Still having high nitrate issues

[catmel]

I'm kind of frustrated. I've taken in some considerations and done more research but....

My nitrates seem to hover around 20ppm. I know it could be worse, but I'd love to be able to get them lower. I've tried almost everything ( except start up a sump or fuge). I've cut down on feeding, done more PWC ( I did a 10 gallon water change today - still about 20 ppm!) I do about 10-20% weekly. I do use a ro/di filter -tested the water out of that, didnt appear to show any nitrates.

I do have a HOB filter - penguin 400. I replaced the filters about 2-3 weeks ago. I rinsed them out well when I did my PWC. How the heck do I get my nitrates down??

In your guys opinion which may be the best solution:

Add more CUC members to get the waste? ( I added several snails recently)

Get rid of the HOB ( or replace the filters more often?) - K know some mentioned they dont use one, I'm not sure if this is my problem..

Make the HOB into a fuge ( if so, how?? )

Add cheato , culpera etc to my main?

Add amquel plus to lower ( does this really remove nitrate)?

Buy a more expensive skimmer? ( I have the coralife rated up to 65 gallons.. seems to be making good skimmate though)

other suggestions...?

I know these seem like newbie questions, but im just frustrated. Not sure what else to try. I've done my research, but no luck yet
thanks!!

 

[CaptainAhab]

Add more CUC members to get the waste
Make the HOB into a fuge

The sump is really the way to go but you could pull everything out of the HOB and put some macro in there. If you have LR, a skimmer is really all you need. Those filter pads are deadly not to mention they are sucking up all the goodies that your CUC is hankerin for.

In the end, any of the above would probably give you some lift (excluding the amquel). And no, amquel does not remove nitrates.

You might want to get a TDS and check what's coming out of your water filter, check your PWC water after adding the salt, etc.

Not sure what you have in there so it's hard to tell if you're over stocked or have some messy eaters or major poo machines

 

[catmel]

Add more CUC members to get the waste
Make the HOB into a fuge

The sump is really the way to go but you could pull everything out of the HOB and put some macro in there. If you have LR, a skimmer is really all you need. Those filter pads are deadly not to mention they are sucking up all the goodies that your CUC is hankerin for.

In the end, any of the above would probably give you some lift (excluding the amquel). And no, amquel does not remove nitrates.

You might want to get a TDS and check what's coming out of your water filter, check your PWC water after adding the salt, etc.

Not sure what you have in there so it's hard to tell if you're over stocked or have some messy eaters or major poo machines

Interesting to know. Thank you!

I have about 80# of live rock.

Is it ok just to throw lots of macro algae into the HOB? I dont need a special light or anything over it /extra to turn it into a hob fuge/algae holder do I?

Is there a way to add a good sump to a non drilled tank?

Btw, any algae better than the other to use? Eg : cheato over culerpa etc?

 

[CaptainAhab]

Is there a way to add a good sump to a non drilled tank? : standard overflow box and plumbing

I prefer/use culerpa

I meant what live stock do you have

 

[catmel]

Is there a way to add a good sump to a non drilled tank? : standard overflow box and plumbing

I prefer/use culerpa

I meant what live stock do you have

Gotcha. I'll have to look into that. I figured there was a way to do it.

I'll have to look into getting some culerpa until I can work on getting a regular fuge.

I have 2 common clowns, a coral beauty, royal gramma and juvie yellow tang - I know about having the tang and know it may be pushing it, though I doubt hes the main cause of the high nitrates. whats your thoughts?

I'm kind of leaning toward the HOB being the culprit after more research..

 

[melosu58]

check your PWC water after adding the salt, etc.

This is what I was going to suggest also. Check your PWC water to make sure you are not adding it to the tank yourself. Let`s rule that out first. Also have you taken a sample to your LFS and have him double check your results to rule out a bad test kit. Just thinking out loud.

 

[catmel]

This is what I was going to suggest also. Check your PWC water to make sure you are not adding it to the tank yourself. Let`s rule that out first. Also have you taken a sample to your LFS and have him double check your results to rule out a bad test kit. Just thinking out loud.

Not yet. my Ro/di comes out 0 nitrates. I wouldnt think it would be that even with salt added, would it? the LFS uses the same test kit as me LOL.. maybe i'll try it anyhow.

If I turn my HOB filter into a small fuge, do I need to get a small light for it as well?

 

[roka64]

Adding purigen may help as well as the above advice. What are you running in your filter now?

 

[thincat]

My nitrates hung in there around 20 until my DSB kicked in. I came home one day and all sorts of bubbles was coming off my sand and into the water. At closer look it was Nitrogen bubbling up from the sand. It was amazing to see and my nitrates have been at 0 ever since then. the bubbling has slowed down a bunch but still enough to keep nitrates at 0.
TC

 

[catmel]

I was just using the regular activated carbon pads. They get dirty quick. I clean them off at my PWC every week and they're dirty as can be. Do you think turning this into a fuge instead would work better? Sure seems like it from the sound of it

 

[melosu58]

A fuge will definitely help. Any calerpa or cheato will definitely eat up nitrates.

 

[sooju]

With live rock and a skimmer, why run an HOB filter? Seems like that may be the culprit.

EDIT: I have a 55G non-drilled and run an overflow into a sump in the base. I replace the aqualifter pump every six weeks as a precaution and so far I haven't had any problems with it...good luck!

 

[thincat]

I was just using the regular activated carbon pads. They get dirty quick. I clean them off at my PWC every week and they're dirty as can be. Do you think turning this into a fuge instead would work better? Sure seems like it from the sound of it

FWIW, activated carbon is only good for ~6-7 days and then all it does is leach everything back into the AQ. Instead of cleaning the carbon pads I would replace them...

 

[Ziggy953]

FWIW, activated carbon is only good for ~6-7 days and then all it does is leach everything back into the AQ. Instead of cleaning the carbon pads I would replace them...

Good advice and this is exactly what I was going to suggest.

I would forgo using the HOB as a fuge. It's just not big enough to do a lot. I would save up or work towards getting a HOB overflow and a sump with fuge. The added water volume will help as well.

 

[pokmijn]

when i was changing from fowlr to reef i had high nitrate and phosphate which will not work with a reef tank so this is what i did bought myself a ro/di system got a sump/fuge did water change lots of it and now i could keep stuff that i wouldn't be able to in my tank.

so you would be best to get a ro/di sytem and a fuge and micro algae will help a lot.

 

[thincat]

Okay, I may have missed this but do you use tap or ro/di water?
How many gallons do you replace when you do a water change?
How often do you change water?

 

[Justin1989]

It depends on the nitrate issue in your circumstance. For instance your having high nitrate issues. If your HOB filter has been removed, and your high nitrates are still an issue after everything has been changed then you would want to do more partial water changes. Maybe twice weekly instead of once weekly? The ro-di water would help a lot with that. The fuge will also help a lot with nitrates. The hob filter is probably becoming a factory for nitrates at the moment, so honestly i would take that off there for a while and see if you notice any differences if yuou already havent.

 

[catmel]

I use RO/DI and do about a 10-20% water change weekly depending on what I have in my storage container.

You think its safe to say I can remove my HOB filter?

Also any links on how to add /what to buy a fuge for my tank would be great. - Quite honestly I'm completely clueless as to how to go about doing this... LOL. I want to make sure I do it right.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

The only two reasons I can see for having a HOB filter, assuming you have adequate live rock, is to either run some type of chemical filtration or to have a seeded biological filter than you can put on a QT at a moment's notice. You should have adequate bacteria in the tank by now that the HOB filter isn't doing anything for you there. It wouldn't hurt to remove it for a few months and see if it does anything. You can always put it back on if things don't change.

I wouldn't do too much at once though. Take the HOB off if you want, but give it a few months before you make the next move like a fuge. That way, you'll know what exactly did it. If you do everything at once, and things improve, you won't really know what helped you - the elimination of the HOB or the addition of the refugium.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

i have two hob filters.. (emperor 400's) and a canister filter on my 125. i have no nitrates to speak of... also using cheato in the 10g sump though..