having nitrate problems

[tnips]

hey guys,
i just got my friends fowlr setup and have had it running at my house for a week now and he has had it running for close to 2 years now. My amonia and nitrites are at 0ppm my ph is 8.2 but my nitrates are at 80ppm.I've done 3 water changes this week and it hasn't lowered it at all.
its a 65g tank with a metal halide light, live rock and live sand and a 20g sump. i do not have a protein skimmer yet but will be getting 1 soon
i was wondering if theres a way i can lower the nitrates to add 1 or 2 clownfish just so i dont have a empty tank to look at.
And what would be a good nitrate ppm to add the clowns at? i know its ideal to be at 20 and below

please help me out i should be getting my skimmer in a week

 

[Dylan5359]

How much of a water change? The protein skimmer will help. Once you get that do weekly water changes and everything should settle properly.

 

[mr_X]

why does it have halides over it? sounds like a waste for a FOWLR.

if you just moved the tank, you probably stirred up the sand bed during the move. it's going to take time to remove the nutrients. i would continue to do water changes (20% at a time) until you've reached the desired levels.

 

[tnips]

i do 10 gallons at a time

i have the metal halide because im going to put corals in it later on and he had that as the only light for the tank

at what lvl of nitrates could i add the 2 clowns at?

 

[mr_X]

i would get it down to at least 40, but 20 would be better.

 

[tnips]

alright and my LFS told me i should ditch my bio balls and add a sock instead. Would this help or r they trying to get me to buy more stuff?
O and in the bottom of my first chamber i have 2 foam pads and my friend said he hasnt cleaned em in awhile would cleaning these or replacing them help at all or should i remove them to get better flow

 

[mr_X]

a sock will do nothing for nitrates. ditching the bio balls might though.
toss the foam pads. that should help a lot. don't bother replacing them.

 

[tnips]

So should i ditch the pads and bio balls and just add a sock for the time being just to filter a little bit in till i add my skimmer?

 

[mr_X]

how much live rock is in the tank?

 

[tnips]

he didnt know exactly but it seems like around 60 or 70lbs and about 70 lbs of live sand

 

[mr_X]

i don't think you need the bio balls any more. i would remove the filter pads and bio balls and continue to do water changes. the sock isn't necessary, but it's not harmful.

 

[tnips]

ill add 1 just to pick up larger things in the water there only 8 bucks at my LFS. So after i add the skimmer my nitrates will start to lower? My LFS also told me to use instant oceans natural nitrate reducer but i haven't heard anything about this product so i didn't buy it.

 

[mr_X]

it seems to be brand new. you can do the same thing with vodka, the problem is, the nitrates will creep back up if you don't remove the source. i use vodka in the tank i maintain at the local health club, but only because i can't be there every second to watch who is feeding and what they are feeding. i wouldn't need it if it was my home system.

just make sure you rinse out that filter sock regularly also. when i was using filter socks (8" ones) i had to change them out about every 3 days.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Here's what you do. I had this issue before. SAME thing
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/what-cna-i-use-to-absorb-nitrates-141193.html

Your nitrates may actually be greater than 80 ppm. I conducted a dillutional linearity test where you take multiple samples and dillute them with top off water...fresh RO. You take your test sample and split it between two tubes to make a 50% tank/50% RO sample for testing. Split again and you have 25/75 and so on. do the calc and you have your reading. Once an API kit gets to 80ppm it gets unreliable.

Ultimately, what worked was doing big water changes every few days. If you can do 40-50% it will speed things up. 10% PWC's just take longer.

It will come down, it has to. But like other say, think about what's contributing.

 

[tnips]

ill do a 50 percent water change tomorrow.
Idk what the source would be.He has had it fishless for a good 4 months and when i transported it i didn't move the sand bed at all i let it be. but i did take out the LR 1 by 1.I did everything very delicatly so i wouldn't disrupt anything.

 

[tnips]

I did the dillutional linearity test
50/50 = 80ppm
25/75 = 40ppm
12.5/87.5 = 20ppm
0/100 = 0-0.5ppm

im having a hard time calculating how high my nitrates actually are

 

[PrettyFishies]

If 80 ppm is what you got on the 50/50 dilution, then you multiply by 2 and get 160ppm. For the 25/75, multiply by 4 and so on.

Keep changing water every 1-2 days and it will come down.

 

[tnips]

well i got my protein skimmer last night and its breaking in as we speak

would it help to clean up my live sand a little bit?
i cleaned out my sump last night as i did the water change

 

[tnips]

since i don't have fish or inverts would i be able to do a 100 percent water change to drop it down to 0ppm?

 

[PrettyFishies]

Do a 75% Change. I'm just hesitant to signoff on 100%, though I don't know what harm it would do....except to the critters in the live sand. Yeah, 75-80%.

You may not have anything adding to the nitrate production, it may have just been there because he wasn't changing water regularly.

The P/S will help remove nutrients, but if you're not feeding, then you should have any.

Speaking of which, you have to maintain the bacteria population. Are you adding an ammonia source?