Nitrate Problems

[Fishboy-from-NY]

Hello everyone, I have been having trouble lately with my fish only Saltwater tank. It has been having a reading of 40.0 Nitrate. I understand that its really not toxic to my fish only inverts & corals, but how can I get rid of it. I do 20% water changes every 2 weeks and have great filtration. Please let me know what i can purchase or include in my Ehiem as media that would control this problem. I may sound like I am really anal, but I just want the best possible environment for my buddies.
8)

 

[biotoxin]

Well....there's a few things you can look at when dealing with high nitrates.

1. Are you using ro/di water?
2. Are you testing your make up and top off water?
3. Are you feeding more than usual?
4. Do you have a good clean up crew?

One thing id make sure of is to be correct about water changes. If its 20ppm then do a 20-25% change. So youre at 40 then probably need to cut back on feeding since i really dont see you doing a 40% water change.

 

[jackdp]

What type of biofiltration do you have now? Is there an live rock or live sand in the tank? In addition to what biotoxin mentioned, most filters that use sponges or "bio balls" as a bio-filtration media will leave the tank with high nitrates. The bacteria that breakdown ammonia and nitrite flourish on the sponges and balls. However, the bacteria that breakdown nitrates into nitrogen gas need a low oxygen enviroment to grow. Deep sand or highly porous LR can provide lower oxygen areas for these bacteria to grow. Adding LR or LS to your 125 gallon would be pretty costly though. If you already have enough LR and/or LS then you may want to remove any other biofiltration media and let the rock and sand do the work. Are you running a skimmer? A skimmer may also help control the nitrate problem.

 

[Fishboy-from-NY]

Yeah, I do have a Skimmer Natulas EX good for a 300G tank, no Live rock, but I do have about a 3 inch sand bed of Aragonite sand