Nitrates are high help

[Ariellemcc]

What is a safe level of nitrate in a tank? I cant seem to get mine down no matter what i do. Water changes new carbon and filtration.
I have a 75gal with a marineland 360 it has filter pads, 3 carbon bags, matrix, ceramic filter rings, a nitrate pad and a polishing pad. And a 125gal skimmer. Ive done a large water change and small water changes.
I only have 3 small tangs, a small foxface, a large rabbit, a hawkfish, 6 chomis and a damsel.
Its probably in the 40s ish i use the api nitrate test.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I know ppl here don't trust API kits. Maybe find another way of testing perhaps? What is the nitrate level? I can't comment on a level but probably 20 or below just for fish but I'm sure someone with better knowledge will chime in.

 

[Dan_P]

What is a safe level of nitrate in a tank? I cant seem to get mine down no matter what i do. Water changes new carbon and filtration.
I have a 75gal with a marineland 360 it has filter pads, 3 carbon bags, matrix, ceramic filter rings, a nitrate pad and a polishing pad. And a 125gal skimmer. Ive done a large water change and small water changes.
I only have 3 small tangs, a small foxface, a large rabbit, a hawkfish, 6 chomis and a damsel.
Its probably in the 40s ish i use the api nitrate test.

None of the things you mention except the water change can low nitrate concentration. Carbon dosing or growing macro algae will reduce nitrate.

 

[Cell]

I would expect elevated nitrate in a 75G with 3 tangs, large rabbit plus more.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

40 ppm nitrate is not any sort of emergency. Some very nice reef tanks have considerably more nitrate.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

What is a safe level of nitrate in a tank? I cant seem to get mine down no matter what i do. Water changes new carbon and filtration.
I have a 75gal with a marineland 360 it has filter pads, 3 carbon bags, matrix, ceramic filter rings, a nitrate pad and a polishing pad. And a 125gal skimmer. Ive done a large water change and small water changes.
I only have 3 small tangs, a small foxface, a large rabbit, a hawkfish, 6 chomis and a damsel.
Its probably in the 40s ish i use the api nitrate test.

What types of coral do you have, and what kind of water are you using? And your tank sounds heavily fish loaded for a 75 gallon. You will need some major nutrient export if you want the nitrates lower.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Thats a super huge bioload and not much filtration. The marineland does nothing in terms of nitrate reduction, it might even increase the nitrate if you don't replace the filter pad often. Do you have powerheads in the tank, to keep the water flowing into the skimmer?

 

[Ariellemcc]

I would expect elevated nitrate in a 75G with 3 tangs, large rabbit plus more.

The tangs are babies no bigger then 2-3 inchs

 

[Ariellemcc]

Thats a super huge bioload and not much filtration. The marineland does nothing in terms of nitrate reduction, it might even increase the nitrate if you don't replace the filter pad often. Do you have powerheads in the tank, to keep the water flowing into the skimmer?

Yes i do

 

[Ariellemcc]

What types of coral do you have, and what kind of water are you using? And your tank sounds heavily fish loaded for a 75 gallon. You will need some major nutrient export if you want the nitrates lower.

No coral rock only just filtered tap water. The tangs are only 2 inchs right now

 

[Ariellemcc]

Thats a super huge bioload and not much filtration. The marineland does nothing in terms of nitrate reduction, it might even increase the nitrate if you don't replace the filter pad often. Do you have powerheads in the tank, to keep the water flowing into the skimmer?

Filter pad is replaced each month

 

[bkwonnn]

I’ve been battling high nitrates (40-50 ppm) for years. I’ve just accepted it. Corals look fine and fish do well.

 

[Reefer Matt Verified Media Partner]

No coral rock only just filtered tap water. The tangs are only 2 inchs right now

Ok. Try testing your tap water. It likely has higher nitrate. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it in a fowlr system.

 

[bkwonnn]

Keeping it stable is better than battling it with al kind of unstable solutions

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Filter pad is replaced each month

I don't use filter pads or socks myself (no mechanical filtration), but I believe the general suggestion is to replace weekly, or even a couple times a week. Uneaten food, for example, will sit in the pad and rot away for a month until you remove it, that is what we call "a nitrate factory" in the hobby.

 

[bkwonnn]

I don't use filter pads or socks myself (no mechanical filtration), but I believe the general suggestion is to replace weekly, or even a couple times a week. Uneaten food, for example, will sit in the pad and rot away for a month until you remove it, that is what we call "a nitrate factory" in the hobby.

Yeah socks are a lot of work. You should replace them every 3 days.

 

[Reef By Steele Verified Sponsor]

A very natural way and one I use in my predator tanks is dosing live phytoplankton. I used to use homemade NoPox, carbon dosing, but I started dosing phyto regularly while recovering from my shoulder surgery while I found t do any water changes. Our 160 gallon predator tank consistently ran 80-100 and I had to dose an extreme amount of NOPOX to keep it in check. I was dosing the phyto just because I was dosing all our reefs for the other benefits, but amazingly our nitrates dropped and stayed down into the high teens lower 20’s.
You can check out a thread I started about it here.

Phytoplankton, the reef’s super power!

What is Phytoplankton? Microalgae, what we call phytoplankton, are aquatic, microscopic, single-celled, photosynthetic organisms. Similar to plants (their land counterparts), phytoplankton have chlorophyll in their cells, and generate food through the process of photosynthesis...

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