Nitrate

[TriggerHappy]

Will bioballs create additional nitrate or keep your nitrate from going down. My levels are in the 10-20 range and I have bioballs in one chamber of my XP cannister filter. Im thinking of taking them out if this is keeping the nitrate high.

 

[cj10488]

Bioballs will cause your nitrates to be higher.. However If you do now have enough liverock tanking out the biological media could cause some issues.. What I would try first Which I might propose and others please also give your input but I'd put out the Bioballs and wash them and monitor levels to see if it made a difference.. If you have 1.5 - 2 times your water volume in LR that I would assume it would be safe to pull out your Bioballs SLOWLY.. Like taking out a 1/4 of them at a time... Taht would be my suggestion but I have NOT had the experience of alot of things as the others have as I am still pretty new but Well Informed... My tank currently has no media and has approx 100lbs of LR and 15lbs of LS.. I pulled my media out after 3 days of using it in my wet/dry.. My nitrates have stayed at 2ppm and all other levels have checked out awesome....

HTH,
James

 

[TriggerHappy]

no live rock right now. i am planning on adding 50 lbs. My tank is a 50 gal, should I put more live rock? I'm going to order soon from tbsaltwater.com. Its a pretty new setup so I may just take the bioballs out and see if the nitrate stays or goes up.

 

[cj10488]

With no LR in the tank I would highly suggest NOT taking out the Bioballs in your system... Witha 50gal tank I would suggest atleast 75-100#s before even thinking about taking out your bioballs.. With Nitrate levels of 10-20 that is not high at all but of course inverts and corals are the ones sensitive to nitrate levels.. I have been told that It is ok to have nitrate levels up to 40ppm without damage.. However If I am under 10ppm I am happy... MHO keep monitoring your levels and keep the bioballs in.. Usually after a tank cycles it takes about another month for the nitrate levels to drop significantly... With no LR in your tank and no Bioballs in your tank you would have nothing for the means of biological filtration in your tank which to me spells " T R O U B L E " ...

Hth,
James

 

[Dewey]

I have a 40 gallon with about 40 pounds of live rock. My nitrate runs around 10 -20 ppm .Make sure you do plenty of water changes. That helps out to. Good luck Dewey

 

[MACATUA]

If it is a FO tank, then up to 20 ppm nitrates is acceptable. Nitrates really need to be monitored when you consider the addition of fragile inverts.