Nitrate help please

[Ash321]

Hi just bought a second hand tank with livestock. Been set back up for a week tomorrow and my nitrate appears to be around 50ppm.

Tank is a ea900reefpro
Bubble magus5 skimmer
3 wave wakers
Tmc return pump
A load of live rock
A phos reactor

Just need some advice on getting it down.

have set up a refiguim today also. So hopefully long term that will help.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Most likely the remanents of a mini cycle (ammoina from die off).
Bottled bacteria, then water changes.

Test the Po4 too to make sure you don’t strip it too hard.

It’ll take some time to back to normal.

 

[jda]

One measure of patience after a move.

One measure of water changes and routine maintenance.

Another measure of keeping the skimmer clean and working well.

Test again after a month and see where you are at.

 

[Ash321]

Thanka guys I just need to careful adding bacteria due to the livestock. Which all looks great btw. Also the test kit is old ao il grab a new one asap

 

[Susan Edwards]

adding something like biospira shouldn't harm your lifestock but will take care of any ammonia and nitrites if present. They even recommend using after water changes. Of course, to sell more <g>

 

[Ash321]

adding something like biospira shouldn't harm your lifestock but will take care of any ammonia and nitrites if present. They even recommend using after water changes. Of course, to sell more <g>

Thanks Will have a look on the weekend see of my lfs sells something similar

 

[EmptyWallet]

Yeah bottle bacteria is pretty safe. I was amazed with how effective Red Sea NoPox was at reducing Nitrates, I went from 10 to 1 in a few days and have never had an issue since. If you read reviews on BRS, Amazon etc. hundreds of people agree

 

[Ash321]

I have

Yeah bottle bacteria is pretty safe. I was amazed with how effective Red Sea NoPox was at reducing Nitrates, I went from 10 to 1 in a few days and have never had an issue since. If you read reviews on BRS, Amazon etc. hundreds of people agree

i have used NoPox before many years ago . Im hoping my tank will settle down once it calms down. I am planning on moving onto sps once my water is where it needs to be.

 

[jda]

You already have bacteria in your tank. They will multiply quickly on their own if they need to (if there is enough food for them).

 

[Ash321]

You already have bacteria in your tank. They will multiply quickly on their own if they need to (if there is enough food for them).

What food should they be recieving? I feed pellets mainly and additonal sea weed and mysis

 

[jda]

Ammonia and nitrite are their food.

 

[Susan Edwards]

The bottle bacteria just takes care of it faster. If he had a lot of die off and is going through a mini cycle, the stuff in a bottle will keep things safe for the livestock he has if he doesn't have enough to deal with the higher levels of ammonia and nitrites. Once everything settles, then he'll have enough to deal with the daily changes.

You can order on amazon. Amazon prime is my best friend as there are no lfs to get supplies. And the cost of this hobby, amazon is good as prices lower than what a store usually charges.

 

[Ash321]

I

The bottle bacteria just takes care of it faster. If he had a lot of die off and is going through a mini cycle, the stuff in a bottle will keep things safe for the livestock he has if he doesn't have enough to deal with the higher levels of ammonia and nitrites. Once everything settles, then he'll have enough to deal with the daily changes.

You can order on amazon. Amazon prime is my best friend as there are no lfs to get supplies. And the cost of this hobby, amazon is good as prices lower than what a store usually charges.

actually have some prime in my stash from before lol. Just tested nitrate again new test kit in date still easily 50ppm on salifert

 

[RCS82]

I agree with jda, we're past the adding beneficial bacteria stage and all is needed is some patience and some healthy water changes. Nopox or carbon dosing would be a long term solution but I would get the nitrates down with some water changes and then see how your fuge manages the rest.

 

[jda]

Most bottle bacteria is snake oil, IMO, and lots of them are dead in the bottle - they cannot live forever without oxygen and food. Have you ever used a microscope to see if any are even alive? If they are alive, then the bottle is full of food, organic carbon and other stuff that you add to your tank as well. Besides, what do you think happens to the extra bacteria when the ammonia and nitrate are back down to zero... they die and become part of the problem contributing to ammonia and nitrate. There are some that are OK for an initial cycle, but in a tank that was fine and now has a mini-cycle, there is enough in there to multiply, but it takes a bit for them to catch up. I would not interfere with this by adding who-knows-what to your tank.

I need to up my suggestion above... two measures of patience might be required.

 

[Ash321]

Phos isnt even traceable also

 

[RCS82]

Do your fish look to be doing fine after a week?

 

[Ash321]

Most bottle bacteria is snake oil, IMO, and lots of them are dead in the bottle - they cannot live forever without oxygen and food. Have you ever used a microscope to see if any are even alive? If they are alive, then the bottle is full of food, organic carbon and other stuff that you add to your tank as well. Besides, what do you think happens to the extra bacteria when the ammonia and nitrate are back down to zero... they die and become part of the problem contributing to ammonia and nitrate. There are some that are OK for an initial cycle, but in a tank that was fine and now has a mini-cycle, there is enough in there to multiply, but it takes a bit for them to catch up. I would not interfere with this by adding who-knows-what to your tank.

I need to up my suggestion above... two measures of patience might be required.

Lol i do have plenty of patience and a 6 month old baby to also look after so leaving it be isnt affecting me

 

[Ash321]

Do your fish look to be doing fine after a week?

Yeah all perfect no signs of anything

 

[jda]

Unless you have a Hannah Ultra Low Phosphorous Checker, then do not worry about phosphate. You have some... it is just really had to test with test kits.