Nitrates wont stop going up

[Tyler White]

Tank situation.
3/4 years up
alk: 9.3 cal: 488 MG: 1300
ph: ~8.2
temp: 78
Sg: 1.026
nitrate: 60
Po4: 0.01

I was able to get everything "down" after a series of wild water changes every twoish days until the last week where i wanted to try to take the training wheels off on my 75 gallon tank and was able to keep them that lowish until just now.

I have been fighting nitrates for a good long while and just dont know whats going on anymore.
I carbon dose, skim, water changes, try not to feed too much, clean all ro filters, even added a refugium in the last month and still they are on the rise

I know that nitrate doesn't come out of thin air but good lord 30 ppm in two days??? I did a big tank cleanout a while back and thought maybe i triggered a new cycle or something of the like but its been 2 months now.

Someone else out there has to of dealt with this type of thing before and can point me in the right direction besides water changes because we all know salt aint getting any cheaper.

Appreciate any and all replies

 

[blaxsun]

1. What are you using for test kits, and have you tried a different test kit just to rule out errors with it?
2. What are you using for filtration, ie: filter socks, skimmer, etc. and how often do you change/replace it?
3. Are you using any bio media?

 

[Tyler White]

Hannah nitrate kit and salifert retested multiple times with both for the last month and all within margin of error
Filter socks and they are changed every couple days skimmer that's always wide open going as hard as it can
I did have bio media but removed it during the cank cleanout as it had turned to mush and was just making the sump a mess.

 

[jabberwock]

Is that 3 to 4 years of tank age or 3/4 of a year?

 

[Lavey29]

Do you have coral or is it a fowler? What is your feeding schedule?

 

[Tyler White]

3 to 4 years tank age and I do have corals. Sps and some leathers. Granted the sps are brown and rough looking due to the abundance of nitrate. Feed once a day usually flake but sometimes frozen

 

[sixty_reefer]

You just need to increase phosphates slightly, until you do it Nitrates won’t drop downs

 

[killer2001]

Phosphate limited. Nitrates will continue to skyrocket until you can get them up. I'd dose phosphate until you get around 0.1 to 0.15 (better to be a bit high then too low) and do 2% water change daily to slowly bring down Nitrates. Then once you can verify your phosphate level is up, you can begin to slowly carbon dose as well to further help bring them down. Again.... can't stress this enough... go slow. Don't be tempted to do something drastic like a 75% water change, lol.

 

[Tathamet]

You just need to increase phosphates slightly, until you do it Nitrates won’t drop downs

I was going to say this but wasn’t 100% sure if I was remembering right so didn’t say anything haha. Glad you brought it up.

 

[Dkmoo]

Once you unlock po4, be prepared to clean up your tank bc algae will start to explode. Hopefully ur fuge will handle most of the algae growth but DT will be effected.

Your tank is basically the mechanism the GFO relied on to limit algae growth.

 

[sixty_reefer]

I was going to say this but wasn’t 100% sure if I was remembering right so didn’t say anything haha. Glad you brought it up.

It’s a basic heterotrophic bacteria limitation

 

[PeterEde]

3 to 4 years tank age and I do have corals. Sps and some leathers. Granted the sps are brown and rough looking due to the abundance of nitrate. Feed once a day usually flake but sometimes frozen

Do you clean the frozen food? ie thaw in tank water then drain off the water?

 

[Tyler White]

I'll take you alls advice and threw some phosphate in there.
The concern i have with NOT doing large water changes right now is the fact it shot up 30ppm in almost two days. But I will keep the phosphate loaded up to .10 -.15 and hopefully it'll not shoot up so fast.
@peterei do not clean my frozen food.

 

[sixty_reefer]

I'll take you alls advice and threw some phosphate in there.
The concern i have with NOT doing large water changes right now is the fact it shot up 30ppm in almost two days. But I will keep the phosphate loaded up to .10 -.15 and hopefully it'll not shoot up so fast.
@peterei do not clean my frozen food.

Wend was the last time you Carbon dosed? If you done it recently you may see nitrates slowing down straight away. If not restart dosing it once phosphates are up, it may take some time for you to see them going up as the system rebalance phosphates.

 

[PeterEde]

I was having the same troubles for ages with NO3 at 60 +
Started dosing phosphate which as of yesterday is .75
NO3 now below 20
Also I was dosing NOPOX which gives an amount per gallon but does not, says don't over dose but does not say what an over dose would be.
I was dosing the same amount for months. Now at double the "recommended" amount and NO3 went down

 

[Nanoreefer1999]

Phosphate limited. Nitrates will continue to skyrocket until you can get them up. I'd dose phosphate until you get around 0.1 to 0.15 (better to be a bit high then too low) and do 2% water change daily to slowly bring down Nitrates. Then once you can verify your phosphate level is up, you can begin to slowly carbon dose as well to further help bring them down. Again.... can't stress this enough... go slow. Don't be tempted to do something drastic like a 75% water change, lol.

Nitrates on my tank Are alswYs high. Nitrite is zero. If you have a tank that keeps nitrite at zero you are fine. All high nitrates will give you more algae and coral growth. Honestly.

 

[Tyler White]

Sounds like my issue to a T
ima take what you all gave me and Apply it tonight
Dose the crap out of neophos and keep them up and get things balanced again

I was having the same troubles for ages with NO3 at 60 +
Started dosing phosphate which as of yesterday is .075
NO3 now below 20
Also I was dosing NOPOX which gives an amount per gallon but does not, says don't over dose but does not say what an over dose would be.
I was dosing the same amount for months. Now at double the "recommended" amount and NO3 went down

 

[zheka757]

i wish i had your problem, I'm completely opposite. nitrates wont go up, stays at 0

 

[Tyler White]

i wish i had your problem, I'm completely opposite. nitrates wont go up, stays at 0

I've had that exact same problem with an older tank of mine that I eventually gave up on due to dinos. Don't give up like me if you get them.

 

[zheka757]

lol, as of right now i on day 1 of chemiclean to deal wit cyanobacteria.