Nitrate sit at 25-50 need help

[Saisori]

I have a 130G tank that been seeing high Nitrate for the past month. Been testing every other day with salifert test kit.

The tank is a few years old now. I have 6 fish only, 2 wrasse, a clown, 2 goby, and a firefish. I feed a pinch of flakes/mysis alternating every other day.

My current regiment is 6ml of nopox, increasing by 2 ML every 3 days.
Phosphates are around .02 and .05
Also dosing Microbacter7 and Reef Energy.
Skimmer been set to skim pretty wet.

some thing I've notice is there an overwhelming amount of spagehtti worms (not sure) in the sand bed. Some say this is a sign of over feeding?
Trying to get an idea if this is a good start and how to go forward.

 

[laverda]

I would be careful with increasing the nopox too much. I find an ATS works very well at reducing nitrates and phosphates. In your case you may have to add phosphates before you get you nitrates to your goal. You can build an an ATS for Under $30 ATS

 

[blasterman]

Throw some mushrooms in there. They will love it. With FO tanks I've had high nitrate values with no issues. Soft corals and xenia will grow like crazy.

Straight sugar dosing will knock it down fast.

 

[laverda]

Depending on what you keeping you nitrates may not even be a problem. Bubble tip anemones love high nitrates as it is a food source. Leathers and zoas and a few others do well in high nitrates.

 

[Saisori]

So I've been dosing for about 3 months with nopox but doesnt seem to be successful. Ran up to 12ML a day. Is there any other parameters I should check to assist with this or should I switch to new methods? I've also seen slime (white/brown). Read this is an indication it could be over dosing and bacteria bloom. I was dosing 18ML but reduced it to 12ML.

 

[Jekyl]

Switch to frozen foods. The processed stuff can add more nutrients than real food does. I'm in the same boat as you and got mine in order with nopox and water changes.

 

[saltybees]

dose phyto?? might help lower it.

 

[Saisori]

Switch to frozen foods. The processed stuff can add more nutrients than real food does. I'm in the same boat as you and got mine in order with nopox and water changes.

I'm actually feeding every other day and just once at that. I have a very small bio load from fish.

 

[sam2110]

Is your test kit good?

 

[Saisori]

Is your test kit good?

I'd assume so, I have 2 red sea and 1 salifert.

 

[Saisori]

If I had high nitrate for awhile, could my live rock soaked that in and now is just leeching it out?

 

[Aqua Man]

high nitrate for awhile

It’s possible that your rocks are full of organics if they are not blown out occasionally. Turkey blast your rocks at all?

Fish only or do you have coral also?
Curious what salt you’re using?
Alga Issues?

I’ve not used nopox, I have heard it can take a few months to start working.

 

[Saisori]

It’s possible that your rocks are full of organics if they are not blown out occasionally. Turkey blast your rocks at all?

Fish only or do you have coral also?
Curious what salt you’re using?
Alga Issues?

I’ve not used nopox, I have heard it can take a few months to start working.

Havnt cleared the rocks in awhile. I have coral. A few torches and tons of zoas.
I use Fritz salt.
No algae issues beside the small patch of green growing on the rocks.

 

[arking_mark]

I have a 130G tank that been seeing high Nitrate for the past month. Been testing every other day with salifert test kit.

The tank is a few years old now. I have 6 fish only, 2 wrasse, a clown, 2 goby, and a firefish. I feed a pinch of flakes/mysis alternating every other day.

My current regiment is 6ml of nopox, increasing by 2 ML every 3 days.
Phosphates are around .02 and .05
Also dosing Microbacter7 and Reef Energy.
Skimmer been set to skim pretty wet.

some thing I've notice is there an overwhelming amount of spagehtti worms (not sure) in the sand bed. Some say this is a sign of over feeding?
Trying to get an idea if this is a good start and how to go forward.

I'm in a similar situation. However, tank is 4 months old and PO4 goes between 0 - 0.09 mostly based on feeding. Nitrates, however are pretty much locked in at 25ppm. I've been carbon dosing Nyos Zero for several weeks with no noticeable impact. I do a 1% daily AWC and have a slowly growing refugium (probably limited by low PO4).

Now I wouldn't call 25ppm high, just above my target of 10ppm or less. I wouldn't care at all if my corals were all thriving.

I'm thinking of trying a couple of things to lower Nitrates.
1. Switch to another carbon source (Vinegar)
2. Adding more bacteria to the tank (Vibrant)
3. Get another nitrate testing kit (I'm using Nyos)