Nitrate thread need help lowering.

[PowderBlueTang245]

My nitrates are through the roof 100 ppm my tank is no longer overstocked it use to be i removed 3 fish from my aq. I have a 55 gallon reef tank with 6 fish 1 six line wrasse 3 true perc clowns 1 hippo tang and 1 beautiful blonde naso tang both tangs are 3.5 in and i feed once every 3 days. Also i have a hob filter 70gal with a sponge chemi pure elite nitrate reduction filter pads and bio max pebbles. A protein skimmer made by d&d (typhoon model) . Now i heard hob filters are "nitrate factories" i will only buy a sump if absolutely needed to lower my trates. My corals and inverts are doing fine as well as the fish but my pagoda cup is closed up and wont open. Should i do a 50% water change add medication hit my tank with a hammer ( im kidding ) please some1 help me out thanks in advanced .. Ps for additional info the tank is only 4 1/2 months old. 45 lbs of lie rock 1 1/2 inch sandbed

 

[Noturaveragereefer]

How often are you doing water changes? And how much?

 

[PowderBlueTang245]

How often are you doing water changes? And how much?

About 5 gallons a week

 

[mr_X]

I would be doing 10 gallons every few days until you have a handle on this.

 

[Ingy]

I had nitrate problems as well in my first tank and I was not even close to being as overstocked as you are. When I added my hob refugium with skimmer, I also did 2 other things that help reduce nitrates. Vodka dosing was one thing, which requires a skimmer so can help you. Google it and start slowly. The methol alcohol causes the proteins to create longer strings, making bigger bubbles and skimming more effectively. The other thing I did was add Nitrate Destroyer. Its a bottled bacteria added daily (they die quickly in the oxygen rich enviornment) that actually consume nitrates. They are then consumed by corals as well as skimmed out.

 

[PowderBlueTang245]

I had nitrate problems as well in my first tank and I was not even close to being as overstocked as you are. When I added my hob refugium with skimmer, I also did 2 other things that help reduce nitrates. Vodka dosing was one thing, which requires a skimmer so can help you. Google it and start slowly. The methol alcohol causes the proteins to create longer strings, making bigger bubbles and skimming more effectively. The other thing I did was add Nitrate Destroyer. Its a bottled bacteria added daily (they die quickly in the oxygen rich enviornment) that actually consume nitrates. They are then consumed by corals as well as skimmed out.

My tank is no longer crowded i removed 1 clownfish i traded my yellow tang and vlamingi for a blonde naso then it died 4 days later i think it was the nitrate so now I'm down to 4 fish 1 tang 1 six line wrasse and 2 clowns. Im going to try the vodka dosing method hopefully it lowers ... Question. If i lower my nitrate from 100 to as close to 0 as possible will it shock my fish ? Thanks for the advice

 

[Ingy]

Lowering your nitrates intantly to 0 shouldn't cause stress. It'd be nice for the fish I suspect.
If you try either or both of the methods of nitrate control I mentioned, your nitrates will slowly lower anyhoo. Personally, I'd do both.
Don't forget to take a sample of the vodka for yourself each day as well. Quality control and all that.