are just not up to par. The purigen performs miracles on removing organic materials and dissolved waste from a smaller aquarium. Anytime you can remove visible detritus try to, ive found that a turkey baster is my best friend at this, I can remove the detritus without sucking out excessive water.

 

[Up2no6ood]

Yeah sorry only phosphates I was thinking biopellets for the reactor but without a skimmer I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[beaslbob]

If you have algae in the tank then nitrates can spike up while the algae is consuming ammonia.

Then drop down as aerobic bacteria build up. Usually takes 3 or so weeks.

otherwise you might need more algae like macros to help out.

Basically you have to get the nitrate consumers built up.


my .02

 

[glb]

If you have algae in the tank then nitrates can spike up while the algae is consuming ammonia.

Then drop down as aerobic bacteria build up. Usually takes 3 or so weeks.

otherwise you might need more algae like macros to help out.

Basically you have to get the nitrate consumers built up.


my .02

The only algae I have is the pink coralline. No green that I can see. Coralline doesn't do that does it?