Controlling nitrates

[Bagdis831]

Hi guys I got a little lackadaisical with my tank lately and when I tested my nitrates the were red like 160 ppm red I have done a 50 gallon water change since the test and cleaned out my skimmer to ensure it was running at it peak. I was just wondering what if any tricks you guys had to lower nitrates safely? Current have a 120 gal with mega flow and eshopps s-300 sump.

Thanks,

Greg


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[this is me]

Find out where the nitrate is coming from. Bad rocks? Bio-balls? Feeding?

With that high of nitrate, a couple of large water change will bring it down significantly. For example, you start off with 160ppm, a 50% water change will bring it down to 80ppm. The next day or two, another 50% will bring it down to 40ppm(given you have resolved the nitrate factory). At this point, one or two more water change will bring it down closer to 20ppm. At 20ppm or below, water change will not be effective anymore. You'll have to look into dosing vinegar or running biopellets. You can also use Siphorax, Matrix, or Bio-Ceramic block but these methods take time for the bacteria to colonize(at least a month or so to see the difference) but it's a lot more natural and safer IMO. I just dropped in a cubic foot of bio-ceramic cubes in my sump. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Bagdis831]

Could this be caused my a dsb I have about 4" of "sand" in my tank not sure if the sand could be the factory in this case. If it is the sand any suggestions on how to clean/ replace without a complete tear down. Tank was started in March of 2015 with all new sand but used my old live rock approximately 130 lbs of mixed live rock.


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[this is me]

I don't see your sand being a problem with a tank that age. What is your fish load in a 120gal.

 

[frank180reef]

Something doesn't seem right, that is way high

 

[s_kelley]

What's your stocking list? A ton of fish? Heavy feeding? Cut way back if so.Gotta figure out where that's coming from, I'd get another test kit too cause those things go bad and have weird results. Is the tank looking off at all?

 

[frank180reef]

Yes test again... good point

 

[Bagdis831]

4" hippo, 4" flame fin tang, 5" fox face, pigmy angle, Randell's goby with tiger pistol, aura goby with candy cane pistol, 2 wrasses reef safe, 1 chromis,tribal Benny, and lawn mower blue my that's my fish load currently. I am going to be adding. Biopellet reactor after the holidays


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[Bagdis831]

That's a lawnmower blenny, there three clowns too


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[s_kelley]

Big tank but lots of big hungry fish. What's your feedings like? Bio pellets are good but ya should figure out where it's coming from so your not right back in the same situation

 

[Bagdis831]

I do algae ring grazers from new era 2 to 3x weekly and meats twice a week. One ring each feeding lasts about 6 hours before it's gone


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[reefstarter]

nitrates at 160 ? that would kill the fish even . I'd say your test kit is out of whack . water changes will do the trick , say 3-4 at around 30% each should get it down over a 2-3 week period . I had Nitrates around 50 PPM and did 3 water changes of 100 gallons each then went to 50 gallon changes for about 3 more times and it was good again on a 500-600 gallon system . I now run nothing and everything seems to be staying good . better skimmer helps I am sure . I dosed vinegar for about 11 months maybe less don't remember and weened the system off it . in short its going to take some work to get things back in balance . but easily do-able

 

[Coalminer]

Does the vinegar dosing just provide a carbon source for the nitrates to bind to, and then be removed by the skimmer? Or in other words, is vinegar dosing pointless without a skimmer?

 

[frank180reef]

You need a great skimmer

 

[Bagdis831]

I just retested with my API test kit (I know they aren't the best) and it was still really red not as high but that's probably from the water change I did over the weekend I am making more RO water now am will do another 30 gallons either tonight or tomorrow depending on what I can make tonight. Hoping to be able to get this under control before Christmas.


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[Bagdis831]

Sorry I'd say they were around 100 if not higher


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[Bagdis831]

So I just mixed of 30 gallons of ro saltwater and rested it to make sure that my source of water wasn't causing the nitrate issue. My ro is working properly and I am testing at 0 ppm. I am going to do the 30 gallon change tonight and probably another one tomorrow morning. Will let you know if there is any improvements i my water quality. Also I am running low on salt and picking up more tomorrow but i just wanted to see what everyone was using for salt I am currently using Red Sea pro salt.


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[s_kelley]

I use the same salt, keep up w the water changes, does t sound like it's your feeding schedule
Maybe grad a new test kit when you get salt, or bring a water sample so they can test for you

 

[Bagdis831]

Yeah I'm planning on having them run a full test for me while I'm there. I also have 5 rbta in the tank that's up from 2. a little over three months ago I had one huge one split into 4. So I'm sure on how much bio load I'm adding from them now.


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[dz6t]

May I ask why type of skimmer do you have? Thanks