Nitrates Through The ROOF

[Mandrian]

Hi everyone, I’m new to Reef2Reef but I’ve been keeping reef tanks for about 15 years. That being said, I have a 125g w/40g sump that has Nitrates too high to read. I know it’s my own fault since have terribly neglected this tank. I had surgery and couldn’t get downstairs to tend to the tank for quite some time. I need to get the tank back in order as soon as possible. I’m looking for recommendations on the fastest and safest way to reduce the Nitrates. I need to add more sand and do a through clean, but how much can I change at once? I vaguely remember that you can remove 50%, fill to 75%, and repeat until the nitrates are down, then fill to 100% to save water but how hard is this on the inhabitants? Or is there possibly a better way?

 

[nick7948]

Hi everyone, I’m new to Reef2Reef but I’ve been keeping reef tanks for about 15 years. That being said, I have a 125g w/40g sump that has Nitrates too high to read. I know it’s my own fault since have terribly neglected this tank. I had surgery and couldn’t get downstairs to tend to the tank for quite some time. I need to get the tank back in order as soon as possible. I’m looking for recommendations on the fastest and safest way to reduce the Nitrates. I need to add more sand and do a through clean, but how much can I change at once? I vaguely remember that you can remove 50%, fill to 75%, and repeat until the nitrates are down, then fill to 100% to save water but how hard is this on the inhabitants? Or is there possibly a better way?

I wouldn't recommend the quick route since fish/coral can get used to a lot of things but don't do well to sudden changes. My recommendation would be closer to 20% water changes but more often than usual, add bacteria and possibly NoPox if you have skimmer or something that will help with oxygen. You can also add something like tisbe to help as well.

 

[WVNed]

I do 50% every other day
100 becomes 60
60 becomes 35
at 35 start 20% changes a week and the other things.

 

[nick7948]

Also, keep an eye on your Alk when you add the sand. Not sure how common this is, but recently I added sand (Not the bacteria coated stuff) to a bare-bottom reef tank and had major leeching of alkalinity. The tank was pretty mature and I did wash out the sand (to some degree). Luckily I have a trident as I noticed the issue right away. As I said, may have been a one-off, or may be common, not sure.

 

[blaxsun]

It also never hurts to double-check your test results before embarking on a campaign like this.

 

[Spare time]

What is the current filtration setup. What is the phosphate level?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi everyone, I’m new to Reef2Reef but I’ve been keeping reef tanks for about 15 years. That being said, I have a 125g w/40g sump that has Nitrates too high to read. I know it’s my own fault since have terribly neglected this tank. I had surgery and couldn’t get downstairs to tend to the tank for quite some time. I need to get the tank back in order as soon as possible. I’m looking for recommendations on the fastest and safest way to reduce the Nitrates. I need to add more sand and do a through clean, but how much can I change at once? I vaguely remember that you can remove 50%, fill to 75%, and repeat until the nitrates are down, then fill to 100% to save water but how hard is this on the inhabitants? Or is there possibly a better way?

You don't want to go down too fast as that will stress everything. If you half it each week you're doing fine.

I've killed fish with sudden nitrate drops.

 

[polyppal]

Clean socks, vac the sand bed and lossa water changes…

I wouldn’t change more than 25% of sand out per week, it can cause significant stability /bacterial problems taking too much too fast. The bio filter will have to catch up to every change you make

 

[CoralB]

Welcome!!!
Sorry to hear you were laid up from surgery . Been there a few times . As far as I know waterchanges are the quickest and safest way to bring them down that I know of . I would start with fifty percent and while doing it try to suck out as much detritus out of the sand , rock , tank as possible . Not sure how much time to give the next partial change or how much . But if it were me I would try waiting at least 24 hours or so then only doing 10% -20% wvery 24 hours there after while watching your inhabitants for any signs of stress until you reach your target numbers. Run your skimmer if you have one . Also add microbactor 7 or comparable . Good luck !!!

 

[TurboTang]

Start with 20-30g WC, then double check test results with LFS or another test kit. In my experience fish/coral can handle slow increase to high levels, but will get extremely agitated with big drop in 1 day