Hi everyone, so.. I have a 60gal with a tang, trigger, Valentinni puffer, damsel, flame angel, 6 line wrasse, clownfish, chromis. I have about 100lbs of live rock with a few polyps. It seems I've always had high nitrates, ive done big water changes which help some. I've done lots of research, ultimately from reading threads in here I've heard; to find out what's causing the issue. That's my problem, I don't know. I feed 1-2 times a day, 1 cube of marine cuisine and sometimes a few flakes in the pm. I don't know what else to do! Does anyone have any advice? Please?
Nitrates
- Thread starter WITang
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Nitrate problems are caused by excess nutrients. Water changes will help but you have to find the source of the nutrients. From what I am seeing you have heavy bio load for that size tank. Most of these problems are caused by overfeeding. Also most people do not recommend running a canister filter due to fact they can become nitrate factories if not cleaned very often. You might want to cut down on your feeding and see if it helps. With that many fish I think you will have issues.
Canister needs to be cleaned at least 2x a month.
With the bio load you have and the fish you have you should be running a skimmer made for a 300g tank.
But you could Carbon Dose, aka Vodka, Vinegar, Sugar dose to remove the nitrates for you.
Or you can keep do large every other day water changes until you ge them down, then do 15% water changes to keep them down.
Reefkeeping Magazine - Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com
Melevsreef.com - Dosing Vodka to Lower Nitrate & Phosphate
Or run a big fuge stuffed with macro algae
Or run a large Algae Turf Scrubber
But you could Carbon Dose, aka Vodka, Vinegar, Sugar dose to remove the nitrates for you.
Or you can keep do large every other day water changes until you ge them down, then do 15% water changes to keep them down.
Reefkeeping Magazine - Vinegar Dosing Methodology for the Marine Aquarium
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com
Melevsreef.com - Dosing Vodka to Lower Nitrate & Phosphate
Or run a big fuge stuffed with macro algae
Or run a large Algae Turf Scrubber
Mike in CT
Valuable Member
How long has the tank been set up??
Thank you much for the info, greatly appreciated. My only concern with vodka or sugar is that I heard it can cause ich or other things to flourish. As a matter of fact, I tried putting a pinch of sugar in yesterday and now my tang and trigger have what appears to be ich.
KoleTang
Valuable Member
I've never heard of that. But do not dose sugar. If you are going to dose any form of carbon use either vodka, vinegar, or biopellets. But before you dose ANYTHING, you must read, read, read. It can make your tank very nice, or it can fry the whole thing if you do it wrong.
Huh. Strange when I read the threads, everyone does have different opinions which I'm sure has to do with what works for their tank. I think I will try vinegar dosing. Just very frustrating when you keep tweaking everything you can think of with minimal results. I do appreciate everyone's feedback 
When you say your nitrates are "high," what exactly is your reading? 15ppm vs 80 ppm are two different problems that may require different approaches.
I hate to say it, but I think you're overstocked and nitrates are going to be an ongoing battle. But that's not to say you can't win the nitrate war! Water changes are a necessity, but for nitrate control, they're largely a temporary fix. Here are some long-term solutions to work in conjunction with regular water changes.
1.) Feed a little less, and less often. Only feed as much as your fishies can eat in about 2 minutes.
2.) When doing water changes, don't simply vacuum out water. Be sure to blow the detritus off the rock work to make sure you're getting all junk that'll eventually break down into nitrates. A turkey baster works great.
3.) Add some chaeto to your sump. I also like grape caulerpa for nutrient export, but there are some very good reasons to avoid it.
4.) Clean your canister weekly rather than monthly.
5.) Consider getting a filter sock for your drain. Clean this every 3 days.
6.) I have had great success with Red Sea's No3PO4 remover. Others have as well.
7.) Readjust your rock work so there are no "dead zones" that aren't getting much flow. Be sure the water can flow throw all regions so there aren't any corners where junk builds up.
8.) Get a bigger skimmer and skim wetter than you are probably used to skimming.
9.) Consider toilet training your fish. A long piece of airline tubing that runs from your display tank directly into the closest restroom is an easy method of keeping fish waste out of the tank.
Good luck!
I hate to say it, but I think you're overstocked and nitrates are going to be an ongoing battle. But that's not to say you can't win the nitrate war! Water changes are a necessity, but for nitrate control, they're largely a temporary fix. Here are some long-term solutions to work in conjunction with regular water changes.
1.) Feed a little less, and less often. Only feed as much as your fishies can eat in about 2 minutes.
2.) When doing water changes, don't simply vacuum out water. Be sure to blow the detritus off the rock work to make sure you're getting all junk that'll eventually break down into nitrates. A turkey baster works great.
3.) Add some chaeto to your sump. I also like grape caulerpa for nutrient export, but there are some very good reasons to avoid it.
4.) Clean your canister weekly rather than monthly.
5.) Consider getting a filter sock for your drain. Clean this every 3 days.
6.) I have had great success with Red Sea's No3PO4 remover. Others have as well.
7.) Readjust your rock work so there are no "dead zones" that aren't getting much flow. Be sure the water can flow throw all regions so there aren't any corners where junk builds up.
8.) Get a bigger skimmer and skim wetter than you are probably used to skimming.
9.) Consider toilet training your fish. A long piece of airline tubing that runs from your display tank directly into the closest restroom is an easy method of keeping fish waste out of the tank.
Good luck!
