Nitrates at 40 PPM

[guitaris70]

Hi I added a diamond watchman goby 25 days ago in my 54 gallon corner tank. He was drip acclimated and I have never seen him since he was added to the tank is it possible he burrowed and just died under the sand somewhere? He has no aggressive tank mates and my readings for Ammonia and Nitrite have been 0 consistently and my nitrate is usually in range from 0-10PPM I tested a couple days ago and my nitrate is around 40 Ppm so i did a 10% water change and tested a few hours later and nitrates are at 40 PPm. The next day I performed a 10% water Change waited a few hours and still at 40 ppm so I change 20% of the water and wait a few hours and still at 40 ppm later that night. Today I test again it's 40 ppm Nitrates, ammonia and nitrites are reading zero and Ph 8.2 salinity 1.024 read with a Refractomer, Should I go looking for the suspected dead diamond goby? He was 4 inches long. I have 77 pounds of live rock in this tank and 80 pounds of livesand, and would it be better to let the clean up crew maybe get him or go searching for a body which would cause stress to the other inhabitants plus the risk of crushing one of the cleaner shrimps in my tank and smaller fish. Any feedback would be great thank you.

 

[recess62]

If you have crabs in your cuc I suspect that Gobi is long gone

 

[guitaris70]

I have about 8 small blue legged hermits and added a green emerald crab recently but haven't seen him since I added him either but there's plenty hiding places and he was a small guy

 

[guitaris70]

Would I be able to smell a dead body from smelling my water or no? Because it smells done no rotten ocean smell or anything like bad live rock

 

[guitaris70]

By the way I use all Ro/Di water, I have my own unit and test it and make sure it is 0 on the TDS meter before mixing my saltwater so Nitrates don't come from my water changes to rule that out

 

[Tahoe61]

In an established tank that size I would not even consider removing the rock. Is it possible the fish jumped.

Have you tested (for nitrates) your make up water to see if that is the cause or a test kit error? Are you over feeding?

Any algae issues?

A lost or dead goby in a 54 gallon tank is not going to be the cause of your current nitrate level, are you using a skimmer?

 

[guitaris70]

First off thanks for the reply, and no the tank has a glass lid on it and plastic piece that covers the whole backing with weight to hold that part down there's no way he jumped out I've checked everyday behind the tank anyway since I added him since they are notorious for carpet surfing. Yes I'm using a protein skimmer rated for 105 gallons, and not really any algae some slight diatoms I see on the glass but snails are eating away at it. Using Ro/Di water shouldn't there be no nitrates I haven't actually tested the water other than with TDS meter that shows 0 so there should be no nitrates correct? And I was feeding two smaller feedings a day which is what I normally do because I have very small neon goby in there and want to make sure he is getting some food. But I have cut back to once a day since I noticed my nitrate spike. And I'm using my test kit as I normally do as directed on my saltwater master test kit and even used the reef master test kit nitrate bottles and got the same results

 

[Tahoe61]

Reagents can go bad, testing the make up water will rule out a test kit error.
The description you provided does not point to such a significant rise in nitrates in such a short time considering the goby has been gone for almost a month and your using a larger skimmer.
You have done repeated water changes as well and should have seen lower level after those changes.

 

[nervousmonkey]

I don't think it's the watchman. I've had a few of them over my tanks and they are notorious for digging under rocks and staying there because there is apparently large amount of food for them there. This time around I added rods to the bottom of the rocks so they wouldn't get nasty being buried and he the watchman goes everywhere digging like he is supposed to. Either way I don't think he is dead, actually I know he is alive. How long has your tank been up for? You know what watchman gobies do right? Constantly stir up your sand bed and in this case he is releasing nitrate that has been stored in your sandbed like old tank syndrome... He is alive and kicking!!!

 

[guitaris70]

Ok I will test the make up water my Ro Di unit has all new filters and membrane too but I will test for nitrates to make sure. And this tanks only been set up for about 2 months this tank cycled insanely fast using cured live rock with some die off as the ammonia spoke to cycle and a decent amount of bottled bacteria and I've had no issues up until now. There's 2 Ocellaris clowns, firefish, purple firefish, 2 small neon gobys all have been added within a week at a slow pace about a week in between while monitoring my levels. I haven't seen any sand stirred up or any mounds or signs of digging. When he was first added the next morning I saw stuff dug out from back of tank and haven't seen anything new. My girlfriend who's home most of the day keeps an eye on the tank since this one is in our bedroom and hasn't seen any signs of the watchman either while I'm at work. My sand beds about 4 inches deep.

 

[guitaris70]

Could it be possible in such a short time he is stirring up nitrate build up in the sand bed? I haven't noticed any tank deaths all inhabitants I've seen as recent as a few hours ago so I can't think of anything else as to why these elevated levels are not going down as they should with a normal water change

 

[guitaris70]

So I just did a nitrate test per directions of the test kit as I always have on the make up water waited for the color to develop as usual and nitrates are 0 PPM hmmm...? I don't get it do I need to do say a 50% water change or something?

 

[guitaris70]

This is a FOWLR by the way so no dying or dead corals or anemones are an option either, there are 2 small brush plant macro algae in the display but those aren't new additions and those would help absorb nitrate but they are looking healthy as there are plenty of nitrates right now. Phosphate tested between 0-.25 ppm range. This has a canister filter on it rated for 75 gallons that I got new for this tank I want to upgrade to a sump down the road but I don't think this canister could become a nitrate factory so soon am I right ? I changed a couple forms of mechanical media and rinsed the others in tank water to keep some good bacteria

 

[Tahoe61]

No I would not to a 50% water change, I would do a weekly 5 gallons until you see the level drop. The tank is young it will adjust, 40 ppm in a newer tank is not drastic if you are not trying to keep sensitive inverts and coral types. My YWG always came out for feedings eventually, so it's possible the fish perished. They will hide but not for a month, since the tank is in the bedroom you should have seen the fish by now hanging out near the rock work or a burrow. Nothing can be gained from removing the rock. The size of the tank is not huge, fish can be shy but you should have seen some sign of him by now.

 

[guitaris70]

I have 2 skunk cleaner shrimp aren't they very sensitive too high nitrate levels?

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

40ppm isn't detrimental in a fowl tank. But I would work on getting it down, just so that it doesn't climb higher. larger water changes will have more of an impact on no3.

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

Inverts can be but I'm guessing the levels rose as a slow enough rate not to have an effect on them.

I have 2 skunk cleaner shrimp aren't they very sensitive too high nitrate levels?

 

[guitaris70]

Thanks and do you think The elevated levels won't harm them? as long as I work on getting it down and it comes down I hopefully won't have any issues, I know long term it will hurt fish and make them more susceptible to disease and what not but I don't want to wake up to some dead skunk cleaners or anything for that matter.

 

[tj w]

I'm in the same boat as you friend. My nitrates have been hovering around 50 ppm in my 300 mixed reef. I slowed down on my feeding,skimming more wet, and doing smaller more frequent water changes have helped me get them down. My fish always looked hungry so I always fed them, lol[emoji33]

 

[guitaris70]

Do you still feed every day ? And once a day? Or multiple smaller feedings? And do you recommend doing water changes until bringing them down like everyday or have you been sticking with like once a week small water changes?