Battle of the Nitrate.....

[SeeDemTails]

I cannot defeat NO3!

No matter how many water changes, or how long I wait, or how many new filter pads!

I have not added any new LR in 2 months, and there are no fish in the system.

What could the soure be?

NO2 and NH3/NH4 are at 0.....well not zero, but the same color as the RO/DI water when I test them both. However, there is a noticeable difference between the RO/DI water and the tank water when I compare them for NO3....the tank water is <50ppm.....the RO/DI water is 2.5ppm. I know the test isnt completely accurate, but the nitrates are deffinatley high, no matter how you slice it.

I am thinking about getting a clam once I finally get it under control, I heard they are great at removing nitrates completely from the water.....once I get it down, I want it to remain at 0.

[Feron]

What do you feed, and how often?
What's the stock in the tank?

[SeeDemTails]

I only feed coralife invert target food. and I only feed once a week, if not less. Once a month I give the anemones a very small peice of shrimp.

I have 3 small anemones, a hawaiian duster, and various other tube worms, gorgs and other hitch hickers on my LR. All are doing great, no issues with the stock health.

I want to add a fish or a shrimp, but not until the water is perfect.

The tank is also 6 months old.

I filter with a skilter 250 modified with a limewood air stone for better skimming.

[Feron]

Wow..hum.. only inverts...rare feeding...and changed filter media....ro/di... hum, outta my league I spose...
I do know that inverts produce waste just like anything else, so that'd add amm/tri/tra to the system.. but I can't imagine it'd be enough to be a problem..

Food isn't going to waste?
Nothing is potentially hidden and dying off?
What little mechanical filtration media is being cleaned regularly?
We sure that ro/di is functioning well?

Gonna need others' oppinions here..am at a loss in this situation...

EDIT - Whats the tank size?

[SeeDemTails]

The tank is a 10 gal nano.

But like I said, I am religous about tank care(ask my GF :P )........25% PWC's one a week with RO/DI water.

I am certain no food is going to waste, I clean the filter media everytime I do a PWC, with the old water from the change. I repleace it once a month. I am running a skilter 250 with a supplimented skimmer, which works great.

The stokc seems to be showing no health issues, I even have some encrusting gorgs growing on one peice of LR.....and the dusters crown is steadily getting bigger, he certainly isnt shedding it, I have seen a duster shed its crown before due to poor water quality, and this one is steadily growing, as are all the other inhabitants of the tank.

The LFS got a pair of Black Percs in the other day that I have been trying to find for 3 months, and I couldnt get them because of my water, and now they are gone ....

I really want to fix this problem fast......

Here is my game plan........

I am going to do a 25% water change daily for a week, and see if I can get them down that way, then no changes for a week and see if they spike again.

What I dont understand, is that for the nitrates to spike again, wouldnt the ammonia and then nitrite have to spike in order, first?

The NO2 and NH3/NH4 are the same as they have been for months. The tank is semi mature, it is over 6 months old, and has a booming pod population, and coralline growth.......I just dont get it.

[Scottm]

sounds like a healthy tank. I wonder if your test kits aren't bad. If not your tests then maybe you have something wedged in there somewhere thats slowly rotting away? I'm really pretty stumped. You are doing everything right from what you say.

[SeeDemTails]

Originally Posted by Scottm

I wonder if your test kits aren't bad.

I would love to say yes, I know that they are off, but if there wasnt such a big difference between the RO/DI and the tank water, I would blame the kit....the other two tests are the same with both waters.

I am getting ready to re-aquascape the tank, and add more LR.....I and going to check everything to see if there is something stuck somewhere, but I have no animals to get stuck, I can see everyone....I just dont get it.

I am left to think that perhaps some of the LR isnt cured, but it has been months, and there is no die-off on the rocks, everything is covered in feather dusters and other tube worms, and coralline on some rocks.

I am gonna do some major water changes and see what happpens!

[Scottm]

It can never hurt to do water changes. I know when I started changing 15% every 3 days my corals exploded and started getting huge. I'll never go back to a slacker schedual because of the incredible results I get.

[ryguy]

First off I would recommend getting a salifert NO3 test despite whether the test kit you are using is spoiled. I say this because saliferts ARE accurate and when dealing with a problem, it's best to have accuracy for true monitoring purposes. I understand that there is a discrepancy between the RO water and the tank water, which does eliminate the test kit from being completely useless, but you should still be dealing with real values, not just ratios.

After that, let's get some numbers up here on your NO3 that we can work with. What does your RO water read with the salifert, and what does the tank read?

[SeeDemTails]

I will buy the salifert kit today....there goes my LR budget for the week!

[tecwzrd]

Out of curiosity did you ever confirm your no3 results with more then one test or with your lfs? IME most no3 tests will read towards the higher end as they age and even slight no3 can give you very high readings in some tests and since your ro/di should have no no3 versus your tank with “some� the two results would be quite different if the test is past it’s expiration date (which most don’t even list )

I like Salifert tests also for accuracy. Never hurts to have the best but also having more then one test kit is important also in my book for comparison reasons.

[SeeDemTails]

Thanks Micah!

I am going to buy two salifert tests each for NO2, NO3, and Ammonia.

I am also going to take the tank water to the LFS and have it checked out.

I will keep you all posted....

This forum rules compared to some other forums about other things where everyone fights!

Everyone is just here to help!

[FishFrik]

I am going to buy two salifert tests each for NO2, NO3, and Ammonia.

IMO, after the cycle, NO2 and NH3 are usually stable at 0 so... no need to buy that many test for those 2. Well, if u have money to spend, spend them however u want