Serious nitrate problems!!

[Gilbert]

So last week I did two 15 gallon water changes for my 92 gallon corner tank because my nitrates were too high and I ran a test today and it's still pretty high!!! I'm about to do another 15 gallon water change, hopefully this can bring it down just a little bit. This doesn't seem right, any ideas?

[Chad]

I looked around a bit, but could find the answer easily. How do you have your tank set up (equipment, live rock, refugium, substrate, etc.)? How frequently do you do water changes, how much? What do you have in your tank?

 

IME, nitrate issues are dealt with by doing one of a few things... more water changes, more nitrifying activity (DSB or LR or Reactor), or more plants.

 

How are your phosphates, btw?

[Coral Hind]

How old is your test kit? Have you tested your source water? Are you using and RO unit?

[Gilbert]

well I was away in China for a month and a friend didn't really take care of my tank. He did zero water changes. Prior to me leaving i did a 15 gallon water change every week with tap water that i treat with Prime (can't afford ro/di yet) but everything was fine then. I test my clean water and its zeros out on all parameters. Test kits is about 3 months old. I do not have a phosphate test kit. Mr corals, goby, gold stripe maroon clown, purple tang, pacific tang seem to be doing really well and not so much my powder brown ( small ich ) and my clam has a slightly larger hole for lack of term.

[collegeman]

If you can not afford a ro/di try the pur stage 2 faucet filter. I choose to use the pur because i do not have the room to hook up a ro/di system. My tank has been doing pretty well. I have clams, anemones, hammer coral, frogspawn, soft coral, and many non sps corals. I think you might be overstocked. you should just have 1 tang max, unless they are really small. What did your friend feed the fish while you were gone, did he feed the usually amount?

[Gilbert]

Yes I believe the usual amount, lol but thats trusting a friends word. He just said fish started dying off and left them in there. so that may be the problem with the nitrates, but i can't get it to go down!!! maybe i just need to keep doin these 15 gallon water changes every week?

[Gilbert]

so I just completed a total of 60 gallons in water changes today, nitrates are still the same and pretty high! :(

[Coral Hind]

Are you testing the tap water before or after you add the Prime?

[trockafella]

Where are you located.? Maybe another mmeber can give you some RO/DI water to use for now. It sounds like you have multiple reasons for where you are.. After yuo get this resolved, I would add a DSB (deep sand bed) to your sump/refuge. It is much cheaper to make than getting the ro/di unit ,which you really should invest in, and you can get them on here for cheap all the time... DSB's really work, and its easy to set up..

[Jon Lazar]

Gilbert,

 

Just how high are your nitrates? And what sort of critters do you have? Many of our corals, especially soft corals, fish, and invertebrates, are not very sensitive to nitrates so long as they don't get too high.

[Origami]

Just how high are your nitrates?

 

How high were they before you started water changes and how high are they now?

 

Four 15-gallon water changes in a system with 92 gallons in it should have dropped your nitrates by approximately 1/2. Since each water change leaves almost 84% of the original water (and nitrates) in the tank. 0.84 * 0.84 * 0.84 * 0.84 = 00.498 = ~50% residual nitrates.

[angel not fish]

getting water from a friend or a store is a good idea, but just letting you known, our sponsor air,water and ice has a good system for $150.

I have had nitrate very high and used nitrate reduced from instant ocean, that you can find at petco. IT REALY WORK.

The ich problem, do not delay, use ich attack from gordom lab, you find at petco too. Its natural, reef safe, the only thing that worked for me.

You should stop by at petco.

[Gilbert]

Yes I have a 20 gallon sump tank with just a filter sock and the pumps. In my main tank I already have about 3.5inches of sand so I believe I have a pretty deep sand bed. I'm located in Alexandria in the Del Ray area. Coral hind, I tested the clean water after adding the Prime. Its reading 40-80 on nitrates after adding it to the fish tank. i did a test after each water change and the readings on nitrate didn't change!!! I have a few serpant starfish, sandsifting starfish, goby, gold stripe maroon clownfish, pacific sailfin tang, purple tang, pwder brown, Green Wellso, leather toadstool, ricordia, crocea clam, acans, polys, zoos, hammer spawn, frog spawn, favia, RBTA and a bubble coral. This is what's in my tank right now and all of them have looked okay. wellso looks more inflated then normal. I used instant ocean for my tank

[Gilbert]

btw i added this stuff called Herbatana and it was suppose to be way better than Gordom lab stuff because it was organic, and it killed sooo many of my fish and coral, both claiming to be reef safe. I'm kinda hesitant on it :(

[Gilbert]

Just ran some test,

 

8.2 ph

0 ppm ammonia

0.25 ppm nitrite

20 ppm nitrate

 

This reading was a lot better than last nights after the I completed the water change. weird

[Coral Hind]

Your tap water could be high in ammonia which the Prime is binding to and making it not show on a free ammonia test kit. The ammonia is still there and will break down into nitrite and nitrate. You really should break down and get an RO unit.

 

20 ppm nitrate is not very high but of course ideally it should be zero.

 

Make sure to clean out the filter sock and any sponges every few days to prevent waste breaking down into nitrate.

[OldReefer]

Gilbert,

 

Sorry but it sounds like you need to get to know the guys at Air Water and Ice. They put chloramines in this water and it breaks down into ammonia when treated.

 

I am in Belle Haven, only a few minutes away from you. If you bring buckets, I will give you some RO/DI.

 

If you have a really big skimmer, you can try this stuff http://reefbuilders.com/tag/instant-ocean/

 

You could get a bacteria bloom, but it does take out a ton of nitrates if your skimmer can handle it.

 

Bill

[Gilbert]

I believe I have a cpr bak pak skimmer, so I'm guessing not so big?

[Origami]

I believe I have a cpr bak pak skimmer, so I'm guessing not so big?

No, not so big. And probably a bit undersized for a 90+ gallon system.

[zygote2k]

I think it's a good idea to spend money on a system that can provide clean water conditions BEFORE you get fish and corals.

[TonyD]

In my main tank I already have about 3.5inches of sand so I believe I have a pretty deep sand bed.

 

Deep sand beds are considered to be 6+ inches. Don't get discouraged. It's a learning process of what works and what doesn't work. I still have your blue mushrooms to replace the ones that died. I'll hold off until your nitrate gets better.

[Gilbert]

well when I first started my tank it cycled nicely, everything was great. I was using ro/di water until it became a hassle to and from my lfs, so I started to use regular tap water. Even everything then was fine my parameter was almost flawless with the acception of small amount of nitrates. I left for for china then when I came back, thing were dead and the water parameters were just off. maybe my tank crashed? but now things are doing a lot better now that i did that 60 gallon water change. You're right about being able to produce clean water before getting into the hobby, but there are a lot of other people who use regular tap water and get decent results, so I'll take this route till I can afford an ro/di unit hey tony thanks I can't wait till I get one of your mushrooms!

[zygote2k]

Decent results shouldn't be confused with excellent water quality. You're supposed to provide a pristine environment for your animals. I'm willing to bet a Purple Tang costs about as much as a used RO/DI unit.

[TonyD]

I have a used SpectraPure 60 GPD RO unit that you can have. It is just a membrane and carbon filter. You'll need to get another carbon filter ($10), but it's yours if you want it.

[Gilbert]

You're absolutely right. Luckily I got my purple tang for free. I've checked these ro/di units that run about $200-$300 for a 100-200 gpd unit and with proper psi i'll get at most 5-7 gallons an hr? that seems like way too much time to sit and wait for buckets to fill up, plus I don't have room to setup an ro/di. Just seems tooo complicated, I think i'll try the Faucet Pur filter (collegeman)