Nitrate won't go down

[Donaldf973]

Tested the sand and so far only 5 ppm so hopefully it stays that way and isn't a major contributor to the nitrate.

 

[Zack K]

Tested the sand and so far only 5 ppm so hopefully it stays that way and isn't a major contributor to the nitrate.

You say that, but then if it isn’t the rock, sand, or salt, then either your water supply is the culprit or their is something dead in the tank.

 

[reefer7]

How new is the tank? I just fought a nitrate problem. Red Sea nopox brought it down. I added more rock and now I’m good. May tank has been running for a couple years. Nopox works great though.

 

[Donaldf973]

Found it- dead zebra snail buried under the rock spent all day searching for a missibg snail. A weeks worth of rot... ******* snails. Anyway, now that I figured out the culprit I know water changes are definitely underway this week.

 

[Zack K]

Found it- dead zebra snail buried under the rock spent all day searching for a missibg snail. A weeks worth of rot... ******* snails. Anyway, now that I figured out the culprit I know water changes are definitely underway this week.

That could be a good reason for why the nitrates. I’m just surprised you keep a head count on your snails![emoji6]

 

[Donaldf973]

I keep track of everything that goes in I usually write everything down and keep logs lol.

Had the hight nitrates before the coral and snails but at least I can attribute the nitrates not coming down to the dead snail...hopefully.

 

[reefer7]

I don’t think one snail would do it. I have snails die all the time....

 

[reefer7]

Well.... depending on the tank size

 

[Donaldf973]

2 inch chinese zebra snail fead for about a week now in a 20 gallon.

 

[Zack K]

2 inch chinese zebra snail fead for about a week now in a 20 gallon.

Thats a very good sized snail. Especially in a 20 gallon. I would say that is a safe assumption to your nitrate problem.

 

[Donaldf973]

So, something crazy happened last night- nitrates dropped between 0-5ppm out of nowhere. I've been carbon dosing 3 weeks vsv and today they magically disappeared...all this fuss over crazy high nitrate. But, it helped make me more proactive in my husbandry, try different approaches and figure out I have **** water and need to stick to rodi or distilled. Also, learned what happens when nutrients are stripped too fast-sometimes dead sps.

 

[Zack K]

Snails Fault, I swear[emoji6]

 

[Donaldf973]

******* Snail and crappy well water my fault in the end. But now i just need to get salinity to proper levels and I'm good to go... hopefully lol.

 

[SDReefer]

Good luck! I am also battling high nitrates and hope that vinegar dosing and macroalgae will help bring the levels down.

 

[Donaldf973]

Good luck it'll work out it took 3 weeks for the vsv to kick in. I'm also running 8 Marinpure spheres in an Aquaclear 50 filter on the lowest setting(40-50gph) so that might have kicked in with the carbon dosing as a denitrification filter. I'd pull it off to see if that's what dropped nitrate but affraid to screw with anything right now now lol.

 

[SDReefer]

Good luck it'll work out it took 3 weeks for the vsv to kick in. I'm also running 8 Marinpure spheres in an Aquaclear 50 filter on the lowest setting(40-50gph) so that might have kicked in with the carbon dosing as a denitrification filter. I'd pull it off to see if that's what dropped nitrate but affraid to screw with anything right now now lol.

What color is your skimmate? Mine is a dark brown; just asking since it's not a different color since I've started dosing.

 

[Donaldf973]

How big's your tank, whatcha dosing, how much and what's your skimmer?

First pick is the color I got the first 2 weeks I started dosing. Second is of the past week (week 3).

 

[SDReefer]

Good, we have the same color skimmate. It's a 110 gallon stock tank with a wood airstone driven skimmer. So far, I've only dose 5% white vinegar (60 mL/day), Kent Magnesium (around 110 mL once), and ESV Alk (around 200 mL once). I think that the vinegar is starting to work since it went down from around 80 when I started three weeks ago.

If you'd like to learn more about my system, you can check out my build thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/sdreefers-coral-greenhouse-project.325189/

 

[Donaldf973]

Cool outdoor fish room wish I had space to do an outdoor sunlit coral grow out. But, NJ temps can drop to negatives at night and fluctuate too much.

I mix 200ml cheap unflavored vodka, 200ml vinegar, 5 tablespoons sugar and dose 2ml every morning. Now I can cut back to 1 ml since nitrate dropped. Phosphate consistant at 0.03-0.05.

This the skimmer your using? They're AWESOME for small tanks not so much for a large volume like yours. I'd look into one around double your tank volume. The new Deltec series look awesome. SC1455 would probably work perfectly for you.

://www.marinedepot.com/Deltec_SC_1455_Internal_Protein_Skimmer_In_Sump_Venturi_Needle_Wheel_Protein_Skimmers-Deltec-DD81140-FIPSISNW-vi.html

 

[SDReefer]

Yes that's exactly my skimmer. I know that it isn't the best skimmer, but it's working for me right now. I have been looking into better skimmers, and the problem with most is that the water level in the "sump" is too low for most skimmers and the water level in the "display" is too high for most skimmers. I even had to modify my current one to fit. I'm thinking about a HOB skimmer like the ones that Reef Octopus makes, but it may not be able to hang on the large lip of the stock tank.

I have definitely been looking into getting a better skimmer. Thanks for the help!