Nitrates

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tonyroma1161

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 1, 2008
Messages
2
Location
new york
I have a question. I got a 12 gallon aquapod with 12 lbs of live rock, 12 lbs of live sand . my filter setup is chamber 1 poly filter, chamber 2 live rock, chamber 3 one bag of chemi-pure. chamber 4 maxi jet 900 pump. I also have a hydor korila nano for better water current. i have two small clownfish and 1 scooter blenny. 4 hermit crabs and 3 snails. Ok heres my problem this tank has been running like this for a year and 5 months, I do weekly water changes of 5 gallons. my nitrites are allways 0 and ammonia is always 0 but my nitrates never go below 20 no matter how many water changes i do .do u know any tricks to get lower nitrate levels besides water changes? thanx for your help
 
It looks like you may be over stocked. How old are your tests and what kind are they?
 
i had a very similar problem with my 12 gal tank and i had less fish then that. I was not able to fine a way to lower them with out adding a sump for some macro and a skimmer. You could try putting in some mangroves. Never kept them my self but they are a macro that wouldn't take up a lot of room in your tank and the stalks could be hidden behind rock or something if its an open top.
 
How often do you clean the detritus form the filter area? I know that the nano cubes and bio cubes have deep chambers that house the filter media. I expect that the bottom has detritus that is probably aiding in the issue. Nitrates of 20 is not terrible though lower levels are best. If your fish are healthy and the tank is not over run with algae then I believe you don't have a major issue.

As Kurt said what is your source water? Have you tested it for nitrates? If not now may be a good time to do so.
 
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