nitrates

[reef4life!!!]

Hi all,i am new at reef2reef and i am so glad i joined the group...The main reason i joined was because i seriously need help in order to make my tank look like it supposed to be..My plan is to make my fish-only tank into a beautiful reef and i could really need some help.Lately i've been reading a lot about everything it should be done,i read about nitrogen cycle,how to lower nitrates,where my levels should be atc...so i have a 250litre tank with fish-only and its been running for about 5 years...unfortunately my father got the tank when i was too young and i couldn't actually help my tank thrive(or at least be in a good level)...So far my tank its been running with very low maintenance but i decided that it's time to get serious with the tank...I recently bought 1 wavemaker and salifer test kits for phosphates and nitrates and last week i checked my nitrates and phosphates after 5 years(yeah i know it is very long time)and the results was terrible,my nitrates was between 50-100 ppm and my phosphate was about 3...i did a water change of 80 liters and my phosphates got a little bit down but my nitrates didn't really seem to move...yesterday i added carbon and antiphosphate to help my tank get to the right way and i will keep weekly changes of 50-60 litres until i see something encouraging with my nitrates and phosphates...

Sorry for the big article ,i will have many questions in the future and i hope i get my answers !!!
i am really excited about the journey called reefing and i really hope i will make it!

 

[Lasse]

How does your tank look like? Serve algae problems or does it looks good?

You have a FO tank and neither your PO4 or you NO3 concentrations will harm your fish. If the tank look good - do not do any drastic changes. Have there been WC during these 5 years?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[cbrack83]

My experience. WC are the best thing especially if your tank looks ok and everything is doing well still...

 

[Daddy-o]

Activated carbon and "anti-phosphate" will do nothing for nitrate. Do you have a sump or skimmer?
Cheers! Mark

 

[reef4life!!!]

currently my tank is brown...all of my live rock is covered with brown algae.. i did a water change few days ago and i clean my back of the tank...2 days after and it already starting to get brown,i do have a skimmer that it is for 500 liters(don't exactly know what company makes them because i just took it from someone that was breaking down his tank,and also that time i didn't really care about that)

also what is WC exactly?

 

[Alaeriel]

Welcome to R2R! WC is shorthand for Water Change, and what are your running for a clean up crew (abbreviated here usually as CUC)

 

[reef4life!!!]

Oh thank you, before I got the decision in getting into the reef community I was doing 50 liter change every month (or even more than a month).. Last month I made 2 wc and i will keep doing weekly changes.. As for cuc I only have 3 nassarius and 3 Babylonia snails

 

[cbrack83]

W

currently my tank is brown...all of my live rock is covered with brown algae.. i did a water change few days ago and i clean my back of the tank...2 days after and it already starting to get brown,i do have a skimmer that it is for 500 liters(don't exactly know what company makes them because i just took it from someone that was breaking down his tank,and also that time i didn't really care about that)

also what is WC exactly?

After Change

 

[cbrack83]

Change

I meant water change

 

[Alaeriel]

Highly recommend some compatible hermits and/or cleaner shrimp to pick rock algae clean. Personally, I adore sea urchins (tuxedo urchins thrive under similar parameters as most reef tanks and don't get too huge) but some consider them to be a nuisance for their habit of using things as hats (aforementioned hermit crabs, frag plugs with coral, anything else they can lift... etc). I recommend adding some new CUC members for the algae so it doesn't spread on new corals. What's your lighting like also?

 

[reef4life!!!]

I ve had a globulus urchin that did a perfect job at keeping my rocks clean but it died 2 years ago and I didn't replace him... I have 2 t5s 1 blue and 1 purple - blue

Also the high nitrates won't kill the invertebrates??

 

[reef4life!!!]

I meant water change

I did a wc 3 days ago and I will make another one in 3 days.. U mean I do more often?

 

[Alaeriel]

Those are lovely (as are all urchins in my opinion). But yeah, algae control will help with nutrient control and so will the more frequent water changes you've got planned (1 per week is usually good), then all thats left is to select which corals go best with the rate of flow and level of lighting you've got!

 

[reef4life!!!]

Those are lovely (as are all urchins in my opinion). But yeah, algae control will help with nutrient control and so will the more frequent water changes you've got planned (1 per week is usually good), then all thats left is to select which corals go best with the rate of flow and level of lighting you've got!

Yeah I love urchins too!!but the high nitrates won't kill the invertebrates?? My urchin lost his spines and died and I read recently that invertebrates don't do well in high nitrates... Also I will go for softies as my starting corals... Zoas or mushrooms are my candidates... Another question:would I be ok with only 1 wavemaker (2000l/h) or should I add one more?

 

[Lasse]

Have you done any nitrite tests?

Best in this case can be to do a 50 L WC every day for a week and after that introduce you urchins. In a week - you will have reduced your PO4 and NO3 levels with around 85%

Sincerely Lasse

 

[reef4life!!!]

Have you done any nitrite tests?

Best in this case can be to do a 50 L WC every day for a week and after that introduce you urchins. In a week - you will have reduced your PO4 and NO3 levels with around 85%

Sincerely Lasse

No I haven't done any nitrite tests....
But if I do everyday waterchange won't change my water chemistry?I mean the other elements not the nitrates

Also at what nitrate and phosphate levels can I add invertebrates and corals? I read that 1 ppm phosphates and 10 ppm nitrates is OK for them

 

[Cwentz758]

Also, even though your tests a probably close to accurate with the brownness of your tank. But what are the experation on your test kits and what test kits are you using?

 

[reef4life!!!]

Also, even though your tests a probably close to accurate with the brownness of your tank. But what are the experation on your test kits and what test kits are you using?

I can't say because I have never done it before.. If u will read in my first article I haven't got deep into the tank since my father bought it so everything is new for me... I have so many questions even for the smallest things

 

[Alaeriel]

Proper salt mixes should have balanced chemistry, so changing water more frequently can't hurt. Definitely wait for nitrates to be stable before adding the urchins as they're definitely more sensitive. I've seen hardy hermits do okay in higher nitrates, but many shrimp are more sensitive. What do you currently have stocked in there? Could be just too many (or too large) fish for a tank of that size causing the high nitrates, potentially.

 

[reef4life!!!]

Proper salt mixes should have balanced chemistry, so changing water more frequently can't hurt. Definitely wait for nitrates to be stable before adding the urchins as they're definitely more sensitive. I've seen hardy hermits do okay in higher nitrates, but many shrimp are more sensitive. What do you currently have stocked in there? Could be just too many (or too large) fish for a tank of that size causing the high nitrates, potentially.

This is my tank now.. I know there are too many fish in there and i should remove some of them