Nitrates spike after adding 3 fish

[Mark&MelissaL]

We're somewhat new to the hobby. Always told its best to add tangs together so we did just that. A Naso tang, a yellow tang, a brown tang. Now our nitrates are crazy high. We did a 25% water change yesterday. What more can we do to bring them down before we loose fish?

 

[TheEngineer]

What size tank, how long as it been up and how many other fish? Increased nitrates are expected with an increased bio load but your system should adjust fairly quickly if it is mature.

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

What size tank, how long as it been up and how many other fish? Increased nitrates are expected with an increased bio load but your system should adjust fairly quickly if it is mature.

It's 120 gallon tank. We bought it about 5 months ago before that it had been running for over 10 years. We took everything including the water. Other than the three new fish we have.
2 perculla clowns ( babies)
1 Clarky clown a bit bigger
1 snowflake clown
1 cleaner wrasse
2 chromis (blue/green)
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 watchman goby
1 Angel
1 halloween urchin
5 skunk shrimp
3 turbo snails
1 coral banded shrimp
Lots of hermit crabs
Oh I almost forgot a baby hippo tang

 

[tangtime]

It's 120 gallon tank. We bought it about 5 months ago before that it had been running for over 10 years. We took everything including the water. Other than the three new fish we have.
2 perculla clowns ( babies)
1 Clarky clown a bit bigger
1 snowflake clown
1 cleaner wrasse
2 chromis (blue/green)
2 yellow tail blue damsels
1 watchman goby
1 Angel
1 halloween urchin
5 skunk shrimp
3 turbo snails
1 coral banded shrimp
Lots of hermit crabs
Oh I almost forgot a baby hippo tang

Nitrates will not kill livestock so rest assured in that.

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

We did a water change of about 25%. Is there anything else we should be doing? Fish seem to be doing good, corals are looking great

 

[Kalibur2]

You will be fine nitrates will not have a big affect on your live stock. What will affect if you reduce it really fast and you have corals

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

You will be fine nitrates will not have a big affect on your live stock. What will affect if you reduce it really fast and you have corals

We have 6 ememones, candy cane coral, elegance coral, torch, hammer heads, palm tree, mushrooms, xenia. I think that's it

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

Should we wait a week now to do another water change

 

[jasonrusso]

You said you had a spike, what is the level? Don't overthink it.

I have a fowler tank and my nitrates and phosphates are off the chart (tests turn dark pink immediately). I can't grow algae if I tried and everybody is healthy and happy.

 

[Kalibur2]

Should we wait a week now to do another water change

It’s fine. I have sps tank and I’m dosing nitrates. Corals need nutrients. It will naturally come down on its own. Do a water change every 2 weeks. I haven’t done a water change in 8 months

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

Thank you for easing my mind. We've always been told high nitrates are so bad. We've been panicking all day. I guess we can exhale lol

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

The last time we tested about 2 hours ago it was between 80-100

 

[jasonrusso]

The last time we tested about 2 hours ago it was between 80-100

That is pretty high, but if you don't see any negative results then don't sweat it.

Every one always panics about nutrients. When I started dosing nitrates my zoas doubled in size. This hobby is about fun, some people have too many rules.

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

That is pretty high, but if you don't see any negative results then don't sweat it.

Every one always panics about nutrients. When I started dosing nitrates my zoas doubled in size. This hobby is about fun, some people have too many rules.

That's so true. Everything is doing great so were going to just go with the flow and hope for the best

 

[tthouston]

Vinegar can reduce Nitrate. It cheap and easy use, you can google how much you can dose for your tank.

 

[PatW]

Yeah, 80-100 is pretty high. Nitrates have to get pretty high to have toxic effects. I am not sure how high nitrates have to get to be a problem as far as toxicity goes.

Water changes are nice and reliable. But in your tank doing a 60 gallon water change would cut the nitrate level in half and you really would want to do several of that size, assuming a target of 10 ppm, which almost certainly is not practical.

You could try a macro algae like chaeto in a refugium with a high powered refugium light. Bulk Reef Supply as a series of videos on the subject.

Or if you have a skimmer that is over sized for you system, you could try carbon dosing which usually means adding vinegar or vodka to the tank. The carbon serves as an energy source which powers a bacteria population explosion. The bacteria absorb nitrates in order to multiply. They use nitrates to make proteins. The skimmer removes the bacteria and thus removes the nitrates.

 

[Mark&MelissaL]

Again thank you all so much for your help. We did one water change so far. It has helped a bit. I will most definitely look at all of the ideas I have been given and keep you all updated. This group is great. So helpful!!!!