Nitrates

[Big_Mclargehuge]

Hey. I recently set up my first tank and it has gone through it's cycle. I did a fishless cycle. Dosing ammonia and bac a bottle. Anyway my nitrate levels were super high so I did a 40 percent water change and my levels are still pretty high. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[andrewey]

The good news is that nitrate doesn't bind to rock or sand. Therefore, the two options here are that you are still experiencing the decay of dead material in the rocks which is producing nitrate or your nitrate levels were exceptionally high and you'll need more dilution (water changes) to bring them down before the levels are within range of your test kits. What are your current levels and what was the source of your rock?

 

[GaryE]

Patience and time. Nitrates will come down.

What do you have in the tank?

Continue doing weekly water changes.

 

[SPR1968]

You don’t say how big the tank is, but the easiest way to bring nitrates down is to do a series of water changes.

If that doesn’t work look into additional biological filtration such as Seachem Matrix etc and for the future maybe read up on carbon dosing such as Nopox.

Its a new tank so for the moment I would do water changes and start researching the other options so your ready to go to the next stage if and when needed

 

[Reef.]

Hey. I recently set up my first tank and it has gone through it's cycle. I did a fishless cycle. Dosing ammonia and bac a bottle. Anyway my nitrate levels were super high so I did a 40 percent water change and my levels are still pretty high. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

what was the lvl before the change? If it was say 100, the water change would only reduce that by 40, so you would still have 60 nitrates.

You will find when your tank settles down, and after a few wc, your levels will come down.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

The good news is that nitrate doesn't bind to rock or sand. Therefore, the two options here are that you are still experiencing the decay of dead material in the rocks which is producing nitrate or your nitrate levels were exceptionally high and you'll need more dilution (water changes) to bring them down before the levels are within range of your test kits. What are your current levels and what was the source of your rock?

Nitrate is around 40ppm. I bought wet live rock from my lfs.

 

[Hugh Mann]

More, large water changes,remembering about diminishing returns with each change.

Or as above, find where they are coming from and remove it at the source.

 

[andrewey]

Was the 40 the original value or the new value?

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

You don’t say how big the tank is, but the easiest way to bring nitrates down is to do a series of water changes.

If that doesn’t work look into additional biological filtration such as Seachem Matrix etc and for the future maybe read up on carbon dosing such as Nopox.

Its a new tank so for the moment I would do water changes and start researching the other options so your ready to go to the next stage if and when needed

It's a 32 gallon. I do have chemipure blue that I have not added to my media basket. I know it has carbon in it but not sure if it will work to help lower nitrates or if I should just keep doing water changes. I'm ready to add fish but I know it's a patience thing. Thanks

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

More, large water changes,remembering about diminishing returns with each change.

Or as above, find where they are coming from and remove it at the source.

What would it be coming from. It's a new tank. No fish etc .. just live rock and sand.

 

[mike550]

Completely agree with the suggestions. I did 30% water changes three days in a row to get my nitrates from 25-ish to arouund 10. I’m dosing NoPox and also added Seachem Matrix. The trick with water changes will be to change out water faster than nitrates accumulate.

Im giving Matrix a few months to take hold then will hopefully taper off of NoPox.

 

[Hugh Mann]

What would it be coming from. It's a new tank. No fish etc .. just live rock and sand.

Are you using rodi, or some other purified water? Dechlorinated tap water can be full of the stuff.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

Are you using rodi, or some other purified water? Dechlorinated tap water can be full of the stuff.

from my lfs. I'm assuming it's rodi lol

 

[andrewey]

I think there are some pieces of advice that may be applicable and some pieces of advice that may not be applicable to your situation in this thread.

First, to answer your question, carbon will not remove the nitrate.

Second, the removal of nitrate from your system will approximate the percentage of water change. Therefore in your 32 gallon, if you change your 40%, you should expect your nitrate to drop by ~40%. This isn't always apparent when we measure it as many test kits are hard to discern smaller changes - for example the API nitrate uses shades of red- these can be difficult to discern from each other and changes may only be apparent once you've fallen under a certain level - almost like the value "rounds up" to your eye when it's between two values.

Therefore, there are still two options- one is that you need further water changes to lower the level tr be able to discern the lowered level on your test kit. The second is that there is still an input of ammonia. It's possible there is dead matter on the live rock if it wasn't properly cured before being sold to you (depends on the age of the live rock). It can come from bad water, or RODI units needing to replace their filters, overfeeding (if you are feeding the tank), ammonia (if you were still dosing the tank), and certain supplements.

If you aren't adding any inputs into your tank, I would perform another large water change. If that doesn't bring it down so that your test kit can register the change, I would look at the possibility of either bad kit reagents, user error in performing the test, or the possibility your rock contains dead and decaying material.

I would not look into carbon dosing at this time. It will cause more problems than solutions.

 

[SPR1968]

Completely agree with the suggestions. I did 30% water changes three days in a row to get my nitrates from 25-ish to arouund 10. I’m dosing NoPox and also added Seachem Matrix. The trick with water changes will be to change out water faster than nitrates accumulate.

Im giving Matrix a few months to take hold then will hopefully taper off of NoPox.

I’ve found with Matrix, and this may help the OP if he goes that way, use a lot more than you think you will need because the instructions say one thing, but the real world performance is much different although It works well.

I currently have around 26 litres of Matrix (and 4 litres of Denitrate) in place in a new system and room for an additional 2-3 times more that capacity if needed.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

I think there are some pieces of advice that may be applicable and some pieces of advice that may not be applicable to your situation in this thread.

First, to answer your question, carbon will not remove the nitrate.

Second, the removal of nitrate from your system will approximate the percentage of water change. Therefore in your 32 gallon, if you change your 40%, you should expect your nitrate to drop by ~40%. This isn't always apparent when we measure it as many test kits are hard to discern smaller changes - for example the API nitrate uses shades of red- these can be difficult to discern from each other and changes may only be apparent once you've fallen under a certain level - almost like the value "rounds up" to your eye when it's between two values.

Therefore, there are still two options- one is that you need further water changes to lower the level tr be able to discern the lowered level on your test kit. The second is that there is still an input of ammonia. It's possible there is dead matter on the live rock if it wasn't properly cured before being sold to you (depends on the age of the live rock). It can come from bad water, or RODI units needing to replace their filters, overfeeding (if you are feeding the tank), ammonia (if you were still dosing the tank), and certain supplements.

If you aren't adding any inputs into your tank, I would perform another large water change. If that doesn't bring it down so that your test kit can register the change, I would look at the possibility of either bad kit reagents, user error in performing the test, or the possibility your rock contains dead and decaying material.

I would not look into carbon dosing at this time. It will cause more problems than solutions.

Thanks. I just did another 5 gallon water change. I'm going to let it run for a bit and test again. My ammonia levels are basically 0ppm and I haven't dosed ammonia in a while. I was told my live rock was cured at my lfs. I'm using the API test kit. I know they aren't the best. I'm going to let it run for a bit and test again. Also realizing I need to buy an rodi system. Going to the lfs and lugging around 5 gallon buckets is pretty annoying lol.

 

[Michael Curtis]

from my lfs. I'm assuming it's rodi lol

Use a tds meter to check your rodi water just in case as my lfs here in the UK was selling water as rodi with a tds of 100 when I checked it

Never used it again and decided to make my own

Could have be an oversight on there maintenance but wasn't wanting to risk it

Not saying your lfs would do the same but its always a possibility.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

Use a tds meter to check your rodi water just in case as my lfs here in the UK was selling water as rodi with a tds of 100 when I checked it

Never used it again and decided to make my own

Could have be an oversight on there maintenance but wasn't wanting to risk it

Not saying your lfs would do the same but its always a possibility.

Good to know for sure. I'm new to all of this.

 

[andrewey]

No worries! That's what we're all here for. Let us know if you see a difference after that 5 gallon WC.

And yes, most of us buy RODIs after we're sick of lugging water back and forth! On larger systems, they pay for themselves very very quickly- on smaller systems, there will still be a break even point for the investment, but you gain the freedom not to run to the store and you'll have water available for emergencies.

 

[Luckyduck]

Hey. I recently set up my first tank and it has gone through it's cycle. I did a fishless cycle. Dosing ammonia and bac a bottle. Anyway my nitrate levels were super high so I did a 40 percent water change and my levels are still pretty high. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

I had the same issue. Just came out of an 18 day fish less cycle, I added the bac too. After the cycle completed I was at 50ppm on Nitrates and they have settled down on their own a few days later to around 20. Another water change would not hurt as well if they're still hanging high.