Nitrates will not go down!!

[mpjmeyer]

Do you remove chaeto often?

I've had tank up and running and only removed chaeto once. I started with a small handful and grew enough to trade my lfs for $30 credit with enough left over to continue the cycle. I did remove a couple bubble algae last night from the fuge that was stuck to the wall but that's all that was in there

 

[mpjmeyer]

No harm in rinsing your sponge under the tap and doing so daily will keep the dissolved organics down. Remove them as a solid before they have a chance to break down into Nitrate.

Are you dosing any trace elements at all?

Any pockets of detritus build up or "dead spots" where water isn't flowing well in the display or areas of low flow in your sump? Make sure that your cheato and refugium have good movement as well.

Not much flow in the fuge. I asked my lfs about adding a small powerhead in there and they suggested not to change a thing with how my chaeto was growing.

The dt has the Gyre XF250 which gives great flow. I have it on the lunar cycle with a max of 50%

 

[LesPaulPlayer]

Reactor has been up and running for about 5 months. I took a water sample into my LFS and they suggested it to me, even took more than 50% off. I've been going there even before my tank was up and running to gather as much information as I could and to get them familiar with my set up.



Yes I took a water sample to my LFS a week ago and they also tested my nitrates to me high

I reread your original post. I don't believe you have enough bioload for a fug with cheato and a biopellet reactor. I have a 180 with a huge bioload. 25+ fish, coral, and feed a lot. I run a cheato reactor and biopellet reactor. I have around a cup of biopellets in my reactor. I harvest cheato once every 6 weeks. Run gfo to keep PO4 around .06 ppm. My nitrates are around 10 per salifert. PO4 tested with Hanna.

I am interested in the results of your PO4 test. Lack of waste producers leads me to believe PO4 is low.

 

[mpjmeyer]

I'll test the PO4 tonight and let you guys know what I come up with.

 

[Myk Verified Sponsor]

The flow in the fuge is probably less of a concern if things are growing well, but I would still circulate it well to rule out detritus build up. The bigger concern for me would be that sponge at least with regards to the Nitrate concern. Rinsing that out daily should give you some really good results at least for Nitrate reduction.

Also, what kind of a PO4 kit are you using?

 

[Zoaeasy]

Same problem here as the OP with a 60 g.
What is the recommendation with regards to Phosphate levels if carbon dosing ?
Mine is 0 and the Nitrate 50.
Will also try a different test apart
Following along.

 

[andyg1960]

NoPox was the winner for me to keep nitrates and phosphates where i wanted them.

 

[Cscultho]

I feel you have a light bio-load but each persons opinion differs.

Out of curiosity why are you concerned about nitrates at 50? IMO 50 isn't awful. Not until you start exceeding 100 would i be concerned. Do you have a deep SB and do you clean it during water changes?

I have the opposite problem as you....i cannot get my Nitrates up. Its a battle to keep my PO4 and NO3 elevated to keep dinos at bay.

 

[mpjmeyer]

I'll be using a Red Sea test kit and with my nitrates where they are, I probably should start rinsing out the foam block every day

 

[TreyC2010]

If you have a mag 9 as a return pump then you probably have plenty of flow through the sump. Chaeto doesn’t have to tumble. It just needs water to flow through it, not over. I wouldn’t add a pump to the fuge.

 

[TreyC2010]

I feel you have a light bio-load but each persons opinion differs.

Out of curiosity why are you concerned about nitrates at 50? IMO 50 isn't awful. Not until you start exceeding 100 would i be concerned. Do you have a deep SB and do you clean it during water changes?

I have the opposite problem as you....i cannot get my Nitrates up. Its a battle to keep my PO4 and NO3 elevated to keep dinos at bay.

I’d say 50 is too high for most lps and sps. I wouldn’t want it higher than 15-20 in most cases.

 

[mpjmeyer]

I agree, I don't need to add a pump to the fuge. Earlier when I thought about getting another pump, it was to supply the reactor. The mag 9 I have now supplies the dt, fuge and biopellet reactor. If I were to add another pump, it would supply the reactor only and leave the mag 9 to supply the fuge and dt. But since I cleaned out the reactor, my pellets are tumbling so I don't think I need a separate pump for that anymore

 

[Cscultho]

I’d say 50 is too high for most lps and sps. I wouldn’t want it higher than 15-20 in most cases.

15-20 is definitely a good target and that would be a good settling point but I found when i was able to get my nitrates up to the 40ish range my corals grew quicker and colors popped. Now that im struggling to maintain 5ppm NO3 coral grows has slowed considerably. Ive now started dosing stump remover again to get levels up. My low level of PO4 and NO3 have led to some ugly dino issues that i never want to revisit.

 

[Myk Verified Sponsor]

I'd say shoot for NSW levels of Nitrate and Phosphate levels, but if you go a little higher than that, no big deal. In my service clients tanks we shoot for basically somewhere between 1 and 5ppm for Nitrate and between 0.04 and 0.12ppm for Phosphate. Works good for us on about 40 clients tanks and here in the shop.

 

[bif24701]

Overdose organic carbon, it will go down. Just keep an eye on O2 levels and keep the skimmer running peak performance.

 

[mpjmeyer]

I wont have phosphate levels until tomorrow as my Red Sea kits dont test that substance. I'll take a water sample to my lfs

 

[Vahanyos]

Like another member mentioned, having high nitrate levels is not necessarily a reason to get it down. I had my tank running at 40 nitrates or so for quite a while, and my corals were thriving, growing, coloring, etc... I never normally test unless something is off, which is why I let my nitrates get that high. I just randomly decided to test, and panicked when I saw them that high. Each tank is different, and as long as everything is thriving, keep up with your water changes and let it ride.. your bio-load is light. I have a 60g with 9 fish, 1 of them is a tang. After seeing the nitrates that high I did rapid water changes to get levels low, just because they were "too high". Stressed my hammer corals to the point of death almost. They just recovered recently and now are comfortable with 0 nitrates.

How are your corals doing? My opinion is, if your inhabitants are not showing signs of stress, then just let it be. Keep up with weekly water changes to replenish trace elements, and keep the same pattern that your tank is used to. I added some more live rock, and started feeding a little less and my nitrates stay at 0.

 

[kyleinpdx]

NoPox was the winner for me to keep nitrates and phosphates where i wanted them.

Same for me. OP take a look at the DIY nopox recipes, there are plenty of threads in the water chemistry forum. Off hand I believe its 1 part white vinegar, 1/2 part RO/DI water, 1/2ish part vodka. I have mine as the 4th channel on my doser. Its been more successful for me than every previous no3/po4 control method combined.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I have same issue, with nitrates between 20-40. Sometimes a jump to 80. Seldom below 20. Corals are all extremely happy, even my acros. birds nest might only one not as happy. Everything else is thriving and growing. Tank is just over a year old, 66 gal RS AIO (approx 60 gal water). I got some more nopox--first time around it did nothing. Thought I'd try again. PO 4 is between 0-.1 Climbs to 2 ish, I use phosguard and it goes back down. That too is a yo-yo of up and down I try not worry or chase numbers too much but aim for a ball park. I'l love to have nitrates 10-15

 

[mpjmeyer]

Phosphates are .02. Lfs said they usually don't see phosphates that low which is great. They gave me a few more coralline shells and suggested to take some biopellets out the reactor...said I have way too many running. I'll try that, rinse the foam filter out more often and continue water changes