Nitate help please

[cancun]

Hi everyone.....I have a 29 gallon Biocube....been set up and running for several months....but can't seem to get my nitrates lower than 20 ppm....my ammonia is 0....nitrites are 0....salinity is 1.024....ph is 8.0....my nitraits fluctuate between 20 ppm and 40 ppm....I test both with API liquid salt water test kit and API test strips...I have been doing 10% water chg once a week...was doing wc evrry other week...just started every week trying to lower nitrates. ...have biocube 29 gallon protein skimmer...biocube filter....also using API chem-zorb under my filter in the back chamber.....I have 30-40 lbs of live rock....live sand....my bio load is:

Clownfish












Coral beauty
6 line wrasse
Watchman goby
Small sea urchin
Choco chip star fish
Green bubble tip anemone
Coral banded shrimp
Few small snails

I feed a small amount of Rods frozen food once a day...and spot feed the anenome twice a week.....everything is thriving and doing great...see pics...any suggestions or ideas would ne greatly appreciated!! Thank you!!!

 

[carey]

Have you tried rinsing out the media bag that you are using? And the sponge between the chambers? I had the hardest time getting nitrates down until I removed the media bag and voila, 0 nitrates after a large water change.
Rotting food and yuck can get stuck to the media bag and the sponge thus giving you endless nitrates no matter how many and how much water you change.

 

[cancun]

Thats a good idea...everytime I do a water change I rinse out the main biocube filter....but not the media bag underneath. ...thank you! I am gonna give that a try...thank you for the info..... 8)

 

[carey]

Good deal. It should make a difference. Just watch out you dont have any critters hanging onto the bag when you remove it, I always find bristleworms love to hang out in my media bags. lol And they can pack quite a sting if they prick you.

 

[cancun]

LOL!! Thanks for that info...I will be on the look out!