Nitrates are crazy

[MetaDev]

Hello everyone!

I have had a 26 gallon Red Sea Peninsula tank for the better part of 3 months now. Everything was going good but now my corals are not doing too good, even my Pulsing Xenia are not opening anymore. I use red sea coral pro salt and I do a 10% water change every week. My Nitrate level was down to about 12 2 weeks ago and now it was above 50. I have done a 50% water change and it only has brought it down to about 30. I have 4 fish in it right now, 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma and a tailspot blenny. Everyone is doing good and has been for a while now. I feed mysis shrimp daily, twice a day, I use about 1/4 of the block morning and evening. Am I overfeeding and could cause this high nitrate? how much should I feed them? I have the protein skimmer running non stop and it works and makes some nasty water I have to empty every 3 days or so. I have checked every corner for poop that has not been filtered out and got out everything I could possibly see and I still cannot get my nitrates to stay low. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone!

I have had a 26 gallon Red Sea Peninsula tank for the better part of 3 months now. Everything was going good but now my corals are not doing too good, even my Pulsing Xenia are not opening anymore. I use red sea coral pro salt and I do a 10% water change every week. My Nitrate level was down to about 12 2 weeks ago and now it was above 50. I have done a 50% water change and it only has brought it down to about 30. I have 4 fish in it right now, 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma and a tailspot blenny. Everyone is doing good and has been for a while now. I feed mysis shrimp daily, twice a day, I use about 1/4 of the block morning and evening. Am I overfeeding and could cause this high nitrate? how much should I feed them? I have the protein skimmer running non stop and it works and makes some nasty water I have to empty every 3 days or so. I have checked every corner for poop that has not been filtered out and got out everything I could possibly see and I still cannot get my nitrates to stay low. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Some factors will be size of tank, number of occupants, maintenance being done and if overfeeding and also if true or false results. You dont seem to be overcrowded, nor is tank too small for number of sish. I would do daily 1 gallon water changes and 1/4 cube should not cause this.
What filters are you incorporating ?
Perhaps a skimmer such as IceCap K1-50 would benefit you and reduce nitrate level

 

[MetaDev]

Some factors will be size of tank, number of occupants, maintenance being done and if overfeeding and also if true or false results. You dont seem to be overcrowded, nor is tank too small for number of sish. I would do daily 1 gallon water changes and 1/4 cube should not cause this.
What filters are you incorporating ?
Perhaps a skimmer such as IceCap K1-50 would benefit you and reduce nitrate level

I use a filter cartridge filled with polyfill and some course sponges before the water gets to the polyfill. I use the protein skimmer that comes with the whole setup and has been working okay. I will take a look at the skimmer you suggested and do daily 1 gallon changes, thanks for the reply.

 

[Idech]

Until you get your nitrates in control, at least, I would reduce feeding by about 30%. You can still feed twice a day, just less. Don’t expect to see the nitrates drop before 4-6 weeks.

Keep doing WC.

 

[Dan_P]

Hello everyone!

I have had a 26 gallon Red Sea Peninsula tank for the better part of 3 months now. Everything was going good but now my corals are not doing too good, even my Pulsing Xenia are not opening anymore. I use red sea coral pro salt and I do a 10% water change every week. My Nitrate level was down to about 12 2 weeks ago and now it was above 50. I have done a 50% water change and it only has brought it down to about 30. I have 4 fish in it right now, 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma and a tailspot blenny. Everyone is doing good and has been for a while now. I feed mysis shrimp daily, twice a day, I use about 1/4 of the block morning and evening. Am I overfeeding and could cause this high nitrate? how much should I feed them? I have the protein skimmer running non stop and it works and makes some nasty water I have to empty every 3 days or so. I have checked every corner for poop that has not been filtered out and got out everything I could possibly see and I still cannot get my nitrates to stay low. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are the sand and rocks still all nice and white?

 

[MetaDev]

Are the sand and rocks still all nice and white?

Unfortunately not, I have diatoms like crazy and it use to not be so bad.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately not, I have diatoms like crazy and it use to not be so bad.

Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Assure your skimmer is running at an optimal performance and clean filter socks and sponges if applicable on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

 

[MetaDev]

Diatoms feed mainly off of silicates but also consume dissolved organic compounds, phosphate and nitrates. Unfiltered tap water can contain silicates and is a good way to jump start a bloom if you use it to mix salt or to replace water that evaporated from the tank. The best way to prevent this from happening is to filter water through a RODI unit, although you can still get a diatom bloom when using RODI if the cartridge that removes silicates expires.
Assure your skimmer is running at an optimal performance and clean filter socks and sponges if applicable on a regular basis.
Some cleaner crew to help control it are : Cerith snails, Nerite snails and Trochus snails and also Astraea snails are effective at removing diatoms.

Thanks a lot for the info. I do use RODI Water I get from my LFS as I have not bought a unit yet. I use a cartridge in place of the filter sock and replace it every 3 days with filter floss and wash the sponges at the same time. I only have 2 hermit crabs so I will definitely look into snails.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks a lot for the info. I do use RODI Water I get from my LFS as I have not bought a unit yet. I use a cartridge in place of the filter sock and replace it every 3 days with filter floss and wash the sponges at the same time. I only have 2 hermit crabs so I will definitely look into snails.

As bizarre as it sounds as it does happen- check/test the RO water you are purchasing to assure its not your source of nitrate. Sometimes LFS is not even aware

 

[Dan_P]

Unfortunately not, I have diatoms like crazy and it use to not be so bad.

OK, thanks.

Feeding is the only way nitrogen that ends up as nitrate enters the aquarium, but don’t starve the fish to lower nitrate. Water changes are a quick way to reduce nitrate. Growing macro algae or dosing vinegar (growing bacteria) are two popular ways to remove nitrate from the water.

 

[bushdoc]

All what was said above is true, but I am also from old school of reefing and your tank is just brand new in a reefing timeline. Altough technically your bioload is not overly large for your size of tank, it takes many months for system to mature and that includes denitryfying bacteria. Quality and quantity of rock also matters.