Best way to lower nitrates ?

[SirLight1337]

I currently only have about 80-90 lbs of LR in my 150 gal setup. It was originally going to be a FO system, but i have decided to do some soft corals and anenomes. Current Nitrate reading is 20ppm. I know it reef systems it should be very very low ( 5ppm or lower) Should i add some aragonite sand or something ? My substrate is crushed white coral with 5 lbs of live sand over parts of it. If i were to drain a little water to allow for the displacement of 20lbs or more of sand, should i add it to the tank ?

TIA

 

[RLG2182]

Water change, water change, water change.

A Refugium will help if you have macro algae... also a DSB.

 

[Acraman]

Add culerpa in your refugium or sump or even add Xenia

 

[SirLight1337]

Im going tonight to buy my 32 gallon trashcan and let it fill with my RO/DI unit. Ill mix some salt for it tonight and let it circulate overnight and do the waterchange tomarrow. Thanks for the heads up RLG

 

[lando]

Water change, water change, water change.

Rob is correct. Water changes will help reduce the NO3 currently in system as long as you are using a good quality RO/DI water. Make sure you vac the CC substrate as well to remove detritus. CC alone will not contribute too much to NO3 as long as it is cleaned on a very regualr basis (IMO, sand is a better choice). The biggest contributors to high NO3 in a tank is over-stocking and over feeding. What is currently in the tank and what is your feeding shcedule? Adding more biological fitlration ill certainly help with the denitrafying process. A fuge is a great idea but adding more LR will help as well. Ideally, you should have between 225 and 300lbs of LR for optimal biological filtration. Best of luck...Lando

 

[Oceanicsublimat]

I do water changes and have put some purigen in my sump and am now reading no nitrates.. I didn't have a problem with trates before but cyano, I was hoping that this will help with the cyano.. but alas..

 

[SirLight1337]

as of right now all i have are the 2 anemones and a raspberry doddy back. i usally feed the tank once every other day and a very small amount of flake food or a little sliver of frozen.

 

[malkore]

I do water changes and have put some purigen in my sump and am now reading no nitrates.. I didn't have a problem with trates before but cyano, I was hoping that this will help with the cyano.. but alas..

When I ditched my Prizm skimmer and upgraded to a CPR (october 2004), my cyano disappeared. A week after runnign it, i couldn't detect any nitrates or phosphates, and to this day the cyano has never returned, and I still cannot register nitrates/phosphates (though I'm sure there's a minute trace in there)

Chaeto in your fuge will also help keep nitrates down. Chaeto's preferred over caulapra because ti doesn't go sexual and produce toxins.

 

[nsu7]

Your skimmer

Disregard, can I delete posts?

sorry