Post tank-crash nitrates very high

[Brandon103095]

Hi all, had one of my tanks crash HARD about a month ago, everything (coral, fish, inverts) died overnight except my cleaner shrimp, and 3 engineer gobys (apparently REALLY hardy). Ive been doing 10% water changes weekly and ammonia is at 0 now. The problem i have is that my nitrates are through the roof. Like my testing is maxed readings. Should i dose for this? Continue doing water changes? any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Pete Luna]

Need to find the cause, a dead fish, to much feeding. The ammonia is coming from somewhere. Are you using RODI water?

 

[tsouth]

I would recommend doing a considerably large water change before dosing anything. A 50% water change will effectively halve your nitrates level to bring them back on the chart. Be sure to check your test kits for accuracy + expiration just in case.

Retrospect and think about what lead you to here, and perhaps start back off on the KISS method (keep it simple). 10% weekly, light feedings once or twice a day, no chemicals for now.

Let's improve and reduce through a known variable rather than an unknown. Best of luck!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What size aquarium?

How long has ammonia been zero (trying to gauge if there may be nitrite which will lead to false high nitrate readings)?

 

[Brandon103095]

Need to find the cause, a dead fish, to much feeding. The ammonia is coming from somewhere. Are you using RODI water?

Yes i use RODI water, i dont think i overfeed, the 3 remaining fish eat all the food i put in within 2 minutes. ive searched for a dead fish multiple times. The only thing i havent done is completely searched the sand bed in fear of stirring it all up and causing another cycle potentially killing the remaining fish.

 

[Brandon103095]

What size aquarium?

50 GAL

 

[Brandon103095]

I would recommend doing a considerably large water change before dosing anything. A 50% water change will effectively halve your nitrates level to bring them back on the chart. Be sure to check your test kits for accuracy + expiration just in case.

Retrospect and think about what lead you to here, and perhaps start back off on the KISS method (keep it simple). 10% weekly, light feedings once or twice a day, no chemicals for now.

Let's improve and reduce through a known variable rather than an unknown. Best of luck!

Test kit was brand new, tested my rodi, a different tank, and this one with all different results. The rodi was 0 and other tank was low PPM.

 

[Brandon103095]

How long has ammonia been zero (trying to gauge if there may be nitrite which will lead to false high nitrate readings)?

tested 0 consecutively 4 days in a row. im waiting on my next test kit to come in for nitrites.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

50 GAL

That implies that water changes are a decent approach, if nitrate really is high and it is not a false reading due to nitrite.

 

[Brandon103095]

thank you everyone for the inputs!

 

[clffthmps]

I can understand your test for ammonia is at 0, but did you have a test kit for nitrates when you tested ammonia?Your ammonia can read zero,and nitrites could be starting to lower as nitrates will increase.Was the thank Fully cycles?

 

[clffthmps]

I meant a test kit for nitrateI meant a test kit for nitrites.

 

[clffthmps]

Water changes will help export nitrate.

 

[clffthmps]

I have seen a polishing pad take out just as much as a protein skimmer

 

[Brandon103095]

I can understand your test for ammonia is at 0, but did you have a test kit for nitrates when you tested ammonia?Your ammonia can read zero,and nitrites could be starting to lower as nitrates will increase.Was the thank Fully cycles?

i tested ammonia and nitrates at the same time. the tank was fully cycled and had been running for over 6 months.

 

[brandon429]

Randy's article covers water changes and nitrate (quick rebounding offsetting initial benefits)

a seeming way to address that inefficiency is a rip clean, we do these in tanks being moved homes, or cyano wrecked ones, or in your case to support removing the castings and bioload detritus associated with a loss cascade. if you lost corals you lost microbenthic life and plant material and general accumulations have occurred, sand will cloud if disturbed

rocks will cast off waste, if twisted midwater.

that needs helped out of rocks, by a storm. rip cleaning is the storm.

that's addressing the rebound potential Randy was referring to, in my opinion. We're starting back from the lowest organics condition your reef could possibly be in and still be working, your nitrate is then a function of simple import and export in the water column up until typical accumulations recycle it all and put you right back where most of us are today, plum accumulated lol.

 

[brandon429]

nitrates arent my concern, Pauls excellent reef likely runs twice your readings.

The rip clean is to unclog pores and re expose wastewater to suface area now, vs later. take you from eutrophic to oligotrophic mighty fast. about three hours to total environmental shift.

or we can slow guide it and arrive there Augustnever.

 

[Brandon103095]

nitrates arent my concern, Pauls excellent reef likely runs twice your readings.

The rip clean is to unclog pores and re expose wastewater to suface area now, vs later. take you from eutrophic to oligotrophic mighty fast. about three hours to total environmental shift.

or we can slow guide it and arrive there Augustnever.

just trying to understand all this, so youre suggesting i rip clean my rocks? my sand bed gets moved around quite a bit as my 3 engineer gobys move piles all day and night

 

[clffthmps]

i tested ammonia and nitrates at the same time. the tank was fully cycled and had been running for over 6 months.

Are you vacuuming out Sandbed and doing water changes?

 

[brandon429]

it depends, severity ranges tank to tank. if you have high flow/high throughput then natural motions will carry out and work to remove those wastes as you exchange filter socks/floss etc/the mechanical catchpoints cleaned (we always overlook the rocks and sand though, i find)

but most tanks are slow throughput high internal flow, not the same thing.

sandbed if it has dark zones or areas of marked discoloration, that's not bad its just a sign of organics + vs rip cleaned/start fresh organics levels where we make sand totally clean like day 1, without recycling the tank.

you should take a test rock and lift it up, and in a clear glass something, swish it about and set the rock back in your real tank.

dose the test water remain clean

micro indicators for you to assess storage capacity and match action. One thing is for sure, Jon M has done a rip clean in a 120 gallon reef already at tank of the month quality; he did it preventatively.

all these different jobs are using the same approach, since the outcome is the same tank to tank. here's the thread, only do it if your micro testing shows you are accumulating vs exporting in your current design.

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

*you dont have to deep clean. That's new to reefing, for thirty years we've been doing the opposite of deep cleaning and that regeneration-in-time process has its merits.

but much like downloading songs doesnt take 55 mins per 4 megs anymore, we found specific biology differences in effecting the totally clean condition from time to time (storm on the reef)

and its logged there. thats a whole lot of fixed reefs after tap rinsing out their sandbed to the horror of 100% old school dsb'ers.