WATER CHANGE

[Taposh Mallick]

I AM WRITING MY POST BASED ON SOME OBSERVATIONS I HAD DURING HIGH NITRATES IN MY TANK WAY 9 MONTHS BACK.
IT WENT MORE THAN 160 PPM AS PER TEST KIT.
I TESTED WITH TWO DIFFERENT TEST KIT.
I TRIED TO REDUCE IT BY WATER CHANGE BUT THAT DID NOT HELPED MUCH.
I DID CARBON DOSING AND THAT HELPED BUT WITH SOME NUISANCE ALGAE AND CYANO.

I AM TRYING TO HAVE CERTAIN CONCRETE ANSWERS ON THE SUBJECT.
MY QUESTION IS...

IF NITRATES ARE HIGH
1.DO ONLY WATER CHANGE HELPS TO REDUCE IT? AS I READ IN SOME LITERATURES. BUT IT DID NOT HELPED ME.
2.DO I NEED SOME MORE ISSUES TO BE CORRECTED?
3.WHAT ARE THOSE FACTORS WHICH NEEDS CORRECTION?

I HAD TO BRING DOWN MY TANK AND I CLEANED IT AND MADE A RE-SETUP AGAIN.
THIS POST IS MERELY TO EDUCATE MYSELF ON THE SUBJECT.
THANKS.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Water changes will help reduce nitrate, but often are not effective enough. I show what they can accomplish here:

Water Changes in Reef Aquaria by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/rhf/index.php

There are MANY good ways to recuce nitrate, including denitrators, organic carbon dosing (soluble and biopellets), denitrification media, various ways of exporting organics before they break down (skimming, GAC, polymers, etc.). I discuss and compare them here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium

As to the algae and cyano, phosphate may also be an issue and I'dd look to get a measurement of that if you do not:

Phosphate In The Reef Aquarium
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/?p=3184