Nitrate problem??

[jesterns2]

ok so over this past weekend I purchased a used tank from an individual that had a stocked tank with live rock. I kept the 70lbs of rock and took the fish to the LSF in case of any diseases. Now I did transport the rock in water in which I kept 50% of the water and did put it back in the tank. Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, my nitrate is 160ppm!! I know this is was to high to sustain life in the tank, but what do I do? Did I create the problem with the water or did I do that by not cleaning filters and replacing the media?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Any idea what the nitrate level of the original water was in the tank before you bought it? They could've had nitrates through the roof and you just brought it over with the used water. 160ppm is definitely too high, but I wouldn't say it couldn't sustain life.

Have you tested whatever source water you used to make up the other half of the water?

 

[Ziggy953]

Did you reuse the sand that was in the tank? If so did you rinse it out with fresh water? I would also suggest checking for Nitrates again. You could have read the test wrong or added one too many drops. It happens. I've done the same thing before when testing my tank.

Test your source water for sure and see what kind of nitrates you have. Test a brand new batch of salt water and see what you get then. I would suggest several large PWCs to get those numbers down.

 

[GhostKnife]

Wowzers How long was the water in the tank since the last water change before you got it if that reading is correct?