Need help dealing with NITRATES

[Joshua Agostoni]

So i have an established take however my job requires long hours and im having trouble managing my nitrate levels its a fish only tank my ph, nitrite, and ammonia are always perfect levels. but my nitrates always raise pretty quick i have a 55 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump.

I have crabs a lobster and snails that keep the sand pretty clean so besides weekly water changes and building a refugium what are some other methods i can use to help keep it controlled i would like to be at a lvl of a once per month water change ( i do a 30 gallon water change when i do them right now they are every two weeks)

some things to know, i have a protein skimmer works great i am going to start changing my filter sock every 3 days instead of once a week. and i plan to set up a refugium so any other tips again except weekly water changes would be helpful

 

[Jl330]

How high are your nitrates? Are you testing?

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

yes i do testing i did a water change last sunday, i did water test about 15 mins ago and they were at 20ppm

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

i know food isnt sitting around the tank i have plenty of tank cleaners, i do know however my filter sock was nasty after a week so i'm gonna change them every 3 days. and build a refugium to help as a start just wondering if there is anything else i can be doing.

 

[Jl330]

That's not that high, what's your setup? I'm at about 20 and I have corals doing fine.

 

[mcarroll]

Unless there's some sign of trouble, I wouldn't worry at only 20 ppm. (And nitrates don't really cause trouble, so that should be unlikely.)

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

Nitrates kill your fish????

 

[Brew12]

No, nitrates are fairly harmless to all but a few inverts. The main reason some people don't like them is that they can cause coral to brown but even that typically doesn't occur until you get above 30ppm. Of course, that is oversimplifying it since flow, lighting, and trace elements also play a big part.

In a soft coral tank or a fish only tank you can have nitrates well over 100ppm with no issues.

 

[PatW]

Nitrates at 20 ppm are ok for fish. Most inverts would be fine. I think many soft and LPS corals would be fine. Sps corals would have problems.

You can lower nitrates by carbon dosing: vinegar, vodka or commercial pellets. The carbon provides an energy source for bacteria that multiply like crazy. In the process, the bacteria absorb nitrates to make their biomass. You need an oversized skimmer for your system to remove the bacteria and the nitrates they absorbed. You can lower nitrates by about a ppm per day.

Another method is a refugium with a light source and macro algae like chaeto. The chaeto grows and in the process removes nitrates from the water. You chuck out some chaeto as it grows.

 

[Dom]

yes i do testing i did a water change last sunday, i did water test about 15 mins ago and they were at 20ppm

20ppm isn't the end of the world, but yes, I too would target lower. That's based on personal preference.

 

[Dom]

i know food isnt sitting around the tank i have plenty of tank cleaners, i do know however my filter sock was nasty after a week so i'm gonna change them every 3 days. and build a refugium to help as a start just wondering if there is anything else i can be doing.

Nasty filter sock? Are you overfeeding?

 

[Dom]

i know food isnt sitting around the tank i have plenty of tank cleaners, i do know however my filter sock was nasty after a week so i'm gonna change them every 3 days. and build a refugium to help as a start just wondering if there is anything else i can be doing.

Refugiums are awesome! I recommend them.

 

[Dom]

Unless there's some sign of trouble, I wouldn't worry at only 20 ppm. (And nitrates don't really cause trouble, so that should be unlikely.)

As I once said in an earlier post, I purchased a NEM from the LFS. The tank from which it came was THRIVING, so you can imagine how shocked I was when I tested the water the NEM came in and fount nitrates to be 160 +!!!! I wouldn't worry too much about 20ppm. With a refugium, I would expect you to come down.

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

Nasty filter sock? Are you overfeeding?

So feeding is something of a problem for me.. my whole tank has in it.

About 10 nasarus snails 1 purple lobster 1 hermit crab 2 emerald crabs 2 clown fish and one tang.

Wh2n it comes to feeding I tend to add more then the amount the fish can eat in 15 seconds cause I wanna make sure the inverts are eating to.. I'm just not sure how to go about making sure the inverts are fed with out have extra food drop to the sand but i do know that the food that does drop is eaten. My sand is clean other then a little bit of ditotoms.

 

[Dom]

So feeding is something of a problem for me.. my whole tank has in it.

About 10 nasarus snails 1 purple lobster 1 hermit crab 2 emerald crabs 2 clown fish and one tang.

Wh2n it comes to feeding I tend to add more then the amount the fish can eat in 15 seconds cause I wanna make sure the inverts are eating to.. I'm just not sure how to go about making sure the inverts are fed with out have extra food drop to the sand but i do know that the food that does drop is eaten. My sand is clean other then a little bit of ditotoms.

You don't feed inverts. They are scavengers and will sift through the substrate and rummage through the live rock for food. That's why they are a clean up crew. Just feed the fish.

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

You don't feed inverts. They are scavengers and will sift through the substrate and rummage through the live rock for food. That's why they are a clean up crew. Just feed the fish.

Well what are they actually eating then. And do I need to feed my fish everyday or should I be on an every other day system

 

[Dom]

Well what are they actually eating then. And do I need to feed my fish everyday or should I be on an every other day system

Feed your fish daily, but reduce the amount of food per feeding. You have to understand; not every morsel of food get consumed by fish. Pieces are missed and end up in the substrate or trapped in the live rock. Thats where your clean up crew comes in. They scavenge the rock and sift through the sand eating what was missed. What are you feeding?

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

I feed pellets mysis shrimp and sea weed

 

[Joshua Agostoni]

Sea weed is a treat every couple of days along with mysis the pellets are the norm

 

[Dom]

I feed pellets mysis shrimp and sea weed

I find that dry food... flakes, pellets and so on tend to elevate phosphates. I limit my use of pellet food to my electronic feeder when I am on vacation only. While you haven't provided quantities of each food, I suspect that you are over feeding.

If it were my decision to make, I would limit the pellet food to auto-feeder use while on vacation. I'd also back off on the amounts you give in daily feeding, but it is hard to say without knowing quantities. Maybe this will help...

In one of my tanks, I have 1 pair of tomato clowns. I feed them frozen brine shrimp; it comes in a blister pack of 36 cubes. ONE cube lasts for three days of feeding. I defrost the cube inside an irrigation syringe and slowly squeeze a small amount into the tank with the return pump off. I watch and wait for them to finish what is in the tank and then add a bit more. OBSERVE. You will be able to tell when they begin to lose interest in eating and minimize the amount of surplus food going into the tank.

I also noticed in your original post that you do 30 gallon water changes. For the purposes of this conversation, lets assume you have 80 gallons of total water volume in your system. When you do the math, a 30 gallon water change equals a 37.5% water change.

I do a 10% water change weekly on each of my tanks and add a dose of bottled bacteria with each change to offset the loss of nitrifying bacteria.

This may be the cause of your problem. You may be reducing your bacteria colony faster than it can grow back.

If it were my decision, I'd do smaller, weekly water changes.

Hope this helps.