Nitrates V-High
- Thread starter paulkelly555
- Start date
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paulkelly555
New Member
Please note I asked them about the Nitrite reading, and ammonia reading. They said that the Aquaspin will always have a low reading but it is showing no ammonia or Nitrite.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
paulkelly555
New Member
Also checked my source RO/DI which is showing 0 TDS. And also has no Nitrates.
Any ideas what is going on here. As mentioned all fish / Anemones are doing fine. I would like to say I am chasing numbers. But that nitrate number just seems extreme and I cant understand why I am not having serious issues.
Any ideas what is going on here. As mentioned all fish / Anemones are doing fine. I would like to say I am chasing numbers. But that nitrate number just seems extreme and I cant understand why I am not having serious issues.
sixty_reefer
5000 Club Member
What do you feed the tank?
sixty_reefer
5000 Club Member
Just as I imagined, pellets are fairly high in nitrogen and phosphorus content, try swapping for frozen and add some tropic marine elemi-NP, reef actif or bio pellets and your problem should be resolved.
Your system is basically limited in Dissolved organic carbon as the pellets don’t have enough carbohydrates in them to counterbalance the microbial needs.
olonmv
Valuable Member
Poor Man's Nutrients Control - Donovan's Nitrate Destroyer
Hello fellow reefers!. I have been in the hobby for more than 3 years, the first 2 years was tough. Cyno, diatom, nuisance algae, high NO3 (120ppm at one time) and ich/velvet. I have tried several nutrient control method (poor man, so most of it were DIY project). GFO, water fall scrubber...
www.reef2reef.com
I’ve built one for my nano recently and have seen my nitrates drop from 36.9ppm (9/3/22) to 13.5ppm (yesterday) without any water changes and while sticking with my regular feeding schedule.
rsumner
Active Member
I would like to note that your Po4 is also super high. I see the question was asked earlier about testing before and immediately after a water change, but I don't think you answered it directly.
Stop feeding...stop dosing...stop adding anything to the tank. Test your Po4 and No3. Change 20% of your water but don't stir your sand or blow-off the rocks while doing to change. We don't want to stir-up anything that may not already be in the water column. Test your Po4 and No3 immediately after the change. They should be 20% lower. Period.
Stop feeding...stop dosing...stop adding anything to the tank. Test your Po4 and No3. Change 20% of your water but don't stir your sand or blow-off the rocks while doing to change. We don't want to stir-up anything that may not already be in the water column. Test your Po4 and No3 immediately after the change. They should be 20% lower. Period.
paulkelly555
New Member
Interestingly - the other thing I done was start dosing additional beneficial bacteria. Xepta BAC. Which seems to have brought phosphates down. On your suggestions above - What would be the preference?
paulkelly555
New Member
Hi RSummer. I did do as suggested. I tested my Source RO which is TDS 0. And has 0 nitrates. And post the water change it was still high. I am planning to do another 20% this weekend, I do suspect its the marine pellets as they were on an autofeed. And maybe over fed.
rsumner
Active Member
Stop feeding. Stop dosing. Stop adding anything to the tank. Your fish will be fine for a few days while you figure this out.
I know you mentioned that you tested your source water and that's my point. It's really basic math:
- Start with 500 liters of water with 100ppm No3
- Remove 100 liters of that water and replace it with 100 liters of water with 0ppm No3
- No3 should be diluted by 20% and read 80ppm
sixty_reefer
5000 Club Member
Products like Xepta BAC contain dissolved organic carbon to aid the bacteria to remove nutrients in carbon limited system, you are definitely carbon limited as you have plenty of nitrates and phosphates available in the system. You have to option from the ones I suggest, reef actif is in a powered form and will settle on the sand bed aiding the removal of organics from the source ( most organics that will break down into nitrates and phosphates are in the sand bed) or elimi-np to remove nitrates and phosphates from the water column, you could maybe implement a mix of both to target different issues. I recommend tropic marine as the source of organic carbon is different from vodka and vinegar, according the tropic marine rep the polymers in this products are more difficult for many of the nuisances to break down and use it.
sixty_reefer
5000 Club Member
The maths do add up although how would that help to find the problem?
