Nitrates!! Help!

[leeboy-83]

Tried everything! My nitrates are up and they refuse to come down! Water changes are NOT! Working the level is staying up and i dont know why! Can anyone help??

 

[Aquamandan]

How high are they? And how much water are you changing out?

 

[leeboy-83]

I do %10 around every 10 days this morning did a %25 water change 7 days after the last %10...............there is no drop in nitrate.i use a nutrafin test kit with colour chart which indicates a reading between 20 and 40! But the reading just doesn't seem to change.all my other tests are coming back as zero (ammonia,nitrite,phos and my PH is stable at 8.1 i just don't know whats causing the spike!

 

[woody390]

I'd try a different test kit or check the water you are putting into the tank as that may already have nitrates?

 

[leeboy-83]

I use water i get from my lsf,i tested it yesterday with the same test kit and it resulted zero! I just don't have a clue why the nitrates are up and nothing is seeming to bring them down.

 

[tonedogz]

20 to 40 is not that high. But which is it 20 or 40. how often do you feed the fish, how often do you clean your filter media, do you have sand or crushed coral. How many fish,If its 20 its not a big deal unless you want corals.

 

[Aquamandan]

I would increase your WCs to at least once every 7 days and increase the volume of water to 15%.

 

[leeboy-83]

Feed the fish 2-3 times a day a mix of frozen brine,marine and algae flake.i have two tanks,both of which are in the same situation.all levels are spot on except for nitrate! My main tank is 450 liter with a 120 liter sump containing about 60 kg live rock alltogether stock with a pair of maroon clowns,a regal tang,a sailfin tang,a diamond goby,a firefish and a cleaner wrasse plus inverts.

Small tank is 50litre with about 12kg of live rock,two true percs,a bicolour dottyback and a prawn goby.recently did a 70 percent water change and the nitrates never changed lol. I am totally confused!

 

[leeboy-83]

I use coral sand and id say the level is closer to 20 the water changes have been sufficient for months and my tank is nowhere near over stocked! These nitrates have kinda just appeared and i dont know why?

 

[tonedogz]

Feed the fish 2-3 times a day a mix of frozen brine,marine and algae flake.i have two tanks,both of which are in the same situation.all levels are spot on except for nitrate! My main tank is 450 liter with a 120 liter sump containing about 60 kg live rock alltogether stock with a pair of maroon clowns,a regal tang,a sailfin tang,a diamond goby,a firefish and a cleaner wrasse plus inverts.

Small tank is 50litre with about 12kg of live rock,two true percs,a bicolour dottyback and a prawn goby.recently did a 70 percent water change and the nitrates never changed lol. I am totally confused!

I believe overfeeding could be a big part of your nitrate problem. Once every other day would be sufficient.

 

[leeboy-83]

I have tried feeding less,but nowt changed.il just cut down their feeds again and see how it goes.thanks everyone

 

[Bray84]

Feed less and do 35-45% water changes twice aweek, as low level wc won't take much nitrates out of the water so big and often and should see change

 

[mastermamo]

How do you ensure your pH is stable?
What filtration are you using?
I am hoping u won't say u undergravel.

Excess nitrate peaks generally are due to over feeding with excess waste build up in your filter which then leads to sudden peaks. If you have a planted tank u should be ok. But judging from what you have said I really feel you should look into the feeding issue.
Also if you don't have a decent canister filter now would be the time to get one.

I have a 500L discus tank and have managed to bring down my WC's to just one 20-30% per week and I only do this because its a habit. I can honestly say I don't need a WC for a solid month with zero problems.

I'm using a Fluval FX5 canister
A Biolife Clip-on
2xBiologic Sponges

My media :
Ceramic Biologic
Peat Granules
Active Carbon
Ammonia Reducer
Nitrate Reducer

I seed using either Stability or Microbe Lift

M

 

[Bectan01]

This is a salt tank, so adding a canister is not the way to go. You should be feeding only once every couple of days, maximum. Cutting down the feeding along with all the other things you are doing should clear it all up. It won't happen quickly though, just be patient!

 

[leeboy-83]

Hey thanks for the inputs,dont think i need a canister my sumps a winner pretty sure by all opinions that i just need to lower my feedings a fair bit.
With all the filtration ive got going on i reckon a few fair sized water changes and time il get my no3 back to zero and keep em there,they are already comeing down,cheers for the help.

 

[Tkey3425]

In a ~120 gallon tank those pair of tangs are like a pollution machine, when fed 3 times a day, if they are of any decent size.

 

[jeremy arsement]

Id get rid of the flakes all together. Just use frozen brine or misys shrimp. Feed once, maybe twice a day. 3 times a day, not necessary. Keep doing the water changes. It will come down. But, if its 20, thats no real threat. 30 to 40 range, then I'd start to worry. Also, if you have a sump, add some calerpa macro algae, that will eat the nitrates.

 

[Bray84]

Most people will feed 2-3 times aweek, but up to you just if going to feed a lot you will have to do more wc. My tank is fish only and sits about 20 and going add some cheato soon as want start getting corals so hope that will bring it down.
Will adding more live rock help bring it down as not long upgraded tank so need about 25kg more rock before it will look good

 

[leeboy-83]

My nitrates are down to between 5&10 now,i always have cheato in my sump and ive dropped the feeds down to once a day alternating with coral foods.1day corals nxt day the fish.thanks everyone for the advice,think im getting back to normal now

 

[Bray84]

Good one