Nitrates won’t go down

ChaseB143 · Jul 30, 2019

I’ve been having issues with nitrates lately(40ppm), and I don’t know why. Water changes aren’t helping, and I don’t want to use chemicals to fix it. A lfs mentioned vacuuming the sand, but I’ve heard mixed opinions on that. Any ideas?

Keesers · Jul 30, 2019

Hello there, if you could some quick questions size of tank? How many inches is sand bed? How old is tank? Livestock and fish? How much do you feed? How many times? and what are you feeding? What are you doing to export nutrients? Ie protein skimmer, fuge, nitrate reactor. Anything else you can think of?

Keesers · Jul 30, 2019

Also what’s your source water? How big is your water change and frequency? Thanks sorry for troubles

tqpolo · Jul 30, 2019

Nopox will get rid of your nitrate in 2 weeks.

link81 · Jul 30, 2019

tqpolo said:
Nopox will get rid of your nitrate in 2 weeks.

in my experience nopox (and macroalgae for that matter) will only remove nitrates when there is phosphate present as well.

OP, whats your phosphate level?

ChaseB143 · Jul 30, 2019

link81 said:
in my experience nopox (and macroalgae for that matter) will only remove nitrates when there is phosphate present as well.

OP, whats your phosphate level?

It’s been hanging around .07 lately

link81 · Jul 30, 2019

see if you can get the answers to @Keesers questions also, it'll help us recommend a tactic.

ChaseB143 · Jul 30, 2019

Keesers said:
Hello there, if you could some quick questions size of tank? How many inches is sand bed? How old is tank? Livestock and fish? How much do you feed? How many times? and what are you feeding? What are you doing to export nutrients? Ie protein skimmer, fuge, nitrate reactor. Anything else you can think of?

Tank is 84 gal plus 24 gal sump, sandbed is around 2 inches, it’s probably about half a year old, I have two clowns, banggai cardinal, yellow tang, diamond goby, coral beauty, engineer goby, six line wrasse, several shrimp, and a bunch of coral. I feed a cube of Mysis once a day, and nori on twice a week. I have a slimmer, and GFO reactor. I try to change water once a week, and I think it’s around 15 gallons.

ChaseB143 · Jul 30, 2019

Keesers said:
Also what’s your source water? How big is your water change and frequency? Thanks sorry for troubles

And I filter my own ro di water.

link81 · Jul 30, 2019

you're running GFO and your nitrates are still at 40? how old is the media?
do you have a lit fuse at all? are yo running your skimmer 24.7?
be careful with the GFO it can bottom out your no3 leading to other issues (dinoflagellates)
I have GFO on hand, but don't run it, I actually stopped carbon dosing because the huge was pulling out all the nitrates I needed it to.

40 isn't terrible high, are you seeing issues? how often are you cleaning the glass? any GHA ect?

JPergamo · Jul 30, 2019

In my experience chaeto obliviates nitrates if you give it room to grow and a powerful light. Too much in my case. I have to keep it trimmed very small or my nitrates bottom out completely. If NO3 is a tad high ever I would (be happy finally) and just let it grow larger until the number came down to where I want. Hope this helps, I dont know if you have a fuge or not.

JPergamo · Jul 30, 2019

link81 said:
you're running GFO and your nitrates are still at 40? how old is the media?
do you have a lit fuse at all? are yo running your skimmer 24.7?
be careful with the GFO it can bottom out your no3 leading to other issues (dinoflagellates)
I have GFO on hand, but don't run it, I actually stopped carbon dosing because the huge was pulling out all the nitrates I needed it to.

40 isn't terrible high, are you seeing issues? how often are you cleaning the glass? any GHA ect?

I think you are confusing nitrate with phosphate.

link81 · Jul 30, 2019

;Facepalm d'oh
you're right, I am. dang it.

clm65 · Jul 30, 2019

My tank had much higher nitrates than yours, and high phosphates. NOPOX, and subsequently vinegar, made slow progress. Vacuuming the sand made the biggest difference. But only vacuum a small area at a time. But before you do that, reach in and grab a big pinch of sand as deep as possible, lift it up a few inches, and drop it. If it releases a dirty cloud, the sand could be the problem. However, since your tank is only 6 months old, I'm not sure how bad it could really be.

Keesers · Jul 30, 2019

Hey thanks for more info. Do you use filter socks? Is there macro in sump to make a fuge? Have you tested tds of water at the end? Your skimmer what kind? And how long does it take to fill and is it dark or light? Also when you say try to do weekly WC does it sometimes go longer and then maybe playing catch up? Is there any excess food left floating in tank or settling behind rocks after putting whole cube in or do they gobble that up? I’m sorry I have so many questions I’m learning more about your tank everytime. Thank you