Nitrate spike

Nate G · Sep 25, 2015

Looks like I am having a huge spike in nitrate. Did a 5 gal water change today and pumped the water from the bottom of the tank to clean the substrate, but it seems like I am still high. Tested today and it looks to be around 70. Any tips or tricks?

Reefing Madness · Sep 25, 2015

Keep doing 50% water changes daily, until it comes down.
Bigger Skimmer
Algae Turf Scrubber
Sump with Macro Algae
Vinegar Dose
Vodka Dose
Nitrate Reactor

Nate G · Sep 26, 2015

Vinegar dose, vodka dose? That sounds like a Chumbawamba song! Lol! How do you do those?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 26, 2015

I discuss those and other methods here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium

and these have more details:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium

Nate G · Sep 26, 2015

Randy,

Thank you very much for the article. It's very detailed. I will try one of the dosings after I do a little more research.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 26, 2015

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

Nate G · Oct 11, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

Randy,

I have been doing a little research on Vodka dosing and I have a question. Is a protein skimmer required or will a normal filter work?

Reefrookie220 · Oct 11, 2015

If you stirred your sand then that may be your issue here. There are a lot of mixed opinions on the subject but I've always seen huge spikes when messing with a sand bend in a skimmerless tank.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 11, 2015

Nate G said:
Randy,

I have been doing a little research on Vodka dosing and I have a question. Is a protein skimmer required or will a normal filter work?

I'm not sure what you mean by a normal filter. I'm not sure a mechanical filter will do much.

Some people are experimenting with organic carbon dosing without skimming. That relies on other ways to deal with the bacteria, principally being eaten by something else in the tank.

Reefrookie220 · Oct 11, 2015

It's mind-blowing to read some of your articles @Randy Holmes-Farley , to see your absolutely destroy hearsay and rumor in a curt, polite manner without stepping on toes. Hat tipped to you sir.

James7733 · Oct 11, 2015

Nate G said:
Looks like I am having a huge spike in nitrate. Did a 5 gal water change today and pumped the water from the bottom of the tank to clean the substrate, but it seems like I am still high. Tested today and it looks to be around 70. Any tips or tricks?

Are you using RO/DI filtered water?

Nate G · Oct 11, 2015

Forgive me, but I don't know what RO/DI filtered water is. I am using distilled water for top-offs and I buy my saltwater from my fish store.

Oneheli · Oct 11, 2015

I have aways been told that distilled water is dead water.

James7733 · Oct 11, 2015

Nate G said:
Forgive me, but I don't know what RO/DI filtered water is. I am using distilled water for top-offs and I buy my saltwater from my fish store.

No problem if you buy your water from the fish store you are buying either ocean water or thier ro/di water. However I chose to buy a Reverse osmosis deionization filter that hooks up to my kitchen faucet and will produce 150 gallons per day. I only hook it up when I need the do about a 10 gallon water change. This unit is a lot cheaper than paying the fish store around 11 to 12 dollars for a five gallon box of what they say is ocean water. Anyway if you like you can do a bit of research on the RO/DI filters. Nice units can be purchased on eBay as well.

Pete polyp · Oct 11, 2015

James7733 said:
No problem if you buy your water from the fish store you are buying either ocean water or thier ro/di water.

95% of the lfs I have been to only have ro water at best. I always ask to see the unit before I buy any.

djbetterly · Oct 18, 2015

I'm kind of in the same boat as you...only I was dosing nitrates. My problem was the test kit was bad, only reading 1-3ppm and I wanted nitrates between 3-5ppm so I started dosing nitrates. Now my nitrates are really high. What test kit are you using? For whatever reason, and I'm sure someone can chime in, but you have to change at least 50% of your water at once to drop nitrates. Doing small changes seems to have no effect. I've also been told that microbe-lift special blend really helps with nitrates by boosting the tanks nitrifying bacteria. The stuff smells like a sewer farted, but people do swear by it.

3dees · Oct 18, 2015

how big is your tank? 5 gal. wc isn't very much. how much are you feeding? you really don't want to start dosing anything unless you are sure of what your doing and can test for it. are you running a canister by any chance? too small wc's and over feeding are the most common reasons for nitrates. skimmers are great for the health of your tank, but they won't reduce nitrates.

Nate G · Oct 18, 2015

It's a 28g tank. I only feed once a day and the coral once a week.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Oct 18, 2015

3dees said:
. skimmers are great for the health of your tank, but they won't reduce nitrates.

I agree they do not directly remove nitrate, but they do remove organic material that could otherwise break down into nitrate, thereby potentially lowering it over time.