Best Way To Lower Nitrates??

[gump3842k]

??? there at 15 today

 

[malkore]

water changes
don't over feed
research deep sand beds
add a refugium with lots of light and plenty of macro algae

ditch your power filter or at least clean the sponge in it 3 times a week. sponge filters are nitrate factories...and are why so many of us opt for live rock filtration only.

 

[Sparky]

Water changes. I would start right away with the water changes. THEN, find out what is causing your high nitrate problem. Otherwise you will be doing forever. Nitrates come from ammonia and nitrite reactions. Do you have any uneaten food laying around in the tank? Could be a few possiblities as to why they are so high.

But, start with the water changes first and get them down as low as you can.

Mike

[edit] Malkore, you beat me to it...LOL. I was typing this while you were posting.

 

[lando]

Make sure you are using RO/DI water for your changes. Some city water systems are hig in nitrates. What is your feeding schedule? How many and what type of fish do you have?

 

[luntiz]

Quick question, doesn't Nitrates come from Detritius? I mean once that peice of poop falls out of a fish or a snail...doesn't it eventually lead to Nitrates?

 

[Nitrate]

yes, after the course of events is complete it becomes nitrate.

IMO 15ppm is nothing to panic about, just make sure it doesnt keep going up. If you have CC then you might need to do an aggressive gravel vac with the next water change.

After 3 years of trying to lower my nitrates, i found that my tank rarely gets below 40ppm and my fish appear to be doing great. Some inverts dont tolerate nitrate so my situation may be much different than yours.

 

[kwan]

Just a silly question. What does 15ppm equates to in mg/l ?

 

[Anemoneman]

A tank full of LR will keep nitrate down unless there are mitigating circumstances like rotting organic material or over feefing. You should have no measurable nitrate in a mature reef tank IME.
Now in my puffer tank that's a different story. Lots of food left to rot, no cleanup crew (that will survive), large fish, means more nitrate than the LR can keep up with.

 

[Atari]

Just a silly question. What does 15ppm equates to in mg/l ?

If I'm not mistaken they are the same thing.

 

[malkore]

15ppm is 15mg/l
they measure concentration in two ways, but the math works out to the same values.