Struggling with nitrate

[Jason2.5]

What is your ph at?

 

[Greg P]

I bought an air stone. Should I try that?

Certainly won't hurt until you eliminate the cause of the blooms.
Only thing will be some salt mess over where the bubbles are leaving the water.

Without knowing where your blooms are coming from it's hard to say what you'll need to do longterm

 

[WisconsinReefing]

What is your ph at?

Phosphate is .02 ppm

 

[Greg P]

What is your ph at?

Phosphate is .02 ppm

I think jason asked pH, not PO4

 

[WisconsinReefing]

I think jason asked pH, not PO4

I don’t believe I have a tester for that.

 

[Greg P]

I'm out
Run some carbon to reduce the bacterial blooms, and possibly some bad stuff if your BTA died.
And if it's dead, do a WC or 2

 

[WisconsinReefing]

I'm out
Run some carbon to reduce the bacterial blooms, and possibly some bad stuff if your BTA died.
And if it's dead, do a WC or 2

Thanks very much for your time. I very much appreciate it.

 

[Jason2.5]

I don’t believe I have a tester for that.

Yes as i usually have co2 buildup if my ph is dropping and I usually just vent the room with a fan and run my skimmers air intake to outside for fresher air

I think jason asked pH, not PO4

 

[King Turkey]

if you want to drop nitrate the easiest was is to use dr tims waste away. sometimes I have to dose nitrate because I read 0 nitrate. I like to keep my system ultra low to keep things clean but mostly to prevent pest algae but I like the control aspect to keep things locked down with my numbers. I do suggest if you do use dr tims keep the skimmer running hard for export.

 

[ccombs]

Mine stays somewhere between 40-80ppm and no matter what I do, it won't go down. I can get it down with NoPox, but getting the root cause figured been a rabbit hole of no success. That being said, my tank is very healthy. Softies and LPS look great. Fish and Inverts seem happy as can be.

High nitrates themselves haven't been a problem for many reefers, as seen by some of the other posts on this thread already. The issue can actually be the root cause of high nitrates, whether it is a build up of detritus, a dead fish, etc. Nitrate is the least toxic of Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate and in many cases simply not an issue in the real world.

I recommend a stable tank with high nitrates over a tank that constantly swings in parameters because you are chasing it.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Don't chase numbers.. We all been there trying to chase a specific target but honestly I feel the best way to determine nutrient levels in my tank is to go off algae growth and 2part consumption.. Once you go through a phase of seeing your acros actually go from paling at near 0 NO and PO and then going into growth mode when nutrients rise, you start to question a lot of the recommendation. Unless there is a problem don't react. If possible add a section for refugium which is a fool proof. Also, I used the same API test kit for 10+ years and its not really accurate as you should want to be. I swear by Salifert for the past 3 years. I can tell pretty clearly If I am at 0 or .2-.5, or anything over 5PPM. So get a test kit and test bi weekly. If you notice it continuing to rise then its a biological filter issue and can do a number of good things to help that

 

[gotmesalty77]

My nitrates are also high. Usually 15ppm as high as 50ppm per salifert. I feed heavy and that seems to make everyone in my tank pretty happy. I don't chase numbers but look at them as soft guidelines. You can find success in many ways reefing its part of the fun!

 

[christian321uy]

i wouldn't worry with your nitrate at 20ppm, if you want to lower it down biopellets would help, i use ecobak ez biopellets on my 20 aio tank, no need for a reactor just a good skinmer.

 

[Crotalus]

Do you use any kind of filtration? Filter socks, or any kind of filter material changed every 3 days can help with nutrient export.

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

It doesn’t seem to be doing a lot. What is skimming wet mean?

It means to turn up you skimmer so you are drawing more tea like water In colour rather than dark foam out off the water quickly, it gets more particles like detritus or water blooms out. You must keep and eye on the skimmer cup as it will fill quickly it will overflow back into the sump unless you frequently empty it, or use if your skimmer has one an air line directed into a container that can hold more water. Also bearing in mind as it is skimming more water out of your tank you must switch off your auto top up off if you have one as this can dilute your salt water to much, you need to replace it with fresh salt water, in a way wet skimming is away of water changing until you get your water bloom under control. Also directing your wave pumps more to the surface of your tank will help in getting more oxygen into the water this will also help with dispersing any water blooms so that the skimmer can skim it out.

 

[vanpire]

Mine's at 15 PPM, I've been as high as 40 PPM

Picture courtesy of @Slingshot357 , her name is Dendra

I apologize in advance for derailing the thread. How long have you had this coral? How are you keeping it so pretty. I have always wanted one but I have always heard that it won't do well. To me, it is one of the prettiest corals.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I apologize in advance for derailing the thread. How long have you had this coral? How are you keeping it so pretty. I have always wanted one but I have always heard that it won't do well. To me, it is one of the prettiest corals.

You'll have to ask @Slingshot357

 

[Slingshot357]

I apologize in advance for derailing the thread. How long have you had this coral? How are you keeping it so pretty. I have always wanted one but I have always heard that it won't do well. To me, it is one of the prettiest corals.

Not sure if I can safely say there is a secret ingredient. Unless the Doc can figure something out with certainty I fear Dendra is on borrowed time. I celebrate each week she's still looking good. She is now 5 Weeks old and still looking great.

For tank parameters it's all the normal numbers except for a few.

I ignore Nitrates for the most part. They hover around 15-25ppm. That's a battle you'll never win with taking care of one of these. I run a little extra Bio pellets and daily dose Nopox. I Weekly dose Microbacter 7. Tank looks good, no algae, corals happy so I just let it go.

I try to keep Phosphates below 0.15. I run GFO and dose Phosphat-e if it starts to creep up too high.

I dose 10ml phytoplankton every hour and keep the phyto in a mini fridge with some holes drilled in it for dosing lines and aeration. I also cultivate my own phyto now.

She opens and closes multiple times a day so I try to catch her when she's opening and I dose Polyp Booster and Amino. Then about 30 minutes later I broadcast feed the whole tank a mixture of reef roids and Marine Blizzard.

Every night I dose Red Sea Part A and B, Trace elements and a couple drops of iodine.

Other than that it's a lot of worrying and prayers.

This is just my journey. Head over to the thread and follow the rest of us trying to keep these alive. Raising(11) dendronephthya colonies & scleronephthya(22) MONTH 6

 

[Jenuvio]

It doesn’t seem to be doing a lot. What is skimming wet mean?

Skimming wet means to turn up the air intake on the skimmer to produce a watery tea like skim.

I've read that when you reach 0 phosphate you won't be able to drop down nitrates any further then what they are at... with the Hanna checker if your reading is .02ppm you may actually be at 0.