Nitrates

[FishFreak1961]

My nitrates have gone way too high in just a week.
Checked last weekend and they were acceptable and
no ammonia present, I am wondering how I can quickly
get that back down. I just now did a 30% water change in
my 36 gallon SW tank. How soon should I check it after
the change. I use the API test kits and don't know how
accurate they are. The inhabitants show no
signs of stress. Tank is 9 mos old.
Clown
Pygmy Angel
Algae Blenny
Blue Damsel
Sleeper Goby
Coral Banded Shrimp pair
Feather Duster
Choc chip star and a host of snails

 

[melosu58]

I`m not saying you are overstocked but you are close to being so. I would suggest frequent PWC`s to help knock down the nitrates.

 

[FishFreak1961]

How much, how often

How frequent and how much? Don't want to put
the fish in any more stress than necessary. I have
to get the ph right (too low) in my well water and
send it thru RO unit first. That takes a day or so.

 

[David S]

you should be doing 10% weekly anyway but i would do 30% weekly until the trates are low.Have you had a death in the tank? how much do you feed.

 

[FishFreak1961]

No deaths in the tank (surprised) I feed small amt twice a day:
1/2 cube Mysis or Brine, leave algae sheet 1" in 2 hangers for the blenny
and star. I have a AquaC Remora skimmer I just purchased a couple
of wks ago and it is skimming quite well so far. They all seem so healthy.
Ph is 8.2, salinity is 25, no ammonia, trace of phosphate, temp 77,
#1 power head, Fluval 205 filter... Do I need live rock now? More
janitors? Did the 30% chg today, when should nitrates be checked again?

 

[mr_X]

it's not going to stress the inhabitants to do frequent water changes with the correct ph and SG. think of it like a person in a smokey room. do you think sending clean air in at a super fast rate will freak them out? with each water change you are removing toxins and waste.

i never got any readings of nitrate on any API tests i've used. i think they are quite inaccurate. take a sample to a LFS that doesn't use API test kits and double check.
how high are the nitrates anyway?

as for "janitors", no eating, pooping, critter is going to help remove nitrates.

 

[Gloomisboy]

I am still a total newbie to sw system and learning from where ever i can so... Might the spike in nitrates be coming from the fluval cannister filter? All that i have read is that in sw systems cannister filters are nitrate makers. I was planning to run my 46 gallon with a magnum 350 and was advised not for this reason. But again, i am just a newbie to all this...

 

[melosu58]

How frequent and how much? Don't want to put
the fish in any more stress than necessary.

As mentioned above frequent PWC`s can only help. They replenish trace elements and dilute excessive nutrients. Both are a good thing to your tankmates.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I would cut the feeding back to daily at the most. Twice daily seems a bit much and is probably contributing to your high nitrate level. Make sure you rinse the frozen food in ro/di before feeding it to the fish.

 

[FishFreak1961]

I'm a newbie too. I also have heard canister filters are nitrate
factories, possibly the foam pieces hold it. I change my fluval filter/
carbon once a month and do a 25% bi-weekly or so. I think that
I feed too much (twice a day) mysis, brine cubes one at night
one in the am, but I split them btw the QT and my main tank.
I have two damsels in time out there. Damsels are pretty darn
hateful. Especially my black velvet! Any suggestions out there
for filter media. I use the bio balls, foam pieces and carbon.

 

[FishFreak1961]

Bad nitrates

Nitrates on the API scale were 80 almost 160, that is pretty bad.
But the fish seem just fine. All other readings are on target.

 

[FishFreak1961]

I have also heard that flake food produces a lot of ammonia and
nitrates, but that is just what I heard from a clerk at the LFS.
Is there any sort of saltwater planting I could use to help with the
Nitrates?

 

[kdogg85]

You could try some chaetomorpha macroalgae(it feeds on nitrate,phosphate and light, what else,I don't know.) all you do is trim it when it gets too big for your liking and that gets rid of the excess nutrients. It would work great if you setup a sump. I have it in my sump and my nitrates and phosphates are zero. I only feed every other day, and that helped out a bunch.

 

[FishFreak1961]

Please forgive my ignorance, but what does sump mean? I haven't been in this
but 9 mos and I keep seeing in sump and I don't know. ..... feeling pretty dumb.
I will cut down feedings - I know that is a big contributor. I don't seem to have any algae at all since the lawnmower blenny came, he is awesome!! I hope it
isn't hungry because I don't seem to have much algae, I hang some in a clip once a day and that could be too much??? Some plants would sure liven up the place. All I have are dead rocks. Do I need live rock also?

 

[Zer0]

Just going to put it out there as well.. I have an API test kit for nitrates as well, and when my tank was done cycling, i was getting nitrate readings of 5-10ppm.. Now, a bit more than a month later, i have no nitrates. So i don't think API is all that bad, maybe some people just got bogus test kits.. or had expired ones. I also have a fuge with tons of caulerpa and chaeto, so i could imagine that has something to do with my zero nitrates and phosphates.

 

[mr_X]

what is in your main display? do you have any live rock thus far? can you explain your system?
what is the livestock list?
how much live rock if any?
what exactly does "#1 power head" mean? does this mean you have one power head?
if so, what model power head is this?
what was the result of your nitrate test kit?

you can use a mechanical filter as long as you clean it regularly. i would clean it out weekly.

 

[kdogg85]

A sump is an aquarium under the aquarium, it acts as the filter. If you could fit a 20 gallon tank under yours, it would do way more than the canister you have now. Look at the pics,this is one I done for a friend and it works great,not elaborate,but does the job. The other pic is of the overflow box(gets the water down to the sump. The stuff in the middle is the chaetomorpha. I don't know if it shows up well but the far chamber holds the return pump. If you do have live rock, that is your main biological filter. All the rock in the tank is about 80lbs and it's a 75g tank.

 

[FishFreak1961]

No live rock
Clown, damsel, pygmy angel, lawnmower blenny, sleeper goby (both very busy)
choc chip star, 2 coral banded shrimp
1 fancy nass snail, 10 turbo, 10 or so sm nass snails, 5 sm hermits and a feather duster.
Fluval 205 cannister filter with a #1 koralia powerhead, AquaC Remora pro skimmer 2 wks old, skimming well.
Nitrates read 80, maybe 160 - very dark red on the API chart.
Salinity was 25, Ammonia 0, Phosphates barely there, keep temp at 77
Sand substrate, that is about it. I

 

[FishFreak1961]

My goodness, I wish I did have room under mine to do that. Do I need to take
the foam out of the canister or something - maybe that is hoarding the nitrates.
I change foam about once a month, but have left the ceramic balls in there. When do I need to change them? LFS lady said not to rinse those when I changed carbon, foam. Who knows???

 

[kdogg85]

The only bad thing is when you clean the foam you will kill the bacteria in the foam. I think there is a way to clean it properly, but let the experts on here tell you that. I would tell you something wrong and destroy your tank. For a sump or refugium, you wouldn't need as big a tank. People on here gave me the tip to use a sump and I am glad I did. If you don't have room for such a thing, then you have to make due with what you have.