Hi, I have an 80 gallon tank and I do water changes quite often and afterwards I check the pH,ammonia,nitrites,and nitrates. Everything is always normal except the nitrates are always very very high. I can’t seem to get them down, I’ve tried using prime and we have a refugium but nothing seems to work. Do you recommend anything else?
Nitrates
- Thread starter Alex Hanneman
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SPR1968
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Hi Alex and welcome to R2R!
Do you have a RODI water system to make your own water ?
You need to make sure whatever your using is 0 TDS, were ever it’s from, otherwise your could be introducing nutrients back into the tank
If you do a 20% water change nitrates will reduce by 20% approximately if the water is good so a series of changes will bring down your nitrates
Other methods include biological filtration, carbon dosing, which you can read up on as well
Do you have a RODI water system to make your own water ?
You need to make sure whatever your using is 0 TDS, were ever it’s from, otherwise your could be introducing nutrients back into the tank
If you do a 20% water change nitrates will reduce by 20% approximately if the water is good so a series of changes will bring down your nitrates
Other methods include biological filtration, carbon dosing, which you can read up on as well
Gary Inwood
Active Member
my nitrates are around 80 ppm and my reef is great corals healthy and fish have no issues and my TDS is 0
Reefer's Cove
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I would carbon dose 2.5mls daily and check numbers. Should get you down in about 2-3 weeks which should be slow enough for the tank to not go through a major adjustment
Gary Inwood
Active Member
i have about 2 foot of refugium which is full of cheato and grows very well so it is not that
Gary, it’s interesting because I’m having the exact opposite problem! I can’t get any measurable level of nitrate or phosphate on my tank, no matter how much I feed. As a result, my Chaeto/Gracilaria won’t stay alive. My fish are super fat, which is good but running so low on nutrient isnt good. It’s not balanced enough. Good luck! I’m pretty new at this reef game too, so just helping where I can.
Welcome to Reef 2 Reef !
High nitrates aren’t all bad. I have high nitrates too. What I’ve found, the hard and expensive way, eventually, high PO4’s will catch up to the high nitrates, then corals die. What test kits are you using? Red Sea is consistent, and cost effective, but API kits are a waste of money. Hanna makes the testing simple, but not always consistent. Hanna kits don’t work as well with fingerprints or air bubbles. Whichever kit, your consistently will make all the difference. Keep your testing equipment clean and dry.
High nitrates aren’t all bad. I have high nitrates too. What I’ve found, the hard and expensive way, eventually, high PO4’s will catch up to the high nitrates, then corals die. What test kits are you using? Red Sea is consistent, and cost effective, but API kits are a waste of money. Hanna makes the testing simple, but not always consistent. Hanna kits don’t work as well with fingerprints or air bubbles. Whichever kit, your consistently will make all the difference. Keep your testing equipment clean and dry.
Gary Inwood
Active Member
welcome to the reefing world.
I do not test for phosphate and my reef is you can say very over feed, i have to change filter socks at least every day 2 at a push and my fish and corals are doing great.
But i do understand regarding your cheato /gracilaria not staying alive I had the same problem a few years back and i worked out it was my Refugium light so i changed it for a cheap full Spectrum led off ebay and I have not looked back.
lilfish717
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What exactly are you saying here? I also have between 40-80 ppm nitrates. (can't tell with stupid ati kit) and 0 ppm phosphate. Are you saying my nitrates will raise Phosphate and kill my corals?
SeaDweller
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Usually with NO3 that high it’s a water quality issue, be it from lack of maintenance, intervals between maintenance, or amount of maintenance (small water changes vs large ones), and usually the PO4 catches up as the water quality isn’t being maintained. The NO3 doesn’t raise PO4 but they go hand in hand in the sense of being from poor water quality.
lilfish717
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It's due to high nitrates in tap and no Rodi.
SeaDweller
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Well that’s a whole different situation, but it’s still a water quality issue (just not from lack of WC). Regardless, your NO3 won’t make the PO4 increase but you’ll be adding NO3 and PO4 from fish waste, food, etc.
beaslbob
2500 Club Member
IMHO if your corals are doing fine you might not want to change anything.
I would not use any chemicals or additives to lower nitrates.
Water changes limit but do not eliminate nitrates or anything else the changes in the tank. If you have an increase of 1ppm nitrates per day and do a 10% water change every 8 days the tank will wind up at 80ppm just before the water change. down to 72 then back up to 80 before the next water change.
In order to lower nitrates you have to increase the nitrate consumers. I recommend macro algaes. They not only consume nitrates but actually consume ammonia first. Plus phosphates and co2 while returning oxygen and fish food. Other nitrate consumers like dsb, nitrate reactors, and so on rely on anaerobic bacteria which can cause problems if not working correctly.
my .02
later edit. IMHO nitrates come overwhelming from the livestock not the input water.
I would not use any chemicals or additives to lower nitrates.
Water changes limit but do not eliminate nitrates or anything else the changes in the tank. If you have an increase of 1ppm nitrates per day and do a 10% water change every 8 days the tank will wind up at 80ppm just before the water change. down to 72 then back up to 80 before the next water change.
In order to lower nitrates you have to increase the nitrate consumers. I recommend macro algaes. They not only consume nitrates but actually consume ammonia first. Plus phosphates and co2 while returning oxygen and fish food. Other nitrate consumers like dsb, nitrate reactors, and so on rely on anaerobic bacteria which can cause problems if not working correctly.
my .02
later edit. IMHO nitrates come overwhelming from the livestock not the input water.
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