Nitrates

[Viper23]

Hello all. I've had my 75 gallon tank running for about 7 months now. All my levels are great except for my nitrates, I can't get below 40-60. I do 15% water changes every week, I do not over feed and my tank is not overstocked. I have a 20 gallon sump running (with a skimmer and uv sterilizer) along with a fluval 305 canister filter. The sump has only been up about 2 weeks, I don't know if I'm being impatient or if I need to take other measures. Like a huge water change. Any advice will be appreciated, I really need some direction. Thanks in advance.

[EriksFish315]

Have you cleaned your canister? Maybe you need to do a large water change?

[Viper23]

I just cleaned the canister , how big of a water change do you think I should do?

[Mlani]

When I had high nitrates I did a pwc of 25% every day over a period of a week or so. My levels were off the charts. I took a water sample and diluted it with tap water to get an idea of how many to do to get good levels.

[Viper23]

Ok, I was thinking of doing like a 35-40% pwc. Is that to much or do you think it will do the trick. I was also thinking of taking a lot of live rock out and vacuuming all of the sand thouroghly.

[Frogspawn]

my 2 cents... just keep doing your reg water changes... maybe start doing 25% every week till levels are good... Unless your doing FOWLR or Reef you should be ok... granted the levels are on the higher end but they are still doable. other wise 25% over the next few weeks.

also, do you like your 305 canister?

[Frogspawn]

Originally Posted by Viper23

Ok, I was thinking of doing like a 35-40% pwc. Is that to much or do you think it will do the trick. I was also thinking of taking a lot of live rock out and vacuuming all of the sand thouroghly.

Nah, i do weekly 40 - 50% PWC on my nano... i also don't have a filter i use on a daily bases either. Just a MP10, 150w HQI, and heater. You will be ok. Got any pictures?

[Viper23]

I don't care for the fluval line. I have had some problems with it. I don't have any pics yet

[FTMMWS]

Use/Build an Algae scrubber
Very easy to make and maintain,,you'll have 0 trates in no time

[AquaRick]

Originally Posted by Viper23

Hello all. I've had my 75 gallon tank running for about 7 months now. All my levels are great except for my nitrates, I can't get below 40-60. I do 15% water changes every week, I do not over feed and my tank is not overstocked. I have a 20 gallon sump running (with a skimmer and uv sterilizer) along with a fluval 305 canister filter. The sump has only been up about 2 weeks, I don't know if I'm being impatient or if I need to take other measures. Like a huge water change. Any advice will be appreciated, I really need some direction. Thanks in advance.

How old are your test kits? I would get a second opinion at your LFS and see if they match. I've known a few folks who thought they had ridiculously high nitrates only to have the error with dysfunctional test kits.

[Viper23]

I'll have to get a second opinion from my lfs thanks for that. I'm not familiar with an algae scrubber, how involved are they? Does anyone know how long the nitrates take to drop to acceptable levels, after installing a sump?

[FTMMWS]

You'll need a sump and an overflow ,,then from there its fairly simple to build one

[bavass]

when I had nitrates at 160ppm I did 30% water changes every 2 days till they were at 20ppm then they everntually dropped to 5 and then zero with MB7/Vodka Dosing

[TeamTrash]

Out of curiosity, how often do you clean your canister filter?

[EriksFish315]

I lean the foam filter towards the bottom of my eheim every week to ensure its running at top capabilities and my fluval 405 i clean the foam every week as well. I never touch the biomedia.

[Hardridge]

Dump canister and get nitrate reactor ever since I set up mine my nitrate are 0

[stingrays4]

Hi have you tested your tapwater or the water you use for the water changes? Also did you get your water tested by your local fish shop? I persoanly like the fluval range but going of the crinkly pipes you get with them, i may change mine?

[PrettyFishies]

Canisters and SW are usually a bad idea because they always become nitrate factories. Are you open to setting up and overflow and return pump scenario to get the canister out of the equation?

Also, does your sump have a space for a refugium? IMO, that is what keeps my nitrates to nil. That and careful feeding, good CUC and regular water changes. I also use only RO water.

[alex07]

I used Instant Ocean natural nitrate remover and was able to bring my nitrates to 0 after a couple of doses.