Problems with nitrates

[bandit]

i`ve had a marine tank for a year now (330 liters cube).struggling to get the nitrates down which are around 25plus (any ideas),i do a 25liters waterchange every week ? problom 2 is the recent heat wave we are having is there anything i can do to stop it climing to around 28+temp which is set at 23temp .is there a cooler i could buy. hope you can help bandit

 

[Mike J.]

Try a larger water change; 50% water change will reduce nitrates from 25 to 12.5, so on.

You can buy a chiller or you can blow a fan across the top of your water to lower it a few degrees.

 

[Reefing Madness]

The larger the water change you can do to get the % of Nitrates down in one day the better. Technically, if you do a 50% WC then the Trates should come down by half of what they are. Doesn't always happen that way, but they should come down drastically. If they do come down big time then do another 50% the next day. Unless you wish run Carbon Dose, run an ATS, or run a Denitraotor, then doing water changes until you get them down to where you want them is your only other option.
I use CPU fans in my canopy to help keep my tank cooler. I run my tank at 78-79.
Normal CPU fan or you can buy the larger cooling systems.
Tunze Aquawind Marine Fan 7028.900 - Reef Aquarium Water Cooler Cool Chiller | eBay
Aquarium Marine / Tropical Fish Tank Cooling Fan Chiller - 2 / 4 / 6 Fan Option | eBay

 

[robbrouse]

The computer fan will work. I have done extensive testing and it will drop temps. I have used a 120MM on mine and work great. A clip on fan will work as well.

 

[bandit]

hi mike, sorry to bother you ive just done a 50liter water change on sunday and tank was fine then mon afternoon it got cloudy and now cant see back of tank? i ve cleaned skimmer and pump and put white socks on the inlet and overflow pipes to the tank and sump . but there seems to be a big alge explosion as the sands gone brown ,and over the rocks and coral a reddy brown . will be testing my nitrares and phospates to see.ive got a few clearners shrimps,hermits,starfish,urchins and a few wrasse. any ideas. bandit mrs getting fed up with probloms

 

[Mike J.]

Sounds like a serious diatom bloom. I would suspect the water you used for water change. Also, could be a bacterial bloom? Is it white cloudy? I'd suggested using activated carbon and doing some water changes with water that you know is 0 TDS.

Any other discriptions or updates?

 

[Eienna]

Are you using RO/DI water?

 

[bandit]

yes white and cloudy , when i do a water change i make my own and then make a salt mix then add to tank , its never happened before. lots of dark redy brown over corals and rocks .

 

[Spendley]

I have had similar problems with a fairly high nitrate base in my tank. Recently I started using RO/DI water and this has helped, as well as consistent water changes.

 

[bandit]

i do use RO water and now do 50liters every week ,used to do 25liters every week .

 

[Mike J.]

The brown/red stuff, is it dinoflagellates?

How I beat dinoflagellates, and the lessons I learned ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[Mike J.]

The cloudy white water is a bacterial bloom. Read this and see if you have other questions.

Cloudy Aquarium Water

 

[bandit]

ive done everything that the shop says and ready for one last try,the first one was on sunday, after water change the other two are from mon i know the glass got a bit of alge on but that is big time any ideas.

 

[fish&dogs]

did you find a way of cooling your temperatures? What we do is not very high tec but it works. We will take a bottle of ro water that has been frozen and place it in the sump. until we can get the temps down consistently. Rotating bottles. one freezes while the other is in the tank. when your doing your water changes do you vacuum the sand bed? and I am sorry what kind of power heads are you using?

 

[bandit]

did last time on one side but it all came back with in one day? ive got 2 330 i think they do blow water round very well.

 

[Reefing Madness]

That happened after an RO water change?? Never seen anything like it using RO. What was in the container used for the water? I'd do the 3 day light out to kill that junk off. How old are your lights? And what type are you using?
Whats the TDS on that RO Water?

 

[Eienna]

Holy cow!!
Well, that's definitely not diatoms.
I also would like to know what the TDS is on your RO water. There's a possibility that wherever you're getting it needs the filters changed - badly.