Nitrates

[gobie1313]

My tank is well established over 10 years
125 gal moslty softies 10 fish in total .
I Use Red Sea salt.
All of a sudden my 3 large patches of green star polyps closed up.
I don’t test my water too often ( I know stupid)
But I don’t keep high end corals.
I noticed my protein skimmer was putting out too much, found out it was partially clogged . ( I fixed that ). My phosban reactor wasn’t tumbling enough. ( fixed that partially clog)
I dose with 2oz vinegar every day and do a 5 gal water change every week.
Is there a way to reduce my nitrates other than doing large water changes several days in a row ? I live in a condo and it’s not the easiest job to do water changes other than the 5 gal weekly.
My ro water is in a closet upstairs and runs into a 60 gal brute. I then have to carry down the bucket 3 flights of stairs.
Any suggestions is appreciated .

 

[frank180reef]

How high are they

 

[Mixed Reefer]

Reduce your feeding and keep up on maintenance. Socks vacuumed sand etc. Be consistent with your water changes. Dosing vinegar isn’t going to give you reduced nitrates overnight. I’m on week five dosing vinegar with little change. But it’s starting to work but taking it very slow. Another option would be to reduce bio load. That’s something I couldn’t do. But it’s an option. Love my fish. Lol

 

[PSU4ME]

What does your PO4 look like?

 

[gobie1313]

Is that phosphates?
I’m running gfo
I didn’t test for phosphates

 

[PSU4ME]

Yes, phosphates. I’d check them too. I’m not a fan of running gfo if you don’t need to.