Newbie, confused about nitrates

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy I have an aluminum screen that I made to keep my fish in the tank (if I ever get any in there lol)... Is it ok if the aluminum momentarily touches the water until the system hits it's rhythm and balances out...water level drops in main display?

You sure it is aluminum? I wouldn't want much exposure of aluminum to the water, but it might be nylon or other sort of nonmetallic material.

 

[Fishinwall]

You sure it is aluminum? I wouldn't want much exposure of aluminum to the water, but it might be nylon or other sort of nonmetallic material.

Oh gosh... Pretty darn sure it is aluminum....from lowes...screen making parts.

Finally... Down to 20ppm.... Honestly I thought and wished it would be lower, but I'll take it. Geez

 

[Fishinwall]

It's not the screen... It's the frame.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Oh, yes the frame might be aluminum. I'd personally not want it getting into the water, but it might not be an issue. Many folks use aluminum oxide phosphate binders, and most appear to not have a problem from them even though I think some aluminum is released.

 

[Fishinwall]

Ok I can keep it out of the water...no problem. Hopefully if there's an occasional splash it won't be a problem.

 

[Mike in CT]

Just to chime in with my experience using dry rock. I think it just takes a lot longer to get adequate numbers of nitrate eating bacteria vs traditional live rock. I started a 75 g with very load bio load and my nitrates went off the charts with nitrates (using dry rock) and no amount of water changes seemed to help. After changing out 40 gallons a time multiple times in a few weeks, and not seeing hardly any change, I gave up and slowly started vodka dosing.
Finally after 3 or 4 months my nitrate levels finally came down to just about zero. I slowly weaned it off vodka and my nitrates will stay below 10 or so depending how much water I change out.

 

[Fishinwall]

Just to chime in with my experience using dry rock. I think it just takes a lot longer to get adequate numbers of nitrate eating bacteria vs traditional live rock. I started a 75 g with very load bio load and my nitrates went off the charts with nitrates (using dry rock) and no amount of water changes seemed to help. After changing out 40 gallons a time multiple times in a few weeks, and not seeing hardly any change, I gave up and slowly started vodka dosing.
Finally after 3 or 4 months my nitrate levels finally came down to just about zero. I slowly weaned it off vodka and my nitrates will stay below 10 or so depending how much water I change out.

What corals are you keeping now? It may be a while before I try a coral...I don't even know where to start there.
Do you have a tank thread?

 

[Mike in CT]

I started with an assortment of coral frags... Only the strong survived.
Most of the soft corals survived, some struggled a bit , but most are growing well now. My frog spawn and hammers shrunk up and lost a few heads, but I knew things were headed in the right direction when they started inflating more and growing new heads. I would recommend getting a few of the easier corals and see how they do. I just wouldn't invest in anything pricey right now until your tank stabilizes. Of course now I'm dealing with a phosphate problem, so there are always challenges to overcome.